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John Ashmore
Porter
ENC1101
3 December 2016
Striking a Chord: A History of the Piano
The piano: an instrument known and loved around the world. There are few who have not
heard its dulcet tones, regardless of musical tastes. An instrument of supreme versatility, the
piano can be heard from classical music, all the way to hard rock and heavy metal. Despite its
recognition, there are few who know the origins of the piano and its history. The piano was
birthed from an already pre-existing group of keyboarded instruments, and since then has been
used through many of the worlds artistic periods, including the Classical Period, the Romantic
Period, and the Impressionistic Period.
The piano, also known as the gravicembalo col piano e forte, came into existence four
centuries after the invention of the first keyboard instruments. It followed instruments such as the
organ and the harpsichord, which were the chosen keyboard instruments of the Baroque Period,
which was a mere 41 years from the end of its 150 year expanse. As stated on Pianonet: The
story of the piano begins in Padua, Italy in 1709, in the shop of a harpsichord maker named
Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori. Before the pianos invention, musical artists playing
harpsichord lacked the expression one could find in most other instruments of the time due to its
invariable volume. Cristoforis solution to this problem was to add hammers that were linked as
levers to the action. Because of these hammers, artists were able to alter the loudness and tone
with the force of ones fingers, (Pianonet) The piano did not see much music of its own until the
beginning of the Classical Period, due to its birth at the tail end of the Baroque period.

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With the dawn of the Classical Period (1750-1825) came the pianos time to shine. When
referring to music, the term Classical speaks of the works of those eighteenth-century
composers whose music gives the impression of clarity, balance, lyricism and restraint of
emotional expression, as stated by Martin E. Kauble. The restraint of emotions came from the
belief that reason and intellect should control ones behavior, and emotions were a false guide to
the truth. The center of musical activity of the time, Germany and Austria had many independent
courts, all of which held rivalry in artistic and social matters. Composing at the time was slightly
limited because composers were dependent on the patronage of courts, who had very
discriminating tastes. Some of the periods more prominent composers for piano were Mozart
and Beethoven, with a combined total of roughly 582 works for the piano, including sonatas,
concertos and small ensemble work.
Music at the time was beginning to explore new ways of including contrast through the
use of dynamics (volume), employing both gradual and sudden changes. Improvisation in
Classical music was a rarity, normally only existing in special solo sections of concerto music
called cadenzas, and even then, most cadenzas were written out for the soloist. In music, a sense
of "polish" and "neatness" was the norm, (Classical Period Kauble) with musical forms being
very clear, having symmetrical marked off phrases, usually of four measures. The melodies of
music took on a very lyrical and smooth contour with ornaments becoming part of the melody,
rather than just being decorative. Chords also began to be broken up and used as melodic
devices, with [a]n important device of rhythm [being] the "Alberti bass", which is the breakingup of a triad into broken-chord figures with a repeated rhythmic pattern, (Kauble). This allowed
for more flow in piano music, as the bass part was broken up from just playing the basic chords.

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As the Classical Period came to an end, the Romantic Period (1825-1900) was born from
the tensions of the French Revolutions aftermath. The rules and restraints of Classicism
(Romantic Period Kauble) were abandoned for artists to showcase their individuality. The
center of the musical world became Paris, rather than Vienna, and composers like Rachmaninoff,
Chopin, and Liszt reigned supreme. No longer bound to patrons money, composers found
artistic freedom, and though not directly for the lower classes, music was still written for the
masses rather than for the wealthy patrons. Composers also were free to pursue the hearts of their
audiences, rather than appealing to patrons, yearning to be acceptable and to dazzle, (Kauble).
Talented players themselves, composers wrote many pieces designed to impress audiences with
their technical skills.
Romantic music was music of feeling, with composers writing what they felt, rather than
what was acceptable to the rich. Due to the rising popularity of musical instruction, many
composers began writing etudes (studies) to use for their teaching. These teachings gave rise to a
movement of virtuosity throughout many composers and performers, with the music built to
showcase extreme technical skill. Though there were many composers with different ideas of
how music should achieve its goals, there was one overarching consensus, music was aimed at
the evocation of emotion as its primary function, (Kauble). Different musical ideas led to
different techniques of composition, such as the use of instruments to imitate nature or convey
visual ideas. Music of the Romantic Period also brought strong notions of nationalism, with
variations and arrangements being built upon various folk tunes. With these nationalistic
composers also came those who wrote to break the boundaries of nations and find a universal
musical language, (Kauble).

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During its final thirty years, the Romantic Period began to give way to the short-lived,
but extremely influential Impressionistic Period (1870-1920). Impressionism may bring to mind
such artists as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Edward Degas, but also included musical
greats like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. In a time where artists wished to break free from
the realism of the Romantic Period, all art took on an increasingly free nature, blurring the line
between realism and abstraction. Kauble states the change in musics ideas best by saying,
Since music is essentially an abstract art, it was ideal in projecting Impressionism's vague
images, (Impressionistic Period Kauble). The focus of Impressionist paintings were easily
incorporated into music, and inspired such titles as Debussys Claire de Lune which translates
to moonlight in English.
Traveling away from the heaven-storming, as Kauble describes, climaxes of Romantic
music, composers chose a softer hand, giving their music a more delicate feel. Composers, such
as Debussy, also took inspiration from the music of the Far East, employing their use of what is
known as a whole-tone scale, which follows patterns not commonly used in Western scales.
Impressionism also employed techniques that were forbidden for Classical composers to use,
including parallel motion of chords, rather than the contrary motion Classicism. This technique
showed composers attitude towards chords as parts of melodies, lending, again, to the delicacy
of the music, using dissonance melodically rather than to create tension in the music. In this way,
chords escaped their previous function as harmonic devices in music, coming to the forefront,
leaving behind the simple single or dual-note melodies of the past. The phrasing of music could
be fragmentary at times, with musical ideas coming and sometimes abruptly changing, leaving
no trace behind.

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The piano has evolved greatly since its original 48-keyed ancestor that was born in the
shop of Cristofori over 300 years ago, though it is still recognizable to its original form. Evolving
through many of the worlds art forms, the piano has endured the restraint of Classicism, the
emotional nationalism of Romance, and even the delicately sweeping waves of Impressionism.
One thing, however, is without doubt, and that is the piano has been a largely instrumental part of
musics evolution from its days of restraint to todays vast freedom of choice and expression. The
piano can now be found throughout many of our times hundreds of genres and sub-genres of
music, being used in many different ways, adapting to fit the form of its music.

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Works Cited
"History of the Piano." Pianonet. National Piano Foundation, 14 Aug. 2004. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Kauble, Martin E. "Music History - The Classical Period." Piano Studio of Martin E. Kauble,
NCTM. Kauble Piano Studio, 15 Aug. 2003. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Kauble, Martin E. "Music History - The Impressionistic Period." Piano Studio of Martin E.
Kauble, NCTM. Kauble Piano Studio, 15 Aug. 2003. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Kauble, Martin E. "Music History - The Romantic Period." Piano Studio of Martin E. Kauble,
NCTM. Kauble Piano Studio, 15 Aug. 2003. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Powers, Wendy. "The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (16551731) The Met's
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 30 Oct. 2003.
Web. 28 Nov. 2016.