164 



PIANOFORTE 



In ml maker. The lint pianoforte seen in England 

 was made at Koine l>y Father Woixl. an English 

 inniik there. In (icrmany tin- invention met with 

 more rapid encouragement nn<l development than 

 in Italy. The SilU-rmanns in Strasburgaiiil Stein of 

 Augsburg improved tlie discoveries of their country- 

 man Schriiter, itml many ( lermans are found to main- 

 tain that the pianoforte is an independent invention 

 indigenous to the Fatherland. In England the 

 manufacture of the instrument wax at lii-t chiefly 

 in the hand- of foreigners, principally Italians. 

 Italian pianoforte maker* opened many shops, hut 

 the English makers ultimately rivalleil and sur- 

 passed them. The English pianoforte has l>een 

 brought to its present state of perfection by 

 Broadwood, Colhird, Brinsmead, and others. 

 Erartl made many improvement* in France ; 

 (iermany has long I wen famous for its piano-, 

 including those of Bechstein ; and the AmerirHii 

 piano- of Sieinway and ('bickering are well known. 

 The eompa. of the early pianoforte was, like that 

 of the harpsichord, four to live octaves, and has 

 gradually increased to seven octaves, or occasionally 

 more. The most natural of the various forms 

 which the instrument assumes is that of the grand 

 pianoforte, derived from the harpsichord, with the 

 -trin^- placed hori/xmtally, and parallel to the 

 keys. The -t rings are stretched across a compound 

 frame of wood and metal, composed of hars, rods, 

 and strengthened of various kinds appliances 

 necessary to resist the enormous tension. This 

 framework includes a wcxxlen sound-board. The 



i ham-in liy which hammers are connected with 



the keys is called the action of the instrument. 

 In the earliest pianofortes the hammer was raised 

 from In-low Ky a hutton attached to an upright 

 wire fixed on the hack-end of the key. The im- 

 pulse given to the hammer caused it to strike the 

 fitting, after which it immediately fell hack on the 

 hutton, leaving the string free to vihrate. This 

 was culled the tingle action. As the hammer, 

 when resting on the hutton with the key pressed 

 do ii. was thus necessarily at a lit t le distance from 

 the Hiring, the effectual working of this action 

 required that a certain impetus should IK; com 

 miinicated to the hummer to cnalile it to touch the 

 string. Hence it was impossible to play very 

 piano, ami it was found that, if the hammer was 

 adjusted so as to IK- too close to tin- siring when 

 resting on the hutton, it was apt not to leave the 

 string till after the hlow hail IMM-II given, thereby 

 deadening the sound. This defect was remedied 

 by a jointed upright piece called the liojt/ier, 

 attached to the hack end of the key, in place of 

 the wire and hutton. When the key was pressed 

 down the hop|>cr, engaging in a notch in the lower 

 side of the hammer, lifted it so close to the ham- 

 mer that the lightest possihle pressure caused it to 

 strike ; and at this moment, when the key was still 

 prtswd down, the jointed part of the hop|H-r, 

 coming in contact with a fixed hutton as it rose, 

 eca|M-d from the notch, and let the hammer fall 

 clear away from the string. To prevent the ham 

 met from relHiunding on the string a projection 

 called the r A <//. was fixed on the end of the key, 



which caught tl dge of the hammer as it fell, 



and held il firmly enough to prevent it from rising. 

 A neowwary part of the action i- ther/>n/i/-r. which 

 limits the duration of each particular note, so as to 

 cause it to cense to si und as soon as the pressure is 



removed from the key. It consists of a piece of 

 li-iithei i. -ting on the lop of the string and con 

 necl-d with the Kick part of the key hy a vertical 

 wire. When any key is pressed down it* dam|-r 

 is raised oil the string, so as to allow the sound 

 produced to IK- clear and o|>cii : hut immediately on 

 the linger l>cing lilted oil the key the damper-wire 

 falls, and the dani|>er again presses on the string, 



muffling and stopping the vihration. The piano. 

 foitc |N>s.-e.-ses two pedals, the loud and the soft. 

 By the former the dampers are raised, the result of 

 which is to prolong the sound of the notes and 

 cause them to run into one another. The employ 

 incut of this pedal is designated hy the word }>nl. 

 written 1-clovv the treble staff, while an asterisk i- 

 iised to denote its cessation. The soft pedal, on the 

 contrary, diminishes the sound, hy removing a 

 string from the impact of each of the haminct- 

 Its employment in the music is denoted hy the 

 words unit rvnia. One further frcoiient and im- 

 portant addition to the action may 1- alluded t<>. 

 In the mechanism aliove described the key mii-i 

 rise to its position of rest before the hopper will 

 again engage in the notch of the hammer for an- 

 other stroke; hence a note cannot be repeated 

 until time has been allowed for the full rise of tin- 

 key. The refietition action is a contrivance, van 

 ing in different instruments, for getting rid of this 

 defect by holding Uji the hammer at a certain 

 height wliile the key is returning. 

 Great difference of detail exist- in the actions of 



different makers. Some an ire complicated than 



others ; hut ill all are to be found the same essential 

 parts, only modified in shape and arrangement. 

 The subjoined figure represents one of the -imple-t 

 grand pianoforte actions now in use. A is tin- 



key ; B, the lever which raises the hammer : ('. the 

 hammer: I), the string; and K, the damper : F i- 

 the hutton which catches the lever afterit lion struck 

 the hammer; G, the check : H, the damper pedal- 

 lifter; I, the spring; and K, K, K are rails and 



sockets. Fort ly the strings of the pianoforte 



were all of thin wire ; now the bass-strings are very 

 thick, and coated with a fine coil of copper-wire; 

 and the thickness, strength, and tension of the 

 strings all diminish from the lower to the upper 

 notes. A grand pianoforte has three strings to 

 each of the upper and middle notes, and now, 

 generally, only two to the lower notes, and one to 

 the lowest octave. When the -oft pedal is pressed 

 down the hammers are shifted sideways, -o as to 

 strike only two strings instead of three, or one 

 string instead of two. 



Besides the full or concert grand, there is the 

 semi-grand or square piano with curtailed key- 

 Ixiard, now superseded by the cottage piano, of 

 which the upright grand is merely a larger form. 

 In the cottage piano the strings run vertically from 

 top to bottom of the instrument; and the dillcrcncc 

 in form necessitate Mteiations in the details of the 

 action, IMII the general principle i- the same. The 

 pianette, a small form of the cottage, ha- also come 

 into great favour. The pianoforte has attained a 

 widespread |ipularity. owing chielly to the fact 

 that it can lender harmony ; though the violin i- 

 proving a serious rival to it in dome-lie circle- 

 In England the manufacturers who have for 

 ome time post enjoyed the highest repute are 

 Me rs Broadwood, Brinsmead, and Kirkman. 

 Messrs Brinsmead have lately introduced a patent 

 pianoforte called the Snxlim-nlr, in which, by a 

 numlx-r of hammers playing consecutively on a 

 string, and -o closely as to cause no interruption in 

 the sound, any note may IM- sustained (whence the 

 name sonlfiirntr) for an indefinite length of time, 



