Can anyone give me a good one-paragraph history of the piano?
The piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian harpsichord maker. Many before had tried unsuccessfully to invent a “keyed dulicmer”. But it was not until Cristofori invented the escapement (which allows the hammer to fall back slightly from the string after striking) that the “keyed dulcimer”became practical. Essentially he removed the “jack row” from a harpsichord, replacing it with felt dampers, then provided “little hammers” (martellati) covered with leather for the striking mechanisms. Germany’s Andreas Stein and Johann Silberman made further improvements, including larger frames,and more refined actions. Then in England the Broadwood Company introduced the foot pedal, and partial metal frame (1821). Alpheas Babcock in Boston, USA invented the first cast iron frame in 1825, and the currently used method of “cross-stringing”. These improvements along with a few other minor inventions were put into the Steinway of the 1850’s. The piano is arguably the oldest livi
