Fortepiano

Хамерклавір

Audio: Fortepiano

The fortepiano is the early predecessor of the modern grand piano from the Classical era. The instrument for which Mozart and Beethoven wrote.

The fortepiano, or early hammer-action piano, is a historical type of piano of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the direct predecessor of the modern instrument. It was precisely the invention of the hammer mechanism (Bartolomeo Cristofori, c. 1700) that made it possible to play both loud (forte) and soft (piano) depending on the force of the touch — hence the name “pianoforte.”

Compared with the modern grand, the fortepiano is lighter, has a wooden frame, and a quieter, more transparent sound with a fast decay and vivid differences between registers. It was precisely for it that Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven created their music. With the revival of authentic performance, musicians have returned to the fortepiano to hear the Classical sonatas and concertos as contemporaries heard them — with an inimitable clarity, lightness, and chamber intimacy of sound.

Cultural Versus

Fortepiano

Sub-category:: keyboards

The fortepiano is the early predecessor of the modern grand piano from the Classical era. The instrument for which Mozart and Beethoven wrote.

50%similarity

Didgeridoo

Sub-category:: brass

The didgeridoo is a traditional wind instrument of the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia; the earliest rock-art depictions date from roughly the last 1,500 years. A long tube that produces a droning, meditative sound.