PIANOFORTE (It. pianoforte, from piano, sett forte, loud). A percussive instrument sisting of wire strings struck by felt-eovered hammers. operated by keys arranged in a key board. It was directly evolved from the clavi chord and harpsichord (qq.v.). The history of the pianoforte proper begins with the year 1709. Scipione Maffei in the Giornale dei 'Menai ( 1711) gives a detailed account of four instruments built by Bartolommeo Cristofori ( not Cristofali, as generally stated until quite recent iv), named by him pianoforte and exhibited in 1709. The earlier clavichord and harpsichord ad mitted no gradation of the loudness of tone. In order to render musical performances more ex pressive by a contrast of soft and loud. tones, three different men about the same t hue turned their at tention to this matter. These were the just mentioned Cristofori in Italy, Marius in France. and Schrliter in Germany. Marius exhibited some harpsichords with hammer-action in Paris in 1710, but it is not known that Sehroter ever built an instrument or had one built for him. Schriacr claimed to have invented the hammer action between 1717 and 1721. But not until 1738, when Cristofori's instruments had become famous, did he come forward with his claim; and he waited even till 1763 before he published for the first time a drawing of his invention.
Cristofori's earlier instruments show a very simple form of escapement; the return of the hopper to a perpendicular position is secured by means of a spring. But there is no cheek to pre vent the rebound of the hammer after striking the string. Two later instruments, built in 1720 and 1726 respectively, have a device for checking. In order to withstand the force of the impact of the hammer it was necessary to use thicker wire than in the harpsichord. This thicker wire in creased the force of the tension, and necessitated a strengthening of the supporting framework. The hammers were covered with leather, and every key had a damper. Thus the fundamental princi ples of our modern grand pianos are all found. though in a simpler form, in the instruments of Cristofori. The compass of these instruments was four to four and a half octaves. The action of Cristofori was adopted in its essential features by the famous organ-builder Silbermann. His
first instruments failed to win the approbation of J. S. Bach, who criticised them for their weak treble and heavy action. This led Silbermann to spend some years in experiments which finally re sulted in success.
Up to 1760 all pianofortes were built in the shape of the modern grand. In that year Znmpe a German workman, settled in London and began to build instruments in the square form, which at once became very popular. About the same time other makers settled in London and prac tically made the English capital the centre of the world's pianoforte trade. About• 1790 Broad wood, working upon acoustic principles, discov ered the fact that when struck at a certain point the string would yield a fuller tone. Accordingly he adjusted the hammers so as to obtain this re sult. He also transferred the wrest-plank (the block in which the tuning pins are held) to the back of the case, and in 1783 invented the pedals: one by means of which all the dampers could be raised, the other to soften the tone by dropping a piece of cloth over the strings. In these im provements Broadwood had the advice and as sistance of Backer and Stodard. The action as perfected by Broadwood has come to be known as the English action, and is generally in use to day.
Meanwhile German manufacturers had not been idle. Stein, a pupil of Silbermann, invented a new action, which has become famous as the Viennese action. While in Cristofori's (English) action the axis of the hammer does not change, because the hammer is fixed upon a lever sepa rate from the key, Stein attached the hammer directly to the rear end of the key itself. causing a change of axis of the hammer when the key is struck. This produced the extreme lightness characteristic of the Viennese action. Stein's escapement action, which soon spread the fame of Erard all over the world. The next important manufacturer in France was again a native Ger man, Pape, of Hanover. Pape invented, in 1827, a down-striking action where the action is above the strings. He also substituted felt for leather in the covering of the hammers (1539). But this departure had already been made a few years previous by Babcock, of Boston.