The eighteenth-century fortepiano grand and its patrons: from Scarlatti to Beethoven

Abstract

In the late 17th century, Italian musician and inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori developed a new musical instrument for his 'cembalo che fa il piano e forte', which allowed keyboard players flexible dynamic gradation. This innovation, which came to be known as the hammer-harpsichord or fortepiano grand, was slow to catch on in musical circles. However, as renowned piano historian Eva Badura-Skoda demonstrates, the instrument inspired new keyboard techniques and performance practices and was eagerly adopted by virtuosos of the age, including Scarlatti, J.S. Bach, Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Collecting a rich array of archival evidence, Badura-Skoda traces the construction and use of the fortepiano grand across the musical cultures of 18th-century Europe, providing a valuable resource for music historians, organologists, and performers.

Contents

Bartolomeo Cristofori -- Giving Cristofori's nuovo cimbalo a name: terminology problems throughout the eighteenth century -- Domenico Scarlatti -- New inventions in Germany, pantalone instruments, and Gottfried Silbermann -- Johann Sebastian Bach and the "piano et forte" -- Pianoforte builders in Germany around 1750 -- The generation of Bach's older sons -- From Alberti, Platti, and Rutini to Eckard and the younger sons of Bach -- Developments in the second half of the century: Johann Andreas Stein and Sebastien Erard -- Joseph Haydn-Wenzel and Johann Schantz, young Mozart and Nannette Stein -- Anton Walter and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- From Broadwood, Merlin, and Clementi to Beethoven -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Scipione Maffei's article of 1711.