Misplaced Pages

#278721

165-414: The sonata's name comes from Beethoven's occasional practice of using German rather than Italian words for musical terminology. In 1816 Beethoven sought advice on a German word that could replace pianoforte (or fortepiano ), and after considering various possibilities chose Hammerklavier (literally "hammer-keyboard"). Beethoven titled the work "Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier", meaning "Grand sonata for

330-561: A grand piano , the frame and strings are horizontal, with the strings extending away from the keyboard. The action lies beneath the strings and uses gravity as its means of return to a state of rest. Grand pianos range in length from approximately 1.5–3 m (4 ft 11 in – 9 ft 10 in). Some of the lengths have been given more-or-less customary names, which vary from time to time and place to place, but might include: All else being equal, longer pianos with longer strings have larger, richer sound and lower inharmonicity of

495-580: A loudspeaker . The electric pianos that became most popular in pop and rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Fender Rhodes use metal tines in place of strings and use electromagnetic pickups similar to those on an electric guitar . The resulting electrical, analogue signal can then be amplified with a keyboard amplifier or electronically manipulated with effects units . In classical music, electric pianos are mainly used as inexpensive rehearsal or practice instruments. Electric pianos, particularly

660-410: A pedal keyboard at the base, designed to be played by the feet. The pedals may play the existing bass strings on the piano, or rarely, the pedals may have their own set of bass strings and hammer mechanisms. While the typical intended use for pedal pianos is to enable a keyboardist to practice pipe organ music at home, a few players of pedal piano use it as a performance instrument. Wadia Sabra had

825-408: A Dutchman, Americus Backers , to design a piano in the harpsichord case—the origin of the "grand". This was achieved by about 1777. They quickly gained a reputation for the splendour and powerful tone of their instruments, with Broadwood constructing pianos that were progressively larger, louder, and more robustly constructed. They sent pianos to both Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven , and were

990-414: A built-in amp and speaker). Alternatively, a person can play an electronic piano with headphones in quieter settings. Digital pianos are also non-acoustic and do not have strings or hammers. They use digital audio sampling technology to reproduce the acoustic sound of each piano note accurately. They also must be connected to a power amplifier and speaker to produce sound (however, most digital pianos have

1155-437: A built-in amp and speaker). Alternatively, a person can practise with headphones to avoid disturbing others. Digital pianos can include sustain pedals, weighted or semi-weighted keys, multiple voice options (e.g., sampled or synthesized imitations of electric piano, Hammond organ , violin , etc.), and MIDI interfaces. MIDI inputs and outputs connect a digital piano to other electronic instruments or musical devices. For example,

1320-405: A contemplative episode beginning at bar 152 featuring the subject in retrograde , leading to an exploration of the theme in inversion at bar 209. The work was perceived as almost unplayable but was nevertheless seen as the summit of piano literature since its very first publication. Completed in 1818, it is often considered to be Beethoven's most technically challenging piano composition and one of

1485-488: A demonstration of compositional expertise. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck , Girolamo Frescobaldi , Johann Jakob Froberger and Dieterich Buxtehude all wrote fugues. Fugues were incorporated into a variety of musical genres , and are found in most of George Frideric Handel 's oratorios . Keyboard suites from this time often conclude with a fugal gigue . Domenico Scarlatti has only a few fugues among his corpus of over 500 harpsichord sonatas. The French overture featured

1650-475: A digital piano's MIDI out signal could be connected by a patch cord to a synth module , which would allow the performer to use the keyboard of the digital piano to play modern synthesizer sounds. Early digital pianos tended to lack a full set of pedals, but the synthesis software of later models such as the Yamaha Clavinova series synthesised the sympathetic vibration of the other strings (such as when

1815-622: A few decades of use. Beginning in 1961, the New York branch of the Steinway firm incorporated Teflon , a synthetic material developed by DuPont , for some parts of its Permafree grand action in place of cloth bushings, but abandoned the experiment in 1982 due to excessive friction and a "clicking" that developed over time; Teflon is "humidity stable" whereas the wood adjacent to the Teflon swells and shrinks with humidity changes, causing problems. More recently,

SECTION 10

#1732863247279

1980-401: A few notes near the beginning). When the answer is an exact transposition of the subject into the new key, the answer is classified as a real answer ; alternatively, if the intervals of the subject are altered in any way, the answer is a tonal answer . When the subject begins with a prominent dominant note, or when there is a prominent dominant note very close to the beginning of the subject,

2145-613: A form of piano wire made from cast steel ; it was "so superior to the iron wire that the English firm soon had a monopoly." A better steel wire was developed in 1840 by the Viennese firm Martin Miller, and a period of innovation and intense competition ensued, with rival brands of piano wire being tested against one another at international competitions, leading ultimately to the modern form of piano wire. Several important advances included changes to

2310-503: A fugue, the subject may be altered by inversion, retrograde (where the subject is heard back-to-front), diminution (the reduction of the subject's rhythmic values by a certain factor), augmentation (the enlargement of the subject's rhythmic values by a certain factor), or any combination thereof. The excerpt below, bars 7–12 of J.S. Bach's Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847, from the Well-Tempered Clavier , Book 1 illustrates

2475-525: A harmonic produced from three octaves below. This lets close and widespread octaves sound pure, and produces virtually beatless perfect fifths . This gives the concert grand a brilliant, singing and sustaining tone quality—one of the principal reasons that full-size grands are used in the concert hall. Smaller grands satisfy the space and cost needs of domestic use; as well, they are used in some small teaching studios and smaller performance venues. Upright pianos, also called vertical pianos, are more compact with

2640-446: A humorous form of the first movement's first subject – is at once playful, lively, and pleasant. The scherzo, in B ♭ major, maintains the standard ternary form by repeating the sections an octave higher in the treble clef. The trio, marked "semplice", is in the parallel minor , B ♭ minor , but the effect is more shadowy than dramatic. It borrows the opening theme from the composer's Eroica symphony and places it in

