> 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 instrumen

> 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.