History of the Piano

1700Bartolomeo Cristofori's

"new invention" of the piano e forte recorded, Florence, Italy

1711

Scipione Maffei publishes a journal article about the piano

1716Jean Marius submits hammer-keyboard designs

to Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris

1721

Christoph Gottlieb Schröter submits hammer-keyboard designs to the Saxon Court, Dresden

1725

Translation of Maffei's article into German stimulates widespread interest in pianos

Pianos first advertised in Vienna

1730s

Pianos known to be in Portuguese and Spanish courts

1730

Kirkman piano makers founded in London, England

1732

First published piano music, by Ludovico Giustini

1739Domenico del Mela

builds earliest known upright piano, Gagliano, Italy

1740

George Frederic Handel plays on a piano, London, England

1747

J. S. Bach plays a Silberman piano at the Prussian Court, Potsdam, and composes the Musical Offering

1750s

Pianos advertised for sale in France

1753-62

C. P. E. Bach: Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments published

1760s

Pianos derived from Cristofori built in Spain and Portugal

1767

Early public piano performances, one by Johann Christian Bach, London

1768

First public piano performance in Paris

1771Americus Backers

produces the English grand piano, London

1771

Earliest reported public piano performance in North America by David Propert, Boston

1771

Robert Stodart takes out a patent using the name "Grand" to describe his instrument.

This was the first known use of the word "Grand" in a patent.

1773

First public piano performance in New York

1774

John Joseph Merlin comes to England and introduces the "Una Corda Pedal" which moved the action to one side just hitting two strings instead of three, making the piano quieter. *first pedal invented*

1779

Muzio Clementi publishes his first piano sonatas, London

1780s

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach publishes series of sonatas and fantasias for piano

Haydn takes up the piano

1780Anton Walter

making pianos, including one for Mozart, in Vienna

1781

Mozart and Clementi 'duel' in Vienna

1783 English piano manufacturer Broadwood is

credited with the invention of the sustain pedal. *second pedal invented*

1784-6

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 14-25 composed

1794-5

Haydn: 'London' piano sonatas and trios composed

1795

Beethoven: 3 Piano Trios, Op. 1 and 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 published

1797

First piano magazine, The Pianoforte, London

1800

John Isaac Hawkins of Philadelphia makes small uprights

1801Edward Riley obtains a patent for a

transposing piano, in which the keyboard moved laterally, allowing keys to work on different notes

Challen Pianos London was established. Their clam to fame is that they made the worlds largest grand: twelve feet long

1817Thomas Broadwood,

London presents a grand piano to Beethoven, Vienna

1820First successful

use of metal in grand piano frame by Thom and Allen, London

1823Jonas Chickering

begins making pianos in Boston

1826

Henri Pape patents use of felt for hammer covering, Paris

Robert Wornum patents tape-check action, the basis for modern uprights, London

1828Ignaz Bösendorfer begins making pianos, Vienna

1828

Johann Nepomuk Hummel:

A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte published.

1833

Chopin: Études Op. 10 published

1837Knabe Company

established, Baltimore

1839

Czerny: The Compete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op. 500 published

Liszt establishes the solo recital, performing from memory and without assisting artists

1843

Chickering patents one-piece metal frame for grands

1848

Debain invents an automatic mechanical piano, Paris

1853 Steinway & Sons,

New York established

*this is still one of the most popular piano companies today. Steinway pianos are considered very elite*

1853

Chickering builds new factory, second largest building in U.S.

