PIANO ORGAN 



6 1 36 



PIAVE 



of the action. The hammer head 

 E is carried forward to strike the 

 string. The set-off button H now 

 comes into play by throwing the 

 jack B from under the notch, thus 

 preventing the hammer head 

 blocking on the string. The hammer 

 being thrown back from the string, 

 the check tail M is caught by the 

 check F, and so held until the key 

 is released. In the upward move- 

 ment of the carriage the spoon K 

 comes into action by raising the 

 damper G. The carriage and 

 hammer butt are connected by 

 tape N. J is the jack or hopper 

 spring, O the hammer butt centre, 

 P damper lever centre, Q jack 

 centre. 



There are usually two pedals ; 

 the one on the right suspends the 

 whole damper action when pressed 

 down. That on the left acts ia one 

 of three ways : (a) By shifting the 

 action so that the hammers strike 

 only two of the three strings, the 

 anstruck one vibrating in sympathy 

 and thus imparting a somewhat 

 veiled but beautiful change of tone 

 colour ; (6) by moving the ham- 

 mers closer to the strings so as to 

 strike them with less force ; and 

 (c) by interposing a strip of felt 

 between the hammers and the 

 strings. The last two are applied 

 to upright instruments and have 

 little to recommend them. In 

 certain cases a third pedal is added 

 by which the performer can sus- 

 tain a desired note or notes with- 

 out affecting the right pedal. 



The compass of the piano is seven 

 octaves, from A nearly two octaves 

 below the Bass staff to A two oct- 

 aves and a third above the Treble 

 staff. The upward compass is occa- 

 sionally extended to C. Pianos are 

 of three principal kinds, viz. : (a) 

 grands ; (fr) squares ; and (c) 

 uprights, the details of the action 

 being necessarily varied in each 

 case. They differ in size, and are 

 distinguished by particular names. 



Although the idea of an instru- 

 ment which should remedy the 

 deficiencies of the inexpressive 

 harpsichord seems to have been 

 working in more than one mind at 

 the beginning of the 18th century, 

 the credit for priority of invention 

 is now generally allowed to Barto- 

 lommeo Cristofori (1651-1731), a 

 harpsichord maker of Padua and, 

 later, of Florence. Schroeter in 

 Germany, and Marius in France, 

 were but little later. Subsequent 

 makers have effected numerous 

 improvements, but in all essentials 

 the modern grand is simply a 

 development of Cristofori's Clavi- 

 cembalo col piano e forte. The 

 light touch and small tone of 

 the older instruments have dis- 

 appeared, and there is instead a 



fuller yet wonderfully responsive 

 touch, occasioned by improved 

 action necessary to obtain good 

 tone from much heavier strings, 

 with the result that a concert 

 grand is almost organ-like in its 

 amplitude of sound. This develop- 

 ment of tone has proceeded on 

 national lines, different countries 

 having different predilections ; 

 what the Frenchman likes does 

 not equally appeal to the German. 



Although to become a concert 

 pianist demands both talent and 

 assiduity, it is nevertheless possi- 

 ble to become reasonably efficient 

 without devoting an excessive 

 amount of time to mastering the 

 instrument. To the average 

 player the piano offers the maxi- 

 mum of return for the minimum of 

 outlay, enabling him to acquire a 

 personal acquaintance with various 

 forms of music. Small wonder is it 

 therefore that scarce a home of 

 comfortable pretensions but can 

 boast the possession of a household 

 instrument. A very large and im- 

 portant trade is the consequence. 

 Piano manufacturers throughout 

 the world turn out their instru- 

 ments by the thousand, and con- 

 currently there is a vast demand 

 for piano music, both original and 

 arranged. This state of things could 

 never have been had the harpsi- 

 chord retained its supremacy. 

 Cristofori's invention, therefore, 

 may be regarded as one of the chief 

 factors in spreading a wider know- 

 ledge of music among the people. 

 See Music ; Organ ; Player Piano ; 

 consult also A Description and 

 History of the Pianoforte and of 

 the Older Keyboard Stringed 

 Instruments, A. J. Hipkins, 1896; 

 History of the Pianoforte, 0. Bio, 

 Eng. trans. E. E. Kellett and E. 

 W. Naylor, 1899. 



Piano Organ. Mechanical 

 musical instrument largely used by 

 itinerant musicians. It has wires 

 and a hammer action like that of a 

 pianoforte, actuated by a pinned 

 barrel of the musical box type. The 

 tone is usually strident and un- 

 sympathetic. See Mechanical 

 Piano ; Musical Box. 



Piassaba. Fibre largely used 

 for making brushes and brooms. 

 It is obtained from two S. American 

 palms, of trhe natural order Palmae. 

 The finer kind, known as Para 

 piassaba, is the envelope of the 

 young leaves of Leopoldinia (Cocos) 

 piassaba, which after it has served 

 its natural purpose hangs down and 

 covers the trunk. The other and 

 coarser kind comes from the leaf 

 bases of Attalea funifera, whose 

 fruits (coquilla nuts) are exten- 

 sively used by the turner for 

 making knobs and other small 

 articles. 



Piastre (It. piasira, plate of 

 metal, also a coin). Name of a 

 Turkish and an Egyptian coin 



Piastre. Obverse and reverse ot 

 tbe Turkish coin. Actual size 



The Turkish coin is silver, divided 

 into 40 paras, and nominally worth 

 about -2Jd. It is coined in J, 1, 5, 

 10, and 20 piastre pieces. Gold 

 pieces of 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 

 piastres are also coined. The 100 

 piastre is called the mejidieh, or 

 Turkish pound (T1 ). There are also 

 copper piastres and sub-divisions. 

 The Egyptian piastre ie worth a 

 little more than the Turkish, and 

 is coined in similar denominations. 

 Piatra. Town of Moldavia, 

 Rumania, chief town of the 

 district of Neamtsu. It is about 

 60 m. S.W. of Jassy, and trades 

 in timber. Pop. 18,000. 



Piatti, ALFREDO CARLO (1822- 

 1901). Italian violoncellist. Born 

 at Bergamo, Jan. 8, 1822, the son 

 of a violinist, 

 he studied at 

 Milan. As a 

 performer on 

 the "cello he 

 appeared in 

 many conti- 

 nental towns 

 before making 

 his debut in 

 London in 



1844 - . In E "g- 

 land his great 



gifts were immediately recognized, 

 and from 1859-97, when he re- 

 tired, he was iirst violoncellist at 

 the Popular Concerts. Piatti wrote 

 songs, chamber music, and pieces 

 for the 'cello. He died July 18, 1901. 



Piauhy. State of N.E. Brazil. 

 It is bounded W. by Maranhao, E. 

 by Ceara and Pernambuco, and S. 

 by Bahia. The river Parnahyba 

 flows along its W. boundary. The 

 surface is mostly a plain, watered 

 by numerous rivers, and stock- 

 raising is the princi-pal industry. 

 Iron, copper, silver, lead, and salt 

 are found, but are little exploited. 

 Cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice, rubber, 

 and dye woods are produced, and 

 cotton-weaving is carried on. The 

 capital is Therezina iq.v. ). The area 

 is 116,523 sq. m. Ppp. 441,350. 



Piave. River of N.E Italy. It 

 rises in the Carnic Alps and flows 

 in a S.E. direction to the Adriatic 

 22 m. N.E. of Venice, after a 

 course of 125 m. At its present 

 mouth is Porto di Cortellazzo : the 

 old mouth is at Porto di Piave 

 Vecchia, nearer Venice. Pron. 

 Pe-ahvay. 



Alfredo Piatti, 



Italian violoncellist 



