History of Harmony

Consider that Gottfried Silbermann, an organ builder, constructed the piano with a small, yet important, personal touch-a foot pedal. For todays pianos, the foot pedal is standard and often very important. By 1747, Silbermann pianos were even accepted by the famous Johann Sebastian Bach. By the late 1700’s, pianos were growing even more popular. Viennese makers produced wooden pianos that had what we know to be opposite key colors (black for the primary keys, and white for the accents).

(http://www.philharmonia.org/learn-and-listen/baroque-instruments/harpsichord/) The demand for the harpsichord was steady until the 18th century when it was replaced by the fortepiano. The transition was complete by the ear... ... middle of paper ... ...and a heavier case and also a very slender and responsive spruce soundboard. The Italian makers made only single-manual instruments that were very light in construction and very little string tension. (http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/harpsichord-history) Sometime around the middle of the 16th century is when the first music was written specifically for a solo harpsichordist. There were a lot of harpsichord composers during the Baroque era in Italy, Germany and France.

This long name was shortened to pianoforte, and then eventually forte was dropped, and now these modern instruments are known as pianos. As the keeper of instruments in Prince Ferdinand’s court in Florence, Cristofori reinvented the harpsichord into the piano. The actual date that he created the piano is unknown, but

In the first movement of his Kegelstatt Trio for Clarinet, Piano, and Viola K. 498, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart hints at various styles and topics, such as sensibility and sturm und drang, overall creating an intimate vivid experience for both the performers and the listeners. Before this trio was composed, the combination of clarinet, viola, and piano was unheard of. Classical piano trios at this time primarily included a high melodic instrument, as well as a bass instrument; the common violin cello piano trio for example. This instrumentation however, includes two instruments that primarily take melodic soloistic roles, leaving out a prominent bass voice that one has come to expect. This unique combination can likely be attributed to the performers

HISTORY AND ORIGINATORS OF KEYBOARD BAROQUE PERIOD Harpsichord (Italian cembalo; French clavecin), stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are plucked to produce sound. It was developed in Europe in the 14th or 15th century and was widely used from the 16th to the early 19th century, when it was superseded by the piano. In the 20th century the harpsichord was revived for performance of music of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as well as for new compositions. The incisive sound quality of the plucked metal strings adds clarity to melodic lines. The harpsichord is particularly effective in performing contrapuntal music—that is, music that consists of two or more melodies played at the same time, such as that of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

It’s also the only piano concerto that have soloist playing with the orchestra after the cadenza. Typical first movement of a classical concerto will be presented in sonata form (sometimes the ritornello form will be combined). The concerto starts with an orchestral exposition or a ritornello and followed by a solo exposition. It’s possible that the two expositions start with different themes. The expositions will be followed by development and recapitulation.

Concertos normally consisted of between six and twenty strings, with an organ, harpsichord and archlute. In 1686, Torelli wrote the first piece that did not include voices. It was titled Concerto da camera a due violini e basso; thi... ... middle of paper ... ...: Novello Co., LTD., 1946. Dorian, Frederick. The History of Music in Performance.

Even Queen Elizabeth herself played the Virginal. Next came the Spinet, which, similarly to the Virginal, used quills to vibrate the strings. The idea of a square pianoforte was likely to have been come from the Spinet, The Harpsichord, which was of a slightly similar shape to the modern grand piano, came after the Spinet. It used crow-quills connected to a key by means of a “jack” to play the strings. It had two keyboards; with one an octave higher than the other.

The Harpsichord was the main instrument that kept the constant beat th... ... middle of paper ... ...he differences now than before is that Baroque music is structure on a bass voice. Bass voices were called Basso Continuo which consists of bass part together with figures underneath each note which identify the chord to be performed above it. This was mainly performed with two instruments the harpsichord and organ which played basso continuo that makes up the chord. Basso continuo wasn’t only new effect in the Baroque era. Chromatic was then introduced.

Harpsichord has the string which is plucked by a small plectrum, originally of quill. The variety of sound from these plucked instruments is achieved not primarily by finger pressure, but more subtly by phrasing and articulation. Variety of tonal color can be obtained, on a harpsichord by judicious choice of registration. Cristofori Pianoforte - The year 1709 is the one most sources give for the appearance of an instrument which can truly be called a "Pianoforte." The writer Scipione Maffei...