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The piano was invented about 1700 by an Italian. It was a major improvement over the harpsicord because the volume of each note could be varried. At first only the nobility could aford a piano. Prices graduallly fell. Many affluent families had them by the turn of the 19th century. Later on as the European economies expanded with the Indstrial Revolution, they fell within the buying power of the middle class. By 1850, it was fashionable for middle class families to buy a piano. It became known as "the ladies instrument". It has become in our modern age the introductory instrument into the world of music for children in Europe and America. About 10 million children in America alone take piano lessons.
The piano was invented by a Italian harpsicord maker, Bartolmeo Cristofori (about 1700). He made it for an Italian prince and it was to change the nature of western music for ever. The most important keyboard instrument in Europe at the time was the harpsicord. The harsicord was made of streached metal strings. The musical sound was produced by plucking the strings. It produced beautiful sounds in smll rooms. Thee was, howevr, problem. There was no way the volume of the resulting sound could be altered. The instrument produced by Christofori was fundamentally different. The sound of the new instrument was produced by little hammers striking the strings. The meant that the musuician could now vary the loudness of any note by striking the key attached to each hammer harder or more lightly. Varying the loudness of individual notes greatly increased the richess and the potential variations in musical composition. And it increased the size of the audience that could enjoy the perfomnce. It is no accident that the the great western classical musiciand date from the early-18th century and the appearance of the piano. Europeans were amazed by the new invenion, so radically did it change the music landscape. At first it was named the 'soft loud' or in Italian the 'pianoforte'. Soon this was being shortened to the 'piano', the name by which we know the instrument today.
The piano was at first only affordable to wealthy aristocrats. As it grew in popularity and more was produced, the price of a piano gradually fell. The price by the end of the 18th century had fallen, but it was still only wealthy families that could afford them. The piano was a very important status symbol in European homes. The price was such that it might take an entire years' earnings of a skilled worker to purchase a grand piano. As a result, only wealthy families could afford one. The Industrial Revolution in Europe and America during the 19th century was generating enormous wealth. The earnings of many families by the mid-19th century was many times what their parents earned. The middle class was rapidly expanding. At the same time the price of building a piano had fallen. Most middle class families by the 1850s could afford one and it was a status symbol to possess one and in many cases it became the center of Victorian family life. The production of pianos expanded enormously during the late 19th century. There were hundreds of piano manufacturing companies in America alone. The expanding middle class in America and Europe created an enormous demand. This was in part because before the invention of the phonograph by Thomous Edison in 19??, the piano and other instruments were the only source of music. Companies inspired by competition became so efficent that prices dropped to levels that all but poor families could afford them. Virtually every middle class family that wanted a piano could afford them. Even working class families that carefully managed their income could afford them. Today pianos can be found in millions of homes theought Europe and North America. They are also common in schools, theaters, and schools. Some 20 million children may be taking piano lessons annually.
Pianos have been made in many different shapes and sizes. The most famous was the frand piano with its esentially horizontal design. There were, however, many interesting variations. The giraffe piano appeared about 1809, it was designed to take up little space. It was made with six pedals which could produce different sound effects such as bells and drums. The sewing table piano appeared about 1820. It was reportedly designed for the "educated" woman. It had a soft-playing keyboard, a mirror, and compartments for scissors and other sewing implements.
The piano in the Victorian family was almost always placed in the parlor. Family life centered in the family parlor. Particularly wealthy families might have both a front parlor (for company) and back parlor (for the family). The piano was always placed in the parlor--although I'm not sure which one. Both me and women played the piano, but it was often the mother who played in the home. People in the 19th century expected girls from "good" families to play the piano. Young women used their piano and music skills to attract an eligable husband. They would play all their lives, at churches, social gatherings, for their own pleasure, and perhaps most importantly for the family. The many women's advise books that appeared in the 19th century insisted that a woman should be good at music, dance, needlework, drawing, and manners. It should be remembered that women from "good" families did not at the time work outside the home. Women were not at the time taken seriously. Women writers had to adopt 'pen' names to disguise their gender. Most women stayed at home. Of course it took much more labor to run a 19th century home in the days before modern appliances. Many middle class families could afford hired help. There were few opportunities for girls from poor families in the 19th century beyond domestic service, this did not begin to change until the late-19th century.
T he piano, until the early 1900s, was the primary source of musical entertainment in the home. Think for a second how important music is to children and teenagers and how different their life styles would be if the only source of music was the piano located in the family parlor. This begins to give one the idea of just how important the piano was in the Victorian family.
