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"The scale and unprecedented force of his playing demanded stronger technology from piano makers – his recitals often required two pianos, as the first was like

by rifung 10y ago

"The scale and unprecedented force of his playing demanded stronger technology from piano makers – his recitals often required two pianos, as the first was likely to be destroyed in performance." Having only played on a modern piano, I can't even imagine how this is possible..

scrumper 10y ago
Modern pianos are pretty marvelous things. Think about just the tension the huge number of strings applies to the chassis. Then the force a hand is capable of delivering to the keys, with their delicate linkages connecting them to the hammers. Then think about 19th century furniture-making techniques.
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  String tension across the frame of a grand piano is around 17 tons. If a frame cracked and imploded it would probably kill someone. The modern piano sound is a direct result of that metal frame combined with three string courses for most of the range. Piano design didn't really mature until around 1850. So a lot of the most famous classical piano music was composed on not-quite-there yet prototype instruments with a thinner and less powerful sound, and sometimes also a less sensitive action. My gf had to play a vintage antique fortepiano in a production last year, and the solo sound is closer to a fat harpsichord with better dynamics and slightly random tuning than a modern piano. It's what Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn would have played: they literally never heard their music on a modern instrument.
  - antognini 10y ago
    > Piano design didn't really mature until around 1850. So a lot of the most famous classical piano music was composed on not-quite-there yet prototype instruments with a thinner and less powerful sound, and sometimes also a less sensitive action. This is really apparent in the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. In the original instructions, the pedal was to be held throughout the entire piece. On a piano of Beethoven's time, that would lead each chord to blend into the next without overpowering it. But if you try to do that on a modern piano, the tones are sustained for so long that all the chords get muddled together and the result is a mess.
erez 10y ago
I've seen a few concerts with "fortepiano"s. They needed to be retuned during the performance and looked very diminutive and fragile compared to a modern piano.

by rifung 10y ago

scrumper 10y ago

Modern pianos are pretty marvelous things. Think about just the tension the huge number of strings applies to the chassis. Then the force a hand is capable of delivering to the keys, with their delicate linkages connecting them to the hammers. Then think about 19th century furniture-making techniques.

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
String tension across the frame of a grand piano is around 17 tons. If a frame cracked and imploded it would probably kill someone. The modern piano sound is a direct result of that metal frame combined with three string courses for most of the range. Piano design didn't really mature until around 1850. So a lot of the most famous classical piano music was composed on not-quite-there yet prototype instruments with a thinner and less powerful sound, and sometimes also a less sensitive action. My gf had to play a vintage antique fortepiano in a production last year, and the solo sound is closer to a fat harpsichord with better dynamics and slightly random tuning than a modern piano. It's what Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn would have played: they literally never heard their music on a modern instrument.
- antognini 10y ago
  > Piano design didn't really mature until around 1850. So a lot of the most famous classical piano music was composed on not-quite-there yet prototype instruments with a thinner and less powerful sound, and sometimes also a less sensitive action. This is really apparent in the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. In the original instructions, the pedal was to be held throughout the entire piece. On a piano of Beethoven's time, that would lead each chord to blend into the next without overpowering it. But if you try to do that on a modern piano, the tones are sustained for so long that all the chords get muddled together and the result is a mess.

erez 10y ago

I've seen a few concerts with "fortepiano"s. They needed to be retuned during the performance and looked very diminutive and fragile compared to a modern piano.