From about 1800 on, piano building concentrated on creating instruments with increased string tension and a more powerful sound. A metal framed piano was built in Boston in 1820. The modern form of the piano was reached by about 1885. Brahms had an expansive technique that makes his compositions for piano especially difficult to perform. They ushered in a new era, with roots in Romanticism and branches reaching out toward the modern era.
Recordings offer the listener of today great insights into performers of the past.
With the advent of recording, pianists and composers were able to leave future generations documents of their performances. Great composers of the modern era, such as Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, who were also great pianists, recorded their own works.