2805-421: A key is depressed, the strings inside are struck by felt-coated wooden hammers. The vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies the sound by coupling the acoustic energy to the air. When the key is released, a damper stops the string's vibration, ending the sound. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass, which graduates from one to two. Notes can be sustained when

2970-486: A largely stepwise figure in the treble clef in a high register, while the left hand moves in an octave-outlining accompaniment in eighth notes . The development section opens with a statement of this final figure, except with alterations from the major subdominant to the minor, which fluidly modulates to E ♭ major . Directly after, the exposition's first subject is composed in fugato and features an incredible display of musical development. The fugato ends with

3135-478: A lower octave's corresponding sharp overtone rather than to a theoretically correct octave. If octaves are not stretched, single octaves sound in tune, but double—and notably triple—octaves are unacceptably narrow. Stretching a small piano's octaves to match its inherent inharmonicity level creates an imbalance among all the instrument's intervallic relationships. In a concert grand, however, the octave "stretch" retains harmonic balance, even when aligning treble notes to

3300-609: A massive, strong, cast iron frame. Also called the "plate", the iron frame sits atop the soundboard , and serves as the primary bulwark against the force of string tension that can exceed 20 tons (180 kilonewtons) in total for a modern grand piano. The single piece cast iron frame for square piano was patented in 1825 in Boston by Alpheus Babcock , combining the metal hitch pin plate (1821, claimed by Broadwood on behalf of Samuel Hervé) and resisting bars (Thom and Allen, 1820, but also claimed by Broadwood and Érard). Babcock later worked for

3465-417: A microtone piano manufactured by Pleyel in 1920. Abdallah Chahine later constructed his quartertone "Oriental piano" with the help of Austrian Hofmann . With technological advances , amplified electric pianos (1929), electronic pianos (1970s), and digital pianos (1980s) have been developed. The first electric pianos from the late 1920s used metal strings with a magnetic pickup , an amplifier and

SECTION 20

#1732863247279

3630-401: A minor key. Following this dark interlude, Beethoven inserts a more intense presto section in 4 meter , still in the minor, which eventually segues back to the scherzo. After a varied reprise of the scherzo's first section, a coda with a meter change to cut time follows. This coda plays with the semitonal relationship between B ♭ and B ♮ , and briefly returns to

3795-458: A more powerful sound, a longer sustain, and a richer tone. Later in the century, as the piano became more common it allowed families to listen to a newly published musical piece by having a family member play a simplified version . The piano is widely employed in classical , jazz , traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances, accompaniment, and for composing , songwriting and rehearsals. Despite its weight and cost,

3960-400: A musical device exploited by Liszt. When the invention became public, as revised by Henri Herz , the double escapement action gradually became standard in grand pianos and is still incorporated into all grand pianos currently produced in the 2000s. Other improvements of the mechanism included the use of firm felt hammer coverings instead of layered leather or cotton. Felt, which Jean-Henri Pape

4125-441: A piano are made of a steel core wrapped with one or two layers of copper wire, to increase their mass whilst retaining flexibility. If all strings throughout the piano's compass were individual (monochord), the massive bass strings would overpower the upper ranges. Makers compensate for this with the use of double (bichord) strings in the tenor and triple (trichord) strings throughout the treble. The plate (harp), or metal frame, of

4290-439: A piano are made of materials selected for strength and longevity. This is especially true of the outer rim, which is most commonly made of hardwood , typically hard maple or beech , and its massiveness serves as an essentially immobile object from which the flexible soundboard can best vibrate. According to Harold A. Conklin, the purpose of a sturdy rim is so that, "... the vibrational energy will stay as much as possible in

4455-468: A piano can be played acoustically, or the keyboard can be used as a MIDI controller, which can trigger a synthesizer module or music sampler . Some electronic feature-equipped pianos such as the Yamaha Disklavier electronic player piano, introduced in 1987, are outfitted with electronic sensors for recording and electromechanical solenoids for player piano-style playback. Sensors record the movements of

4620-419: A piano is usually made of cast iron. A massive plate is advantageous. Since the strings vibrate from the plate at both ends, an insufficiently massive plate would absorb too much of the vibrational energy that should go through the bridge to the soundboard. While some manufacturers use cast steel in their plates, most prefer cast iron. Cast iron is easy to cast and machine, has flexibility sufficient for piano use,

4785-467: A piano. An inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence of a piano by 1700. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s. Cristofori named the instrument un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"), abbreviated over time as pianoforte , fortepiano , and later reduced to only piano . Cristofori's great success

4950-434: A position in which it is ready to play again almost immediately after its key is depressed, so the player can repeat the same note rapidly when desired. Cristofori's piano action was a model for the many approaches to piano actions that followed in the next century. Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings and were much quieter than the modern piano, though they were louder and had more sustain compared to

5115-533: A quick fugal section after a slow introduction. The second movement of a sonata da chiesa , as written by Arcangelo Corelli and others, was usually fugal. The Baroque period also saw a rise in the importance of music theory . Some fugues during the Baroque period were pieces designed to teach contrapuntal technique to students. The most influential text was Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum ("Steps to Parnassus "), which appeared in 1725. This work laid out

Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5280-440: A section featuring non-fugal imitation between registers, eventually resounding in repeated D-major chords. The final section of the development begins with a chromatic alteration of D ♮ to D ♯ . The music progresses to the alien key of B major , in which the third and first subjects of the exposition are played. The retransition is brought about by a sequence of rising intervals that get progressively higher, until

5445-469: A set of five transcriptions for string quartet, K. 405 (1782), of fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier , introducing them with preludes of his own. In a letter to his sister Nannerl Mozart , dated in Vienna on 20 April 1782, Mozart recognizes that he had not written anything in this form, but moved by his wife's interest he composed one piece, which is sent with the letter. He begs her not to let anybody see

