Famous Instruments in History: Mozart's Fortepiano

Blogger: Amber Lemus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Public Domain

Today, in our journey to explore the most famous instruments in history, we find a familiar name. The name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is so well known that I doubt any of you have NEVER heard of him. But did you know that he had a pet instrument during the most successful phase of his life?

Mozart was a child prodigy when it came to music. By age five, he was already proficient on the piano and violin and even performed before European royalty. Mozart's father, Leopold, was a musician and a teacher who had written a violin textbook that became successful. However, when his young son started composing, and he began to see how talented he was, he just gave up composing his own music altogether. I couldn't help but laugh when I discovered that, as I have a five-year-old who is also talented... not to the level of Mozart, obviously, but I could relate to the feeling of giving up on your own talent and just investing in your child's. 

Although a musical genius, Mozart struggled financially for most of his life.  After he resigned from a low-paying commission at the Salzburg Court, he wandered for some time seeking employment but was largely disappointed. He became so financially desperate that he started to pawn off valuables. He was paid here and there for compositions but had nothing consistent. Finally, his father procured for him a commission as court organist and concertmaster with the Archbishop Colloredo. This appointment paid better, but Mozart was still dissatisfied with his life in Salzburg. 

His employer was very jealous of Mozart's talent and tried to prevent him from performing outside of his establishment. This created tension between Mozart and the Archbishop. 

In 1781, Mozart was summoned to Vienna, where his employer was attending celebrations and wanted his musical servant at his disposal. While there, Mozart was intent on introducing himself to the emperor, still believing that he was meant for more than just a pet composer to an archbishop. 

Eventually, he did make the acquaintance of the Emperor and impressed him. Soon, Mozart was presented with the opportunity to perform before the emperor for a fee that was equal to half his yearly salary with the archbishop. This resulted in a bitter quarrel between Mozart and his employer. He attempted to resign, but was refused. About a month later, permission to resign was finally granted, but in the most insulting way possible, with the archbishop's steward literally kicking him on the way out. 

Mozart's father had sided with his employer during the feud, which put their relationship in a difficult state as well. But Mozart was passionate about his desire to stay in Vienna and to continue as a freelance composer and performer. This was a bold move for Mozart at twenty-five years old, but it was one he would not regret. He began to make a name for himself in Vienna, and seemed much happier there. 

In 1782, Mozart purchased a fortepiano from Anton Walter. Anton was a skilled craftsman who was well-known for his instruments. He is known as the "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time." Other composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn also purchased instruments from him. 

Mozart's Walter Fortepiano 
By Bapak Alex - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Walter fortepiano quickly became Mozart's favorite instrument. It was upon this fortepiano that many of his most successful pieces would be composed and played. He often used this instrument when performing. His own father, Leopold, put it this way:

"It is impossible to describe the hustle and bustle. Your brother's pianoforte has been moved at least twelve times from his house to the theatre or to someone else's house."

It is said that the sound from this fortepiano awed and entranced his audience. They marveled at the beautiful sound. 

The two surviving sons of
Wolfgang Amadeus and Constanze Mozart,
Franz and Karl.
by Hans Hansen - Public Domain 

Mozart continued to use this fortepiano until his death in 1791, composing over 50 pieces with this instrument as his partner.


After his death, no one knows for sure where the instrument was housed until Mozart's wife gave the instrument to their oldest son, Karl in 1810. Karl would have been only seven years old when his father passed away and so treasured the piece. In 1856, Karl Mozart donated his father's precious fortepiano to the Cathedral Music Association and Mozarteum in honor of what would have been his father's 100th birthday.

Today, Mozart's fortepiano exhibits in the Mozart family home in Salzburg, where he was born. The home is now a museum, therefore a fitting place for his beloved instrument, even if their life together had been in Vienna.

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Lemus inspires hearts through enthralling tales She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at http://www.amberlemus.com/  and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter! 

Famous Instruments in History: The "Arpicembalo" by Bartolomeo Cristofori

Blogger: Amber Lemus

Today in our series on famous instruments in history, we come to the "Arpicembalo" by Bartolomeo Cristofori, otherwise known as the first piano ever invented. 

Bartolomeo Cristofori
Public Domain

Bartolomeo Cristofori was born in Padua in the Republic of Venice on May 4, 1655. His early life is a mystery, although we do know that he was recorded as a member of the household of Nicola Amati in the1680 census, which has led some to believe that he was apprenticed under this famous Violin maker. 

Bartolomeo's story really begins in 1688 at the age of thirty-three. Prince Ferdenando de Medici was searching for a new technician to maintain his many instruments. His previous technician had recently died, and the prince was well-known as a lover and patron of music. How he came across Bartolomeo is quite unknown and not recorded in any history. However, he recruited Cristofori as his new technician, persuading him to take the job with a high salary. According to an interview for a journal at the time, which is one of the only insights we have into Cristofori's life, he really didn't want the job, but Prince Ferdenando de Medici was insistent on wanting no one else but him. Circumstantial evidence indicates that the Prince must have known him as not only a skilled musical technician, but also as a tinkerer and inventor. 