New inventions in the early 20th century began to dilute the importance of the family piano. The most important were the phonograph, radio, and the movies provided many more opprtunities to hear music--and no muscican was required in the family. Piano manufactures in order to compete, began producing the player piano. No musical training was required. A coded paper roll was added to a piano which could then play automatically. A modern update of the player piano replaces the paper rolls with computer discs. Inventor Harold Rhodes designed a special piano to help servicemen injured in World War II. It was small, so it could be played by bedriden American airmen that were recovering in hospitals. Rhodes used parts from wrecked air planes and named his creation the "Air Corps Piano"> After the War, Rhodes and guitar maker Leo Fender collaborated to make the first electric piano. This instrument by the 1960s was becoming a favored instrument for rock musicians--many protestinf war. Modern electric pianos allow mussicians to create an amazing range of sounds with a single instrument. The modern digital piano no longer has mechanical hammars and strings. Rather a key stroke profuces pre-recorderd notes.
The great composers of classical music come to us beginning in the 18th century. This is primarily because the nature of European music waas so powerfully affected by the new piano. The range and diversity of piano composers is notable for the diversity of music that could be performed pn the instrument. It is interesting to note how early performers and composers were treated like modern rock stars. Some of the modern social trends in westen life such as the emancipation of women and Civil Rights in America can be observed in the history of the piano and notable performers and composers. Some of the most renowned musicians include:
Blake (1883-1963): Eubie Blake composed a new style of ragtime that led to modern jazz. He wrote songs for Broadway musicals and shows. He was one of a new generation of black muscicians and composers which made a profound contribution to American life in the years after the Civilmwar (1861-65). Black mussicians, usually with no academic training, created new styles of music using different rhythms. This outpouring of talent led to jazz, gospel, and ragtime--a lively dance music. There were great limitations on Blacks in American even after emancipation. Music was the first area in which blacks broke through the restrictions under which they labored. All of this grew up around the piano.
Liszt (1811-86): Franz Liszt (pronounced "List") was the first musician to play a solo concert with the new piano. He eventually composed more than 600 piano pieces--an incrediable accomplishment. The public reacted to List as a modern rock star. When he performed people wept and women fainted. Women through flowerw and jewelry onto the stage and collected his cigar butts.
John (1947- ): Perhaps the most highly regarded modern piano player is rock star Elton John. He has been a leading performer and composer for most of te late 20th century, since the mid-1970s. He is know for hios contribution to charities and gave one of this most moving performances at the funeral of Princess Dianne, a piece based on one of his most famous compositions, Candals in the Wind.
Liberace (1919-87): Liberace was famous for his showmanship. He gave glitering concernts, dressing himself and his piano in rhinestones and other glitering decorations. While often rediculed, he was in fact a brilliant performer.
Mozart (1756-91): One of the most famous was Wofganf Amadeus Mozart. He is renowned as one of the most brilliant piano player and composer. He was a child prodigy and was giving concerts by the age of 4 years, with his sister Nannerl. His sister may have been as gifted as her brother--but because of her gender could not pursue her career.
Schumann (1819-96): Despite the fact that the piano became known as the woman's instrument, few women composed or performed musical works in public. This was primarily because the work of women was not taken seriously and it was not considered appropriate for women from good families to perform in public. (One exception was Mozart's sister Nannerl, but tyhis was because she perforned with her brother--she almost certainly would not have been allowed to do this on her own.) The first noted woman composer was Clara Wieck Schumann. Schumann had to overcome the prevailing prejudices if the 19th centuiry. Women of good character were not expected to perform on stage. The public also assumed that women could not play as well as a man. Schumann was, however, so talented that she could not be ignored. She was also aided by her personal contacts in promoting the career of her famous husband--composer Robert Schumann.
The piano became in our modern age the introductory instrument into the world of music for children in Europe and America. About 10 million children in America alone take piano lessons at the turn of the 20th century. The piano in the 18th century was played by a select few. Many of the players were artyistocratic women who only performed in court circles. Europe in the 19th century, howevet, underwent one of the most profound changes in human history. The Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the most minute aspects of everyday life styles. Enormous fortunes were created and millions of families in Europe and American entered the middle class. Many earnedf incomes far above what their parents had even dreamed of. Victorian families entering the middle class want to show off their new status. One popular item was a piano in the parlor. Mothers ruling the home life of the Victorian family aspired to nt only have a piano, but tp introduce culture into their family. As many played the piano, they taught the children. By the mid-19th century, far more boys were taking musical lessons than ever before. If the mothers did not play, the children were signed uop for piano lessons. The piano was the most common instrument for children to enter the music world. This trend only intensified throughout the rest of the 19th century. It should be noted that these lessons were far more impotant in a Victorian child's life than is immediately apparent. The amazing diversity of activities open to the modern boy (Scouts, Little League, as well as home entertaiment like television, CDs, computers and computer games) were not available to the 19th century child. Technological changes after the turn of the 20 century changed the role of the piano in the modern home. The family parlor piano was no longer the only source of music. Mothers continued, however, to insist that their children take music lessons. Pianno was a favorite, but other instruments competed with the piano.
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