History of the piano

Every Soviet child remembers a huge musical instrument that occupies half a room in our small apartments – piano. It was considered both a luxury and a necessity for many families. In the last century, every girl or girl simply had to be able to play this instrument.Does he have his own secrets? It may seem that in our age, interest in it has dried up, but perhaps someone will reconsider their view of the piano, having learned how much work and time it took to create the usual modern sound and its convenient appearance. And also how many works of not only beloved classics, but also modern masterpieces, are created using the sound of the piano, this cumbersome, seemingly outdated instrument.

How and why was the piano created? A piano is a smaller type of piano. The forerunners of the piano are the clavichords and harpsichords. This instrument was created specifically for indoor music playing in small rooms. Piano – in Italian “pianino”, translated as “little piano”. Now it is easy to guess why this instrument was needed, in the presence of a piano. Unlike a grand piano, the strings, the soundboard and the mechanical part of the piano are arranged vertically, so it takes up much less space in the room. And this is important, because over time, instruments and music became more accessible to ordinary people, and moved from castles to the homes of ordinary citizens. Due to its compact size, a piano has a quieter sound than a grand piano. It is practically not used for concert purposes. Italy was the birthplace of the first piano. It was created in 1709 by the Italian master Bartolomeo Cristofori. He took the body of the harpsichord and the keyboard mechanism of the clavichord as a basis. This event gave impetus to the appearance of the piano.

In 1800, American J. Hawkins invented the world’s first piano. In 1801, a similar design, but with pedals, was invented by M. Muller from Australia. So, two different people, not knowing each other, living on different continents created this miracle! However, the piano then did not look at all the way society knows it now. It will receive its modern form only in the middle of the 19th century.

In Russia, they learned about the piano in 1818-1820 thanks to the masters Tischner and Virta. So… after almost a hundred years of the existence of the piano, we also learned about it. And they loved. The piano fell in love so much that this instrument continued to be improved for almost three hundred years. In the 20th century, electronic pianos and synthesizers familiar to many appeared. If you dig into history, an instrument that perhaps someone considers ancient, and his works are not interesting in sound, in fact, is the fruit of not only talent, but also hard work, even in those days when there were no such electronic “competitors” for the piano. ” like now.

Apparently, when this instrument was born, craftsmen were born along with it to create masterpieces on it. Be that as it may, in order for the music of this unusual instrument to give pleasure, it must be loved, felt, understood.