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发帖数: 4431 | 1 钢琴发明家Bartolomeo Cristofori 360岁生日
Who invented the piano?
When was it invented?
Why was it invented?
The inventor of the piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) hailed from
Padua, Italy. He was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of
Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. Cristofori was an expert
harpsichord maker and was very familiar with the previous body of knowledge
on creating stringed keyboard instruments.
When was the piano invented? No one really knows. According to his employers
, the Medici family, one of his pianos was already in existence by the year
1700. Another document of doubtful authenticity indicates that the piano was
invented in the year 1698. Three pianos made by Bartolomeo Cristofori
survive today. They all date from the 1720s.
It was Sebastian LeBlanc, a family friend who suggested that the black and
white keys be switched on the piano. On Cristofori's earliest pianos, the
accidental keys were white and the natural keys were black, the exact
opposite of what exists today.
The piano is founded on earlier technological inventions. Why was the piano
invented? The piano was perhaps a result of trying to improve on the clavier
and harpsichord. The harpsichord was loud but it had no control of dynamics
. There was little expressive control of each note and it was almost
impossible to add emotion to the music. The clavier had a certain degree of
dynamics but it was too quiet. The new invention, the piano was able to
combine the loudness of the harpischord with the dynamics of the clavichord.
Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano
If we were to give a short, clear answer as to who invented the piano, it
would be Bartolomeo Cristofori, without a doubt. What was his major success
as inventor of the piano? What he did successfully was solve the main
problem with piano design at the time. He really had no example to follow
and was able to solve the problem of the hammer striking the string but not
remaining in contact with it and dampening the sound. That was a major
problem with the previous keyboard, the clavichord. On a clavichord the
tangent remains in contact with the clavichord string. In addition, the
hammer must return to its rest position without a violent bounce and must be
able to repeat a note rapidly. The inventor of the piano, Cristofori was
able to pave the way for other piano builders with his new invention. His
piano action served as a model for the many different approaches to piano
actions that came after. |
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