1854Mason & Hamlin

established in Boston

1856Wurlitzer Company established, Chicago

*along with Steinway, this companyIs another very elite andclassical piano company*

1859

Henry Steinway, Jr. patents cross-stringing for grands

1862

At London Exposition, Steinway wins a medal with cross-strung grand

1862Baldwin established in Cincinnati, Ohio

*along with Steinway andWurlitzer, Baldwin isanother very elite piano company*

1867

Chickering and Steinway win the top prizes at Paris Exposition

1872

Theodore Steinway patents the duplex scale to enrich the tone

1874

Albert Steinway patents the sostenuto pedal (middle pedal on modern grands)

1874

Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition originally composed for piano

1885

Aeolian Organ & Music Co. founded to make automatic organs, later automatic pianos

1899

Torakusu Yamaha begins making pianos, Japan

1899

Scott Joplin:

Maple Leaf Rag published

1900

Baldwin wins grand prize at Paris Exposition

1901

Welte-Mignon builts a player-piano mechanism, Freiburg, Germany

1904 American piano

manufacturers make bonfire of square pianos, Atlantic City

1905

The Juilliard School founded

1908

American Piano Co. founded, incorporates Chickering, Knabe, Weber, Haines Brothers, and others

National Association of Piano Tuners founded

1910

Steinway & Sons moves its factory entirely from Manhattan to Astoria, Long Island NY

1910Broadwood among

the first British piano makers to make player pianos

1919

156,000 regular pianos and 180,000 player pianos manufactured in U.S.

1923Jelly Roll Morton's

first recordings, Chicago

1924Gershwin’s

Rhapsody in Blue premiered

1927Koichi Kawai leaves

Yamaha and starts his own firm, Japan

1928Earl "Fatha" Hines

records Apex Blues, Weather Bird

1929Neo-Bechstein,

electric piano with electromagnetic pickups to amplify struck strings

1933Art Tatum's first

professional solo recordings

1940John Cage: Bacchanale, first “prepared” piano piece

1953 Liberace wins 2 Emmy Awards for network

television programs

1958Van Cliburn wins

Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, first American to do so.

1960Harold Rhodes

develops the electric piano (Fender-Rhodes)

1966

Bösendorfer, Vienna, acquired by Kimball, Chicago

1968Young Chang begins making pianos,

Inchon, S. Korea

1969

Japanese piano production exceeds that of all other countries combined

Yamaha is Japan's largest producer

1972

CBS buys Steinway & Sons

1980sDevelopment of

computerized player pianos, Bösendorfer, Yamaha, Baldwin, and others

1985

A group of Boston businessmen buys Steinway & Sons from CBS

1990 Young Chang

buys Kurzweil Music Systems, American maker of electronic keyboards

1995

Steinway and Selmer merge into Steinway Musical Instruments

Baldwin buys Wurlitzer and Chickering

1998Broadwood

celebrates their 270th anniversary

2000

The year 2000 marks the 300th year of piano manufacturing

Piano300 exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

2001

Baldwin files for bankruptcy

2002

Gibson purchases Baldwin Piano Co., including the Chickering and Wurlitzer names.

2002Bosendorfer

purchased by Austrian banking group and releases Porsche Design 7 foot grand

2003

Steinway celebrates its 150th anniversary at Carnegie Hall in New York

2003

Bluthner releases its "left-handed" or "backwards" grand piano - with the treble keys, hammers and strings on the left and the bass on the right. Many ask “Why?”

2003

Grotrian (Germany) introduces its Duo Grand Piano - 2 grand pianos placed side by side with keyboards at opposite ends, as in a duo piano concert, with connected soundboards and a common lid.

Grotrian Duo Grand Piano

2005

Steinway announces to move production of some of the Essex models to the Pearl River Factory in China.

2006Schulze Pollman

partners with Ferrari Motor Cars to launch limited edition piano

Piano parts and info

88 Keys (except for Bösendorfer)

Bass notes have 1 string, Tenor notes have 2, and Treble notes have 3 for 236 total strings

160 to 200 pounds on each

Total of 35,000 lbs.!

Grand Piano cut-away

Back frame

Sound board

Soundboard top

Soundboard bottom

Frame

Seiler suspension piano

Fazioli Liminal piano

Kawai Acrylic paino

Baldwin Zebra

Challen 12 foot grand

Weight – 2,000lbsString tension – 50,000lbs.

Schimmel Pegasus

Bösendorfer short

Bösendorfer medium