History of the Piano 1700 Bartolomeo Cristoforis new

History of the Piano

1700 Bartolomeo Cristofori's "new invention" of the piano e forte recorded, Florence, Italy

1711 Scipione Maffei publishes a journal article about the piano

1716 Jean Marius submits hammer-keyboard designs to Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris

1721 Christoph Gottlieb Schröter submits hammer-keyboard designs to the Saxon Court, Dresden

1725 Translation of Maffei's article into German stimulates widespread interest in pianos Pianos first advertised in Vienna

1730 s Pianos known to be in Portuguese and Spanish courts

1730 Kirkman piano makers founded in London, England

1732 First published piano music, by Ludovico Giustini

1739 Domenico del Mela builds earliest known upright piano, Gagliano, Italy

1740 George Frederic Handel plays on a piano, London, England

1747 J. S. Bach plays a Silberman piano at the Prussian Court, Potsdam, and composes the Musical Offering

1750 s Pianos advertised for sale in France

1753 -62 C. P. E. Bach: Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments published

1760 s Pianos derived from Cristofori built in Spain and Portugal

1767 Early public piano performances, one by Johann Christian Bach, London

1768 First public piano performance in Paris

1771 Americus Backers produces the English grand piano, London

1771 Earliest reported public piano performance in North America by David Propert, Boston

1771 Robert Stodart takes out a patent using the name "Grand" to describe his instrument. This was the first known use of the word "Grand" in a patent.

1773 First public piano performance in New York

1774 John Joseph Merlin comes to England introduces the "Una Corda Pedal" which moved the action to one side just hitting two strings instead of three, making the piano quieter. *first pedal invented*

1779 Muzio Clementi publishes his first piano sonatas, London

1780 s Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach publishes series of sonatas and fantasias for piano Haydn takes up the piano

1780 Anton Walter making pianos, including one for Mozart, in Vienna

1781 Mozart and Clementi 'duel' in Vienna

1783 English piano manufacturer Broadwood is credited with the invention of the sustain pedal. *second pedal invented*

1784 -6 Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 14 -25 composed

1794 -5 Haydn: 'London' piano sonatas and trios composed

1795 Beethoven: 3 Piano Trios, Op. 1 and 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 published

1797 First piano magazine, The Pianoforte, London

1800 John Isaac Hawkins of Philadelphia makes small uprights

1801 Edward Riley obtains a patent for a transposing piano, in which the keyboard moved laterally, allowing keys to work on different notes Challen Pianos London was established. Their clam to fame is that they made the worlds largest grand: twelve feet long

1817 Thomas Broadwood, London presents a grand piano to Beethoven, Vienna

1820 First successful use of metal in grand piano frame by Thom and Allen, London

1823 Jonas Chickering begins making pianos in Boston

1826 Henri Pape patents use of felt for hammer covering, Paris Robert Wornum patents tape-check action, the basis for modern uprights, London

1828 Ignaz Bösendorfer begins making pianos, Vienna

1828 Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte published.

1833 Chopin: Études Op. 10 published

1837 Knabe Company established, Baltimore

1839 Czerny: The Compete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op. 500 published Liszt establishes the solo recital, performing from memory and without assisting artists

1843 Chickering patents one-piece metal frame for grands

1848 Debain invents an automatic mechanical piano, Paris

1853 Steinway & Sons, New York established *this is still one of the most popular piano companies today. Steinway pianos are considered very elite*

1853 Chickering builds new factory, second largest building in U. S.

1854 Mason & Hamlin established in Boston

1856 Wurlitzer Company established, Chicago *along with Steinway, this company Is another very elite and classical piano company*

1859 Henry Steinway, Jr. patents crossstringing for grands

1862 At London Exposition, Steinway wins a medal with cross-strung grand

1862 Baldwin established in Cincinnati, Ohio *along with Steinway and Wurlitzer, Baldwin is another very elite piano company*

1867 Chickering and Steinway win the top prizes at Paris Exposition

1872 Theodore Steinway patents the duplex scale to enrich the tone

1874 Albert Steinway patents the sostenuto pedal (middle pedal on modern grands)

1874 Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition originally composed for piano

1885 Aeolian Organ & Music Co. founded to make automatic organs, later automatic pianos

1899 Torakusu Yamaha begins making pianos, Japan

1899 Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag published

1900 Baldwin wins grand prize at Paris Exposition

1901 Welte-Mignon builts a player-piano mechanism, Freiburg, Germany

1904 American piano manufacturers make bonfire of square pianos, Atlantic City

1905 The Juilliard School founded

1908 American Piano Co. founded, incorporates Chickering, Knabe, Weber, Haines Brothers, and others National Association of Piano Tuners founded

1910 Steinway & Sons moves its factory entirely from Manhattan to Astoria, Long Island NY

1910 Broadwood among the first British piano makers to make player pianos

1919 156, 000 regular pianos and 180, 000 player pianos manufactured in U. S.

1923 Jelly Roll Morton's first recordings, Chicago

1924 Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue premiered

1927 Koichi Kawai leaves Yamaha and starts his own firm, Japan

1928 Earl "Fatha" Hines records Apex Blues, Weather Bird

1929 Neo-Bechstein, electric piano with electromagnetic pickups to amplify struck strings

1933 Art Tatum's first professional solo recordings

1940 John Cage: Bacchanale, first “prepared” piano piece

1953 Liberace wins 2 Emmy Awards for network television programs

1958 Van Cliburn wins Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, first American to do so.

1960 Harold Rhodes develops the electric piano (Fender-Rhodes)

1966 Bösendorfer, Vienna, acquired by Kimball, Chicago

1968 Young Chang begins making pianos, Inchon, S. Korea

1969 Japanese piano production exceeds that of all other countries combined Yamaha is Japan's largest producer

1972 CBS buys Steinway & Sons

1980 s Development of computerized player pianos, Bösendorfer, Yamaha, Baldwin, and others

1985 A group of Boston businessmen buys Steinway & Sons from CBS

1990 Young Chang buys Kurzweil Music Systems, American maker of electronic keyboards

1995 Steinway and Selmer merge into Steinway Musical Instruments Baldwin buys Wurlitzer and Chickering

1998 Broadwood celebrates their 270 th anniversary

2000 The year 2000 marks the 300 th year of piano manufacturing Piano 300 exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

2001 Baldwin files for bankruptcy

2002 Gibson purchases Baldwin Piano Co. , including the Chickering and Wurlitzer names.

2002 Bosendorfer purchased by Austrian banking group and releases Porsche Design 7 foot grand

2003 Steinway celebrates its 150 th anniversary at Carnegie Hall in New York

2003 Bluthner releases its "left-handed" or "backwards" grand piano - with the treble keys, hammers and strings on the left and the bass on the right. Many ask “Why? ”

2003 Grotrian (Germany) introduces its Duo Grand Piano - 2 grand pianos placed side by side with keyboards at opposite ends, as in a duo piano concert, with connected soundboards and a common lid.

Grotrian Duo Grand Piano

2005 Steinway announces to move production of some of the Essex models to the Pearl River Factory in China.

2006 Schulze Pollman partners with Ferrari Motor Cars to launch limited edition piano

Piano parts and info 88 Keys (except for Bösendorfer) Bass notes have 1 string, Tenor notes have 2, and Treble notes have 3 for 236 total strings 160 to 200 pounds on each Total of 35, 000 lbs. !