5610-451: A similar opening fanfare in B ♭ major, with a secondary theme in G major. The sonata's second movement is also a scherzo in 4 , and its third movement contains a transition into the fourth. The composer Felix Weingartner produced an orchestration of the sonata. In 1878, Friedrich Nietzsche had suggested such an orchestration: In the lives of great artists, there are unfortunate contingencies which, for example, force

5775-411: A similar rhythm on the unexpected chord of D major . This ushers in the more lyrical second subject in the submediant (that is, a minor third below the tonic), G major . A third and final musical subject appears after this, which exemplifies the fundamental opposition of B ♭ and B ♮ in this movement through its chromatic alterations of the third scale degree. The exposition ends with

5940-596: A small number of acoustic pianos in the 2010s are produced with MIDI recording and digital sound module -triggering capabilities, the 19th century was the era of the most dramatic innovations and modifications of the instrument. Modern pianos have two basic configurations, the grand piano and the upright piano, with various styles of each. There are also specialized and novelty pianos, electric pianos based on electromechanical designs, electronic pianos that synthesize piano-like tones using oscillators, and digital pianos using digital samples of acoustic piano sounds. In

6105-402: A structure often used by Beethoven, and imitated by contemporaries such as Schubert , Schumann , and Chopin , in contrast to the more usual three or two movements of Mozart 's and Haydn 's sonatas. The four movements are: In addition to the thematic connections within the movements and the use of traditional Classical formal structures, Charles Rosen has described how much of the piece

6270-403: A tonal answer is usually necessary. To prevent an undermining of the fugue's key , this note is transposed up a fourth to the tonic rather than up a fifth to the supertonic . For the same reason, it is possible for the answer of such a subject to be in the subdominant key. During the answer, the voice in which the subject was previously heard accompanies with new material. If this new material

6435-514: A triple fugue for organ.) A counter-fugue is a fugue in which the first answer is presented as the subject in inversion (upside down), and the inverted subject continues to feature prominently throughout the fugue. Examples include Contrapunctus V through Contrapunctus VII , from Bach's The Art of Fugue . During the Baroque period, counter-fugues were sometimes called by the Latin name fuga contraria . German composer Johann Mattheson coined

6600-656: A vertical structure of the frame and strings. The mechanical action structure of the upright piano was invented in London in 1826 by Robert Wornum, and upright models became the most popular model for domestic use. Upright pianos take up less space than a grand piano and as such are a better size for use in private homes for domestic music-making and practice. The hammers move horizontally and return to their resting position via springs, which are susceptible to degradation. Upright pianos with unusually tall frames and long strings were sometimes marketed as upright grand pianos, but that label

6765-566: Is (are) presented simultaneously with the subject in the exposition (e.g. as in Kyrie Eleison of Mozart's Requiem in D minor or the fugue of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 ), and (b) a fugue in which all subjects have their own expositions at some point, and they are not combined until later (see for example, the three-subject Fugue No. 14 in F ♯ minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2 , or more famously, Bach's "St. Anne" Fugue in E ♭ major, BWV 552 ,

Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven) - Misplaced Pages Continue

6930-409: Is a collection of fugues (and four canons ) on a single theme that is gradually transformed as the cycle progresses. Bach also wrote smaller single fugues and put fugal sections or movements into many of his more general works. J.S. Bach's influence extended forward through his son C.P.E. Bach and through the theorist Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718–1795) whose Abhandlung von der Fuge ("Treatise on

7095-551: Is a fugue, and there are fugal passages in the last movements of his Piano Sonatas in A major, Op. 101 and A ♭ major Op. 110 . According to Charles Rosen , "With the finale of 110, Beethoven re-conceived the significance of the most traditional elements of fugue writing." Fugal passages are also found in the Missa Solemnis and all movements of the Ninth Symphony , except the third. A massive, dissonant fugue forms

7260-461: Is absent. The subject concludes on the quarter note (or crotchet) B ♭ of the third beat of the second bar, which harmonizes the opening G of the tonal answer. The later codettas may be considerably longer, and often serve to develop the material heard in the subject/answer and countersubject and possibly introduce ideas heard in the second countersubject or free counterpoint that follows. They may also be present to delay, and therefore heighten

7425-402: Is called a pianist . There are two main types of piano: the grand piano and the upright piano . The grand piano offers better sound and more precise key control, making it the preferred choice when space and budget allow. The grand piano is also considered a necessity in venues hosting skilled pianists. The upright piano is more commonly used because of its smaller size and lower cost. When

7590-402: Is complete. This is often followed by a connecting passage, or episode , developed from previously heard material; further "entries" of the subject are then heard in related keys . Episodes (if applicable) and entries are usually alternated until the final entry of the subject, at which point the music has returned to the opening key, or tonic , which is often followed by a coda . Because of

7755-461: Is customary in the exposition to alternate entrances of the subject (S) with entrances of the answer (A). However, this order is occasionally varied. For example, the exposition from J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 uses a SAAS (subject-answer-answer-subject) exposition. A brief codetta is often heard connecting the various statements of the subject and answer, smoothly connecting each and often facilitating

7920-490: Is followed by an entry in the dominant of the relative major or minor when the fugue's subject requires a tonal answer. In the fugues of earlier composers (notably Buxtehude and Pachelbel ), middle entries in keys other than the tonic and dominant tend to be the exception, and non-modulation the norm. One famous example of such non-modulating fugue occurs in Buxtehude's Praeludium (Fugue and Chaconne) in C, BuxWV 137. When there

8085-465: Is misleading. Some authors classify modern pianos according to their height and to modifications of the action that are necessary to accommodate the height. Upright pianos are generally less expensive than grand pianos. Upright pianos are widely used in churches, community centers, schools, music conservatories and university music programs as rehearsal and practice instruments, and they are popular models for in-home purchase. The toy piano , introduced in

