Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-19
THE PIANO.
The Invention and Evolution Of
the Instrument.
rour Nations Claim the Honor Of the
Invention.
n raok Over 1000 Years 10 Produce the First
Piano.

yrnti0n anu ucNcIOpiiieiii u 'hN fi''0
,,roner. 1t took 1000 years to produce
Tho first piano. and even then 1t was
vnry crude affair. Although the princi-
,,e of the piano action was discovered,
:, u,ust not be understood that 1t was
-, once perfected. Far from il. Many
r,ore wears must elapse before any
hing approaching the concert grand
came into existence, says ths London
Musician. V
rho chief difference between the
,iano and the instruments which pre-
eoded it lies in the fact that on the
n;ono one can play loud or soft at
~;u But to do this requires a much
moro complicated action than any of
,be older instruments possessed, and
makers we're not quick TO discover how
n meet all the requirements. After
,hc harpsichord mad been perfected.
Musicians and makers alike felt the
,,oad of an instrument that could eX-
,,ross more than either the harpsichord
" tho clavichord. At first endless at
,o,,nts were made To make the harDsi-
'.rora itself more expressive. Fetis. in
,ho "Historv of the Pianoforte." says:
a
r,ora than twenty different modifica-
tions t. initiate the sound of the harp.
,he lutte the mandolin. the bassoon. the
nareol.t. oboe. violin. and other in
..rnments and yet. with all
,ha complications Of stops. springs, eX-
III rovs Of Keys. and Venetian SWells
o,er the strings. the grand secret-the
ra.l shading of the piano and forte
WAS still wanting
Scarcely any new article has ever
come prominently into notice but a
nost Of inventors spring UP and claim
i as their own 50 with the piano. 1t
is claimed as the exclusive invention
II At least four different nations. the
English. the French. the Germans. and
the Italians. II is probable that SINH
lar ideas occurred To different men in
these different countries at about the
same time The harpsichord and the
clavichord We're both atisfac tory.
and a need was felt for an instrument
that could at least to some extent.
take the place of the orchestra in the
home. 50 it is no wonder that many
minds We're thinking of the same prob
lem Without going into Il discus
sion Of the merits of the different
claimants for the honor of having in
vented the piano. this much is certain.
N ITO Or I'LL. Bartolomeo Cristofori Of
Padua made three harpSiChOrdS in
which the production of more or less
sound depends upon the force the play
c" uses in pressing upon the keys, by
regulating which not only are the
piano and forte heard, but also the
degrees Of tone as in the Viuloncello.'
These effects We're made possible by
the fact that the strings We're struck
by hammers covered with leather. 1t
is interesting to note that III" hampers
in these pianos We're beneath the
string It was from this ability to
produce tones either soft or loId that
pianoforte. or the softlOud. The
words We're also used in the inverse
order the instrument being called in
differently a pianoforte or "A forte
piano.
At about the same time a French
man by the name Of MariuS invented,
or at least made plans OF. an instru-
ment called the "clavecin a maillet."
in which the key raised d piece of
wood covered with leather against
string. But the action was 50 clumsy
and imperfect that it was never used.
1t is on this invention that FetiS bases
his claim that the French are the in
vcntors Of the piano. But as Marius'
Invention was never perfected. and As
he was at least five years behind his
Italian rival, We may dismiss this
claim. The German. Schroeder, is
another claimant for the honor. He
says that in 1117 he constructed
model "f the new claVier With
hahmers. upon which one could
play soft or loud He is thus
by his own showing six years be-
hind Cristofori. and may have easily
proiitcd by the Italians invention. But
Schroeder is worthy of more considera-
ton than the other claimants outside
Of Italy, because it was his instrument.
or AT least his idea. that inspired Sill
h"rman and others to experiment with
= mechanism for producing the tone
from the wire by striking it.
Neither the Italians nor the French
made anything Of the invention. 1t WdS
'o't Ior the Germans to perfect the i'll
SUument. Whoever really invented tn
Pano. as soon as it became at all
known il was eagerly seized upon b.;
inc German Earpsichord makers and
tlaVichord makers Of the time ana cX-
Perimented on in all kinds of ways.
'HDeiman, of StrauSsburg. was one o.
nc lirSt to see the possibilities in the
"eN instrument and to devote his time
ana attention To perfecting it. He made
'"o most carefully. ana showed them
10 Sebastian Bach. who. after testing
'he'n, criticised them As being weak IN
tone and heavy in touch.
We know that Bach was u the end
y, HIS life partial TO the clavichord. but
'"perlnan. rather piqued at the old
seh'iem1ns criticism. applied himself
"'a' ne succeeded III making or" that
zen Bach himself pronounced to bt
uncut fault. In fact it was largely
W. 10 Bach's Influence that Silber-
'"aE pianos soon became very popular
"n' 'hA maker himself became wealthy
,aiouSh their sale. A story is told OF
eh' which, though it may not oe
.uwuy accurate is in its main point
cH authenticated. and which gives Us
eood idea Of Bach's influence and
''p"iarIty. Frederick the Great, who
a' an excellent musician. heard some
Hliberman's pianos, and was 81
e'0du! pleased with them that b,
'oC"ht the whole fifteen and plaref