At any rate, Cristofori did accept the job and moved to Florence a month or two later to begin his work. While there, he maintained, transported instruments, kept them in tune, did restoration work on older harpsichords, and on top of all that, experimented with his own instruments. 

The first official record we have of what is known today as the Piano was from an inventory list of the Medici in 1700 which stated: 

An "Arpicembalo" by Bartolomeo Cristofori, of new invention that produces soft and loud, with two sets of strings at unison pitch, with soundboard of cypress without rose..."

Another document referring to this instrument had a note in the margins from the musicians of the Medici court:

 These are the ways in which it is possible to play the Arpicimbalo del piano e forte, invented by Master Bartolomeo Christofani [sic] of Padua in the year 1700, harpsichord maker to the Most Serene Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany. (transl. Stewart Pollens)

It is from this longer reference to the instrument, the Arpicimbalo del piano e forte, that we took "piano forte" and later just "piano" for this instrument. Cristofori went on to make many pianos, selling some of them to high-profile patrons such as the king of Portugal.  Cristofori outlived Prince Ferdenando de Medici but continued working for the Medici court for some time afterward. He also apprenticed a young man by the name of Giovanni Ferrini, who went on to become a famous instrument maker himself, continuing his master's legacy. However, Cristofori and his apprentice must have had a bit of a falling out before his death, because rather than Ferrini assisting him in his sickness and end-of-life care, it was a group of sisters he referred to as the "Dal Mela sisters". He changed his will from bequeathing all his tools to Ferrini and instead left almost everything to the sisters and only a small sum for his apprentice. 

Cristofori died at the age of seventy-five on January 27, 1731, in Florence. 

We don't know how many instruments Cristofori crafted during his lifetime, but three of his pianos still survive today, including this one from the Metropolitan Museum in New York which was made in 1720.

The 1720 Cristofori piano in the Metropolitan Museum in New York
By Shriram Rajagopalan
 - Flickr: Met-32, CC BY 2.0, 

As a lover of piano music and an amateur player myself, I am grateful to Barolomeo Cristofori for his contribution to the world of music through the invention of this beautiful instrument.

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Lemus inspires hearts through enthralling tales She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at http://www.amberlemus.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

The Piano – A Conglomeration of Music

 

By Suzanne Norquist

The mere silhouette of a piano fills our minds with various melodies. It seems like pianos have been around forever. However, the ones we recognize weren’t invented until the 1700s. After that, they went through numerous refinements.

A piano is a stringed instrument, like a harp—with strings hit by hammers, like a dulcimer—and hammers operated with keys, like a pipe organ. It produces both loud and soft sounds, which makes it unique. The piano was initially called the pianoforte, combining the Italian words for soft (piano) and loud (forte). The term was later shortened to piano.

A form of the pipe organ, which inspired the piano’s keyboard, has been around since the third century BCE. It essentially allowed someone to play more than one wind instrument at a time, each pipe representing a different instrument. Greek and Hebrew cultures as well as the Roman Empire used organs. 

On a dulcimer, strings are hit by small hammers to create sounds in a resonating box. This mechanism is used in modern pianos.

The dulcimer appears to have originated in the Middle East, perhaps five thousand years ago. People throughout the ancient world played it. The instrument evolved over time, creating a greater dynamic range. In 1690, a German musician designed an extra-large one for himself, four times the regular size, nine feet long with an extra soundboard.

Another ancestor of the piano was the clavichord. This stringed instrument used a keyboard to strike a string with a brass rod. This was considered an improvement over the pipe organ. Clavichords are small and unable to produce a big sound, making them only useful in small rooms or as practice instruments.

Clavichords appeared in the fourteenth century and were popular in the Renaissance Era.

Harpsicords, created in Italy around 1500, are shaped like pianos but function quite differently. Pressing the keys causes the strings to be plucked by a quill. They are louder than clavichords but produce sound in a limited volume range. 

Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian instrument maker, invented the first piano. He was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. To overcome the harpsichord's shortcomings, he switched out the plucking mechanism with hammers (like the dulcimer) that would hit the strings and gently return to their original position. The strings could produce sounds at different volumes based on how hard the musician pressed the keys, the first of its kind.

It's unclear exactly when he built the first pianoforte. One appeared on an inventory made by his employer in 1700.

Other instrument makers copied Cristofori’s pianoforte, making changes along the way. Gottfried Silbermann built his own version and had Johann Sebastian Bach offer suggestions. At first, Bach criticized it, saying that the higher notes were too soft.

Silbermann made changes. Bach liked the revised piano so much that he served as an agent selling them.

Over time, others made improvements, including the number of keys and the shape. Eventually, frames were crafted from cast iron, and it became the instrument we use today.

Who knew that playing the piano involved so much history? And I love the songs that go from loud to soft and back again. Forte—piano—forte, all in one instrument. Thank you, Mr. Cristofori.

***

”Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away? 

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.