The Early Pianoforte

This is the first comprehensive study of the history and technology of the early piano.

Stewart Pollens (Author)

9780521111553, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 May 2009

320 pages, 158 b/w illus. 24 tables
24.6 x 18.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.57 kg

'... excellent ... an important addition to an excellent series.' Galpin Society Journal

This is the first comprehensive historical and technological study of the pianoforte based on important primary source material. Most histories of the piano begin with its invention by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence in about 1700: this study begins with the earliest fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscript sources and extends over Cristofori's rediscovery of the principle of the hammer action, the early exportation of Florentine pianofortes to prominent European courts, and the building of copies of these instruments in Portugal, Spain and Germany. Technical information is presented in a comparative format and the text is illustrated with many photographs, measurements, line drawings and tables. While written primarily for the technical specialist, there is much here of significance for the history of the piano and performance practice.

Introduction
1. The Manuscript of Arnaut of Zwolle and the Pianoforte of the Fifteenth Century
2. The Bonafinis Spinet: An Early Tangent Pianoforte
3. The Gravecembalo col piano e forte of Bartolomeo Cristofori
4. The Florentine School after Cristofori
5. The Iberian Pianoforte
6. The Pianoforte in Germany
7. The Pianoforte in France
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Keyboard instruments [AVRG]