Early Makers.—Although this invention did not at first attract widespread attention, it undoubtedly formed the basis of the others which quickly followed it, and really asserted the principle afterwards adopted for the piano action. In 1716, Marius, a French manufacturer, submitted four models for piano actions, which, however, were never developed. Also, Schroeter, a German, constructed two models of piano actions, in 1717, in one of which the hammers struck on top of the strings; but neither of these was put to practical use. Finally, Gottfried Silbermann, of Saxony, distinguished as an organ and harpsichord maker, made two pianofortes, the action of which was evidently based on that of Cristofori, and which he exhibited to J. S. Bach. While praising them in many respects, Bach criticised them as too weak in the upper notes, and too hard to play. Silbermann was exceedingly painstaking as a workman, having the reputation of breaking to pieces with an axe even a finished product which showed any imperfection. He therefore set to work to remedy these defects, and, in 1737, produced several pianofortes which won Bach’s unqualified approval.

Superiority of the Piano.—The Pianoforte was now placed upon a firm basis; and although many years elapsed before its resources were developed sufficiently to cause its universal adoption by musicians, the final victory over its predecessors was complete. And this victory was natural, since the Pianoforte was found capable of combining the best qualities of the Clavichord and the Harpsichord, with the addition of a tone capacity infinitely superior to either.

Improvements.—The story of succeeding piano manufacture and the manifold inventions and improvements relative to it is one of infinite details. Among these we notice that while Silbermann pianos were in “grand” form, Frederici of Gera (died 1779) constructed them in oblong or “square” shape; that the pianos of Spaeth (died 1796) and of J. Andreas Stein (died 1792), whose pianos were adopted for use by Mozart, showed considerable advancement. The Stein family became allied with Andreas Streicher, an inventive genius, and founded a manufactory in Vienna which has maintained a high standard to the present time. The action invented by them, known as the Viennese action, differs from that of Cristofori in having the hammers annexed to the keys themselves, instead of on a bar above them; thus giving a light touch and tone. In England, the principle of the Cristofori action was developed by the renowned house of Broadwood, their action becoming known as the English action; while in France, Sebastian Erhard, or Erard, a Strasburg inventor, founded the Erard action, which has a double hammer movement, allowing the hammers to fall either entirely, or only partially into place after the key is struck, at the will of the performer. The “cottage” action, introduced by William Southwell, about 1800, was the beginning of the “upright” form, which has now entirely superseded that of the square piano. Thus, by continued experiments, the piano has gained in compass, brilliancy, sustaining power and strength of construction, to meet the constantly-increasing demands placed upon it, until the modern piano seems to possess unlimited resources, and until the unending supply of instruments of all grades from hundreds of factories is sufficient to place one of these “household orchestras” within the reach of rich and poor alike.

Equal Temperament.—An early difficulty in the case of keyed instruments was the matter of tuning, caused by the fact that it was found scientifically impossible to tune all the intervals of the scale at the same time to the true pitch; that is, the pitch demanded by the natural overtones of the fundamental note of the scale. At the outset, for instance, it was found that if the fifths were tuned true, the octaves would be a trifle sharp; and, conversely, if the octaves were true, the fifths would be a trifle flat. In the case of stringed instruments, where the tone was made by the performer, it could be so modified as not to conflict seriously; but with keyed instruments this was impossible. Thus, many systems of tuning or “temperaments” were tried, such as having two keys for two notes nearly in unison, like F-sharp and G-flat, most of these resulting in the possibility of playing in a few nearly related keys, to the exclusion of the others. Finally, through the influence of J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and the Frenchman Rameau (1683-1764), the simple expedient was definitely adopted of tuning the octaves true, and dividing each octave into twelve equal parts, thus uniting such notes as F-sharp and G-flat in one tone slightly out of tune with either, but not enough seriously to offend the ear. This, called “equal temperament,” was a great gain to music, since it not only removed a radical defect in keyed instruments, but also opened the door to that free interchange of keys which has done so much toward enriching the coloring and scope of succeeding compositions.

Questions.

What principle did the first attempts at piano-making recognize?

To what circumstance are we indebted for the attempt to make an instrument of the Clavier type?

What are the two classes of stringed instruments with keyboard as known in the 11th century?

State the steps in the development of the Clavichord principle.