{"id":28114,"date":"2015-05-04T08:41:35","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T12:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=28114"},"modified":"2015-05-04T08:48:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T12:48:23","slug":"the-scoop-google-doodle-honours-piano-inventer-bartolomeo-cristofori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2015\/05\/04\/the-scoop-google-doodle-honours-piano-inventer-bartolomeo-cristofori\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | Google Doodle Honours Piano Inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Google\u2019s
Google\u2019s doodle celebrates the 360th birthday of Bartolomeo Cristofori, the man widely credited with inventing the piano. Photo: Google<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Google\u00a0has featured a new\u00a0doodle today in honour of\u00a0the 360th birthday of Bartolomeo Cristofori \u2013 the man believed to have invented the piano.<\/p>\n

Bartolomeo Cristofori was born in Padua (in the then Republic of Vienna) on May 4, 1655. Little is known about\u00a0his early life, but some accounts state he got his start as an instrument inventor after being\u00a0hired by the Tusan\u00a0Prince, Ferdinando de Medici<\/a>,\u00a0a well-known music lover who was looking for someone\u00a0to look after his instrument collection and invent new ones.<\/p>\n

Under the prince, Cristofori invented a Spinettone \u2013 a broad, multi-choired harpsichord in which the strings are slanted to save space. The his second invention was an oval spinet<\/a>, which was a type of\u00a0harpsichord\u00a0with the long strings set in the middle, rather than on the left side.<\/p>\n

In 1709 (est.) Cristofori invented the che fa’ il piano, e il forte, <\/em>a term which was gradually truncated to become \u201cFortepiano” \u2013\u00a0which was able to play both loud (It. forte) and\u00a0soft (It. piano).<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ‘Arpicembalo’ by Bartolomeo Cristofori, of new invention that produces soft and loud, with two sets of strings at unison pitch, with soundboard of cypress without rose…”<\/p>\n

The ability was attributed to a\u00a0special hammer action which allowed the keyboard instrument to play volume\u00a0dynamics, which had never been done in a keyboard instrument.<\/p>\n

\"Pianoforte
Pianoforte Cristofori Escapement Action Photo: Keith Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sadly, during his lifetime Cristofori never received recognition for his intention. In an article published in 1711, it stated that the piano sounded\u00a0too “soft” and “dull” compared to other\u00a0competing keyboards such as the harpsichord. It wasn\u2019t until 1770 when square pianos utilizing Cristofori\u2019s basic designs were developed, that they realized how vital\u00a0Cristofori’s action was to the design.<\/p>\n

The doodle-creator Leon Hong said on the Google doodle blog that he hopes \u201cpeople decide to do more research after playing with the doodle and learn more about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The link can be found online\u00a0today only<\/a>. You can see the\u00a0doodle archived in\u00a0the video below:<\/p>\n