8250-580: Is much more resistant to deformation than steel, and is especially tolerant of compression. Plate casting is an art, since dimensions are crucial and the iron shrinks about one percent during cooling. Including an extremely large piece of metal in a piano is potentially an aesthetic handicap. Piano makers overcome this by polishing, painting, and decorating the plate. Plates often include the manufacturer's ornamental medallion. In an effort to make pianos lighter, Alcoa worked with Winter and Company piano manufacturers to make pianos using an aluminum plate during

8415-401: Is no entrance of the subject and answer material, the composer can develop the subject by altering it. This is called a counter-exposition , which often uses the inversion of the subject, although the term is sometimes used synonymously with middle entry and may also describe the exposition of completely new subjects, such as those encountered in double fugues . In any of the entries within

SECTION 50

#1732863247279

8580-454: Is not strict, and the setting less formal. See for example, variation 24 of Beethoven 's Diabelli Variations Op. 120 . The term fuga was used as far back as the Middle Ages , but was initially used to refer to any kind of imitative counterpoint, including canons , which are now thought of as distinct from fugues. Prior to the 16th century, fugue was originally a genre. It was not until

8745-459: Is organised around the motif of a descending third ( major or minor ). ( Carl Reinecke had first remarked on this in 1897). This descending third is quite ubiquitous throughout the work but most clearly recognizable in the following sections: the opening fanfare of the Allegro; in the scherzo 's imitation of the aforementioned fanfare, as well as in its trio theme; in bar two of the adagio; and in

8910-462: Is reused in later statements of the subject, it is called a countersubject ; if this accompanying material is only heard once, it is simply referred to as free counterpoint . The countersubject is written in invertible counterpoint at the octave or fifteenth (two octaves). The distinction is made between the use of free counterpoint and regular countersubjects accompanying the fugue subject/answer, because in order for it to be heard accompanying

9075-496: Is the same material that is used in quality acoustic guitar soundboards. Low-cost pianos often have plywood soundboards. Fugato In classical music , a fugue ( / f juː ɡ / , from Latin fuga , meaning "flight" or "escape" ) is a contrapuntal , polyphonic compositional technique in two or more voices , built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches), which recurs frequently throughout

9240-451: Is usually based upon some musical idea heard in the exposition. Each episode has the primary function of transitioning into a new key for the next entry of the subject, and may also provide release from the strictness of form required by the exposition. André Gedalge , a teacher of Maurice Ravel , stated that the episode of the fugue is generally based on a series of imitations of the subject that have been fragmented. Further entries of

9405-408: Is written according to certain rules. The composer has more freedom once the exposition ends, though a logical key structure is usually followed. Further entries of the subject will occur throughout the fugue, repeating the accompanying material at the same time, and often accompanying key changes. The various entries may or may not be separated by episodes or occur in stretto . A fugue begins with

9570-629: The Eroica Symphony (1805). Beethoven incorporated fugues in his sonatas, and reshaped the episode's purpose and compositional technique for later generations of composers. Nevertheless, fugues did not take on a truly central role in Beethoven's work until his late period. The finale of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata contains a fugue, which was practically unperformed until the late 19th century, due to its tremendous technical difficulty and length. The last movement of his Cello Sonata, Op. 102 No. 2

9735-578: The Chickering & Mackays firm who patented the first full iron frame for grand pianos in 1843. Composite forged metal frames were preferred by many European makers until the American system was fully adopted by the early 20th century. The increased structural integrity of the iron frame allowed the use of thicker, tenser, and more numerous strings. In 1834, the Webster & Horsfal firm of Birmingham brought out

9900-449: The Kawai firm built pianos with action parts made of more modern materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic , and the piano parts manufacturer Wessell, Nickel and Gross has launched a new line of carefully engineered composite parts. Thus far these parts have performed reasonably, but it will take decades to know if they equal the longevity of wood. In all but the lowest quality pianos,

10065-459: The Renaissance , it had come to denote specifically imitative works. Since the 17th century, the term fugue has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint. Most fugues open with a short main theme, called the subject, which then sounds successively in each voice . When each voice has completed its entry of the subject, the exposition

SECTION 60

#1732863247279

10230-780: The Steinway concert grand (Model D) weighs 480 kg (1,060 lb). The largest piano available on the general market, the Fazioli F308, weighs 570 kg (1,260 lb). The pinblock, which holds the tuning pins in place, is another area where toughness is important. It is made of hardwood (typically hard maple or beech) and is laminated for strength, stability and longevity. Piano strings (also called piano wire ), which must endure years of extreme tension and hard blows, are made of high carbon steel. They are manufactured to vary as little as possible in diameter, since all deviations from uniformity introduce tonal distortion. The bass strings of

10395-421: The fugue in both its introductory bass octave-patterns and in the main subject , as the seven-note runs which end up on notes descended by thirds. The first movement opens with a series of fortissimo B ♭ -major chords , which form much of the basis of the first subject . After the first subject is spun out for a while, the opening set of fortissimo chords are stated again, this time followed by

10560-526: The fugue within classical forms. The Hammerklavier also set a precedent for the length of solo compositions (performances typically take about 40 to 45 minutes, depending on interpretative choices). While orchestral works such as symphonies and concerti had often contained movements of 15 or even 20 minutes for many years, few single movements in solo literature had a span such as the Hammerklavier' s third movement. The piece contains four movements,

10725-468: The fugue . Dominated by falling thirds in the bass line, the music three times pauses on a pedal and engages in speculative contrapuntal experimentation, in a manner foreshadowing the quotations from the first three movements of the Ninth Symphony in the opening of the fourth movement of that work. After a final modulation to B ♭ major, the main substance of the movement appears: a titanic three-voice fugue in 4 meter . The subject of

10890-547: The hammered dulcimers , which were introduced in the Middle Ages in Europe. During the Middle Ages, there were several attempts at creating stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings. By the 17th century, the mechanisms of keyboard instruments such as the clavichord and the harpsichord were well developed. In a clavichord the strings are struck by tangents, while in a harpsichord they are mechanically plucked by quills when

11055-537: The transposing piano in 1801. This rare instrument has a lever under the keyboard to move the keyboard relative to the strings, so a pianist can play in a familiar key while the music sounds in a different key. The minipiano is an instrument patented by the Brasted brothers of the Eavestaff Ltd. piano company in 1934. This instrument has a braceless back and a soundboard positioned below the keys—long metal rods pull on

11220-410: The "aliquot" throughout much of the upper range of the piano, always in locations that caused them to vibrate sympathetically in conformity with their respective overtones—typically in doubled octaves and twelfths. Some early pianos had shapes and designs that are no longer in use. The square piano (not truly square, but rectangular) was cross strung at an extremely acute angle above the hammers, with

11385-511: The 16th century and is derived from the French word fugue or the Italian fuga . This in turn comes from the Latin fuga , which is itself related to both fugere ("to flee") and fugare ("to chase"). The adjectival form is fugal . Variants include fughetta ("a small fugue") and fugato (a passage in fugal style within another work that is not a fugue). A fugue begins with the exposition and

11550-415: The 16th century that fugal technique as it is understood today began to be seen in pieces, both instrumental and vocal. Fugal writing is found in works such as fantasias , ricercares and canzonas . "Fugue" as a theoretical term first occurred in 1330 when Jacobus of Liege wrote about the fuga in his Speculum musicae . The fugue arose from the technique of "imitation", where the same musical material

11715-518: The 1820s, the center of piano innovation had shifted to Paris, where the Pleyel firm manufactured pianos used by Frédéric Chopin , and the Érard firm manufactured those used by Franz Liszt . In 1821, Sébastien Érard invented the double escapement action, which incorporated a repetition lever (also called the balancier ) that permitted repeating a note even if the key had not return to its resting position. This facilitated rapid playing of repeated notes,

11880-473: The 1940s. Aluminum piano plates were not widely accepted and were discontinued. Prior to this, a piano made almost entirely of aluminum was placed aboard the airship Hindenburg . The numerous parts of a piano action are generally made from hardwood, such as maple, beech, or hornbeam ; however, since World War II, makers have also incorporated plastics. Early plastics used in some pianos in the late 1940s and 1950s, proved problematic when they lost strength after

12045-430: The 19th century, is a small piano-like instrument that generally uses round metal rods to produce sound, rather than strings. The US Library of Congress recognizes the toy piano as a unique instrument with the subject designation, Toy Piano Scores: M175 T69. In 1863, Henri Fourneaux invented the player piano , which plays itself from a piano roll . A machine perforates a performance recording into rolls of paper, and

12210-579: The Baroque style. These included a fugue in C minor, K. 426, for two pianos (1783). Later, Mozart incorporated fugal writing into his opera Die Zauberflöte and the finale of his Symphony No. 41 . The parts of the Requiem he completed also contain several fugues (most notably the Kyrie, and the three fugues in the Domine Jesu; he also left behind a sketch for an Amen fugue which, some believe , would have come at

12375-522: The Classical era. Haydn's most famous fugues can be found in his "Sun" Quartets (op. 20, 1772), of which three have fugal finales. This was a practice that Haydn repeated only once later in his quartet-writing career, with the finale of his String Quartet, Op. 50 No. 4 (1787). Some of the earliest examples of Haydn's use of counterpoint, however, are in three symphonies ( No. 3 , No. 13 , and No. 40 ) that date from 1762 to 1763. The earliest fugues, in both

12540-529: The Fender Rhodes, became important instruments in 1970s funk and jazz fusion and in some rock music genres. Electronic pianos are non-acoustic; they do not have strings, tines or hammers, but are a type of analog synthesizer that simulates or imitates piano sounds using oscillators and filters that synthesize the sound of an acoustic piano. They must be connected to a keyboard amplifier and speaker to produce sound (however, some electronic keyboards have

12705-685: The Salzburg Cathedral, the young Mozart composed ambitious fugues and contrapuntal passages in Catholic choral works such as Mass in C minor, K. 139 "Waisenhaus" (1768), Mass in C major, K. 66 "Dominicus" (1769), Mass in C major, K. 167 "in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis" (1773), Mass in C major, K. 262 "Missa longa" (1775), Mass in C major, K. 337 "Solemnis" (1780), various litanies, and vespers. Leopold admonished his son openly in 1777 that he not forget to make public demonstration of his abilities in "fugue, canon, and contrapunctus". Later in life,

12870-402: The application of most of the characteristics described above. The fugue is for keyboard and in three voices, with regular countersubjects. This excerpt opens at last entry of the exposition: the subject is sounding in the bass, the first countersubject in the treble, while the middle-voice is stating a second version of the second countersubject, which concludes with the characteristic rhythm of

13035-457: The basis for writing motets as well. Palestrina's imitative motets differed from fugues in that each phrase of the text had a different subject which was introduced and worked out separately, whereas a fugue continued working with the same subject or subjects throughout the entire length of the piece. It was in the Baroque period that the writing of fugues became central to composition, in part as

13200-418: The best of both of the older instruments, combining the ability to play at least as loudly as a harpsichord with the ability to continuously vary dynamics by touch. Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, Scipione Maffei , wrote an enthusiastic article about it in 1711, including a diagram of the mechanism, that was translated into German and widely distributed. Most of

13365-604: The choruses of his mature oratorios The Creation and The Seasons , as well as several of his later symphonies, including No. 88 , No. 95 , and No. 101 ; and the late string quartets, Opus 71 no. 3 and (especially) Opus 76 no. 6. The young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart studied counterpoint with Padre Martini in Bologna. Under the employment of Archbishop Colloredo , and the musical influence of his predecessors and colleagues such as Johann Ernst Eberlin , Anton Cajetan Adlgasser , Michael Haydn , and his own father, Leopold Mozart at

13530-511: The clavichord—the only previous keyboard instrument capable of dynamic nuance responding to the player's touch, the velocity with which the keys are pressed. While the clavichord allows expressive control of volume and sustain, it is relatively quiet even at its loudest. The harpsichord produces a sufficiently loud sound, especially when a coupler joins each key to both manuals of a two-manual harpsichord, but it offers no dynamic or expressive control over individual notes. The piano in some sense offers

13695-637: The composer's prerogative to decide most structural elements, the fugue is closer to a style of composition rather than a structural form. The form evolved during the 18th century from several earlier types of contrapuntal compositions, such as imitative ricercars , capriccios , canzonas , and fantasias . The Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), well known for his fugues, shaped his own works after those of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621), Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667), Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643), Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637–1707) and others. With

13860-405: The countersubjects and/or other free contrapuntal accompaniments. Middle entries tend to occur at keys other than the tonic. These are often closely related keys such as the relative dominant and subdominant , although the key structure of fugues varies greatly. In the fugues of J.S. Bach, the first middle entry occurs most often in the relative major or minor of the work's overall key, and

14025-441: The course of the composition. It is not to be confused with a fuguing tune , which is a style of song popularized by and mostly limited to early American (i.e. shape note or " Sacred Harp ") music and West Gallery music . A fugue usually has three main sections: an exposition , a development , and a final entry that contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key. Fugues can also have episodes, which are parts of

14190-522: The decline of sophisticated styles at the end of the baroque period , the fugue's central role waned, eventually giving way as sonata form and the symphony orchestra rose to a more prominent position. Nevertheless, composers continued to write and study fugues; they appear in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), as well as modern composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) and Paul Hindemith (1895–1963). The English term fugue originated in

14355-517: The end of the Sequentia). Ludwig van Beethoven was familiar with fugal writing from childhood, as an important part of his training was playing from The Well-Tempered Clavier . During his early career in Vienna , Beethoven attracted notice for his performance of these fugues. There are fugal sections in Beethoven's early piano sonatas, and fugal writing is to be found in the second and fourth movements of

14520-413: The entry of one of the voices may not be heard until considerably later. For example, in J.S. Bach's Fugue in C minor for Organ, BWV 549, the subject entrance in the lowest voice (played by the organ pedals), is not heard until near the end of the fugue. Further entries of the subject may follow the initial exposition either immediately or separated by episodes. Episodic material is always modulatory and

14685-429: The exposition of its subject in one of the voices alone in the tonic key. After the statement of the subject, a second voice enters and states the subject with the subject transposed to another key (almost always the dominant or subdominant , with the latter being less common), which is known as the answer . To enable a natural harmonic progression, the answer may also be altered slightly (usually by changing one or

14850-454: The extraordinary profundity of this fugue ." By the beginning of the Romantic era , fugue writing had become specifically attached to the norms and styles of the Baroque. Felix Mendelssohn wrote many fugues inspired by his study of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach . Johannes Brahms' Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel , Op. 24, is a work for solo piano written in 1861. It consists of

15015-406: The final entry of the subject is considered to be the final coda and is normally cadential . A simple fugue has only one subject, and does not utilize invertible counterpoint . A double fugue has two subjects that are often developed simultaneously. Similarly, a triple fugue has three subjects. There are two kinds of double (triple) fugue: (a) a fugue in which the second (third) subject

15180-688: The finale of his String Quartet, Op. 130 (1825); the latter was later published separately as Op. 133, the Große Fuge ("Great Fugue"). However, it is the fugue that opens Beethoven's String Quartet in C ♯ minor, Op. 131 that several commentators regard as one of the composer's greatest achievements. Joseph Kerman (1966, p. 330) calls it "this most moving of all fugues". J. W. N. Sullivan (1927, p. 235) hears it as "the most superhuman piece of music that Beethoven has ever written." Philip Radcliffe (1965, p. 149) says "[a] bare description of its formal outline can give but little idea of

15345-418: The first firm to build pianos with a range of more than five octaves: five octaves and a fifth during the 1790s, six octaves by 1810 (Beethoven used the extra notes in his later works), and seven octaves by 1820. The Viennese makers similarly followed these trends; however the two schools used different piano actions: Broadwoods used a more robust action, whereas Viennese instruments were more sensitive. By

15510-404: The first theme before dying away. The ternary-form slow movement, centred on F ♯ minor, has been called, among other things, a "mausoleum of collective sorrow", and is notable for its ethereality and great length as a slow movement (e.g. Wilhelm Kempff played for approximately 16 minutes and Christoph Eschenbach 25 minutes) that finally ends with a Picardy third . Paul Bekker called

15675-500: The first theme is stated again in the home key of B ♭ , signalling the beginning of the recapitulation . In keeping with Beethoven's exploration of the potentials of sonata form, the recapitulation avoids a full harmonic return to B ♭ major until long after the return to the first theme. The coda repetitively cites motives from the opening statement over a shimmering pedal point and disappears into pianississimo until two fortissimo B ♭ major chords conclude

15840-507: The floor, behind the keyboard and very large sticker action . The short cottage upright or pianino with vertical stringing—made popular by Robert Wornum around 1815—was built into the 20th century. They are informally called birdcage pianos because of their prominent damper mechanism. The oblique upright, popularized in France by Roller & Blanchet during the late 1820s, was diagonally strung throughout its compass. The tiny spinet upright

16005-540: The form of upright, baby grand, and grand piano styles (including a nine-foot concert grand). Reproducing systems have ranged from relatively simple, playback-only models to professional models that can record performance data at resolutions that exceed the limits of normal MIDI data. The unit mounted under the keyboard of the piano can play MIDI or audio software on its CD. Pianos can have over 12,000 individual parts, supporting six functional features: keyboard, hammers, dampers, bridge, soundboard, and strings. Many parts of

16170-448: The framework to resonate more freely with the soundboard, creating additional coloration and complexity of the overall sound. The thick wooden posts on the underside (grands) or back (uprights) of the piano stabilize the rim structure and are made of softwood for stability. The requirement of structural strength, fulfilled by stout hardwood and thick metal, makes a piano heavy. Even a small upright can weigh 136 kg (300 lb), and

16335-421: The fugue and manifests the hope to write five more and then present them to Baron van Swieten. Regarding the piece, he said "I have taken particular care to write andante maestoso upon it, so that it should not be played fast – for if a fugue is not played slowly the ear cannot clearly distinguish the new subject as it is introduced and the effect is missed". Mozart then set to writing fugues on his own, mimicking

16500-470: The fugue can be divided itself into three parts: a tenth leap followed by a trill to the tonic; a 7-note scale figure repeated descending by a third; and a tail semiquaver passage marked by many chromatic passing tones , whose development becomes the main source for the movement's unique dissonance. Marked con alcune licenze ("with some licenses"), the fugue, one of Beethoven's greatest contrapuntal achievements, as well as making tremendous demands on

16665-437: The fugue where new material often based on the subject is heard; a stretto (plural stretti), when the fugue's subject overlaps itself in different voices, or a recapitulation . A popular compositional technique in the Baroque era , the fugue was fundamental in showing mastery of harmony and tonality as it presented counterpoint . In the Middle Ages , the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style; however, by

16830-455: The fugue", 1753) was largely based on J.S. Bach's work. During the Classical era , the fugue was no longer a central or even fully natural mode of musical composition. Nevertheless, both Haydn and Mozart had periods of their careers in which they in some sense "rediscovered" fugal writing and used it frequently in their work. Joseph Haydn was the leader of fugal composition and technique in

16995-491: The harpsichord in The Well-Tempered Clavier , which many composers and theorists look at as the greatest model of fugue. The Well-Tempered Clavier comprises two volumes written in different times of Bach's life, each comprising 24 prelude and fugue pairs, one for each major and minor key. Bach is also known for his organ fugues, which are usually preceded by a prelude or toccata . The Art of Fugue , BWV 1080 ,

17160-415: The higher notes were too soft to allow a full dynamic range. Although this earned him some animosity from Silbermann, the criticism was apparently heeded. Bach did approve of a later instrument he saw in 1747 and even served as an agent in selling Silbermann's pianos. "Instrument: piano et forte genandt"—a reference to the instrument's ability to play soft and loud—was an expression that Bach used to help sell

17325-407: The impact of the subject proper. The counter-exposition is a second exposition. However, there are only two entries, and the entries occur in reverse order. The counter-exposition in a fugue is separated from the exposition by an episode and is in the same key as the original exposition. Sometimes counter-expositions or the middle entries take place in stretto , whereby one voice responds with

17490-436: The impact of, the reentry of the subject in another voice. Finally, they may be modulatory passages to return the fugue to the tonic. The exposition usually concludes when all voices have given a statement of the subject or answer. In some fugues, especially those with an odd number of voices, the exposition will end with a redundant entry, or an extra presentation of the theme in a voice which has already entered. Furthermore,

17655-411: The initial subject, continues by stating two or more themes (or countersubjects), which must be conceived in correct invertible counterpoint . (In other words, the subject and countersubjects must be capable of being played both above and below all the other themes without creating any unacceptable dissonances.) Each voice takes this pattern and states all the subjects/themes in the same order (and repeats

17820-542: The instrument when he was acting as Silbermann's agent in 1749. Piano making flourished during the late 18th century in the Viennese school , which included Johann Andreas Stein (who worked in Augsburg , Germany) and the Viennese makers Nannette Streicher (daughter of Stein) and Anton Walter . Viennese-style pianos were built with wood frames, two strings per note, and leather-covered hammers. Some of these Viennese pianos had

17985-400: The inversion of a perfect fifth results in a perfect fourth, which, unlike the perfect fifth, is considered a dissonance, requiring proper preparation and resolution. The countersubject, if sounding at the same time as the answer, is transposed to the pitch of the answer. Each voice then responds with its own subject or answer, and further countersubjects or free counterpoint may be heard. It

18150-578: The keyboard set along the long side. This design is attributed to Christian Ernst Friderici (a pupil of Gottfried Silbermann) in Germany and Johannes Zumpe in England, and it was improved by changes first introduced by Guillaume-Lebrecht Petzold in France and Alpheus Babcock in the United States. Square pianos were built in great numbers through the 1840s in Europe and the 1890s in the United States, and saw

18315-454: The keys are released by the use of pedals at the base of the instrument, which lift the dampers off the strings. The sustain pedal allows pianists to connect and overlay sound, and achieve expressive and colorful sonority. In the 19th century, influenced by Romantic music trends, the fortepiano underwent changes such as the use of a cast iron frame (which allowed much greater string tensions) and aliquot stringing which gave grand pianos

18480-605: The keys, hammers, and pedals during a performance, and the system saves the performance data as a Standard MIDI File (SMF). On playback, the solenoids move the keys and pedals and thus reproduce the original performance. Modern Disklaviers typically include an array of electronic features, such as a built-in tone generator for playing back MIDI accompaniment tracks, speakers, MIDI connectivity that supports communication with computing devices and external MIDI instruments, additional ports for audio and SMPTE input/output (I/O), and Internet connectivity. Disklaviers have been manufactured in

18645-404: The late autumn of 1818, towards the end of a fallow period in Beethoven's compositional career. It represents the spectacular emergence of many of the themes that were to recur in Beethoven's late period: the reinvention of traditional forms, such as sonata form ; a brusque humour; and a return to pre-classical compositional traditions, including an exploration of modal harmony and reinventions of

18810-505: The levers to make the hammers strike the strings. The first model, known as the Pianette , was unique in that the tuning pins extended through the instrument, so it could be tuned at the front. The prepared piano , present in some contemporary art music from the 20th and 21st century is a piano which has objects placed inside it to alter its sound, or has had its mechanism changed in some other way. The scores for music for prepared piano specify

18975-496: The major impetus to fugal writing for Mozart was the influence of Baron Gottfried van Swieten in Vienna around 1782. Van Swieten, during diplomatic service in Berlin, had taken the opportunity to collect as many manuscripts by Bach and Handel as he could, and he invited Mozart to study his collection and encouraged him to transcribe various works for other combinations of instruments. Mozart was evidently fascinated by these works and wrote

19140-408: The material when all the themes have been stated, sometimes after a rest). There is usually very little non-structural/thematic material. During the course of a permutation fugue, it is quite uncommon, actually, for every single possible voice-combination (or "permutation") of the themes to be heard. This limitation exists in consequence of sheer proportionality: the more voices in a fugue, the greater

19305-408: The modifications, for example, instructing the pianist to insert pieces of rubber, paper, metal screws, or washers in between the strings. These objects mute the strings or alter their timbre. Some Viennese fortepianos incorporated percussion effects, brought into action by levers. These would be used in pieces such as Mozart's Rondo alla Turca . The pedal piano is a rare type of piano that has

19470-412: The modulation between the tonic and the key of the answer. The codetta, like other parts of the exposition, may be reused throughout the remainder of the fugue. The first answer must occur as soon after the initial statement of the subject as possible; therefore, the first codetta is often absent or very short. In the example shown above of J.S. Bach's Fugue No. 16 in G minor, BWV 861 , the first codetta

19635-480: The most demanding solo works in the classical piano repertoire. The Piano Sonata No. 1 in C, Op. 1 by Johannes Brahms opens with a fanfare similar to the fanfare heard at the start of the Hammerklavier sonata. Felix Mendelssohn 's Piano Sonata in B ♭ major, Op.106, is thought to have been influenced by the Hammerklavier sonata, although the shared Opus number is coincidental. Mendelssohn's sonata has

19800-500: The most visible change of any type of piano: the iron-framed, over-strung squares manufactured by Steinway & Sons were more than two-and-a-half times the size of Zumpe's wood-framed instruments from a century before. Their overwhelming popularity was the result of inexpensive construction and price, although their tone and performance were limited by narrow soundboards, simple actions and string spacing that made proper hammer alignment difficult. The tall, vertically strung upright grand

19965-435: The movement "the apotheosis of pain, of that deep sorrow for which there is no remedy, and which finds expression not in passionate outpourings, but in the immeasurable stillness of utter woe". Wilhelm Kempff described it as "the most magnificent monologue Beethoven ever wrote". Structurally, it follows traditional Classical-era sonata form, but the recapitulation of the main theme is varied to include extensive figurations in

20130-474: The movement. Beethoven indicated a tempo of 138 BPM on the half note for this movement, so fast that it is routinely dismissed by performers based on theories that it was a mistake from the composer or caused by a differently functioning metronome. There is a controversy whether A-sharp or A-natural should be played in measures 224-26. The brief second movement includes a great variety of harmonic and thematic material. The scherzo 's theme – which Rosen calls

20295-410: The next generation of piano builders started their work based on reading this article. One of these builders was Gottfried Silbermann , better known as an organ builder. Silbermann's pianos were virtual copies of Cristofori's, with one important addition: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern sustain pedal , which lifts all the dampers from the strings simultaneously. This innovation allows

20460-414: The number of possible permutations. In consequence, composers exercise editorial judgment as to the most musical of permutations and processes leading thereto. One example of permutation fugue can be seen in the eighth and final chorus of J.S. Bach's cantata, Himmelskönig, sei willkommen , BWV 182 . Permutation fugues differ from conventional fugue in that there are no connecting episodes, nor statement of

20625-464: The opening exposition takes place in stretto form is known as a close fugue or stretto fugue (see for example, the Gratias agimus tibi and Dona nobis pacem choruses from J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor ). The closing section of a fugue often includes one or two counter-expositions, and possibly a stretto, in the tonic ; sometimes over a tonic or dominant pedal note . Any material that follows

20790-545: The opposite coloring of modern-day pianos; the natural keys were black and the accidental keys white. It was for such instruments that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his concertos and sonatas , and replicas of them are built in the 21st century for use in authentic-instrument performance of his music. The pianos of Mozart's day had a softer tone than 21st century pianos or English pianos, with less sustaining power. The term fortepiano now distinguishes these early instruments (and modern re-creations) from later pianos. In

20955-405: The painter to sketch his most significant picture as only a fleeting thought, or which forced Beethoven to leave us only the unsatisfying piano reduction of a symphony in certain great piano sonatas (the great B flat major). In such cases, the artist coming after should try to correct the great men's lives after the fact; for example, a master of all orchestral effects would do so by restoring to life

21120-493: The performer depresses the key. Centuries of work on the mechanism of the harpsichord in particular had shown instrument builders the most effective ways to construct the case, soundboard, bridge, and mechanical action for a keyboard intended to sound strings. The English word piano is a shortened form of the Italian pianoforte , derived from gravecembalo col piano e forte ("harpsichord with soft and loud"). Variations in volume ( loudness ) are produced in response to

21285-428: The performer, moves through a number of contrasting sections and includes a number of "learned" contrapuntal devices, often, and significantly, wielded with a dramatic fury and dissonance inimical to their conservative and academic associations. Some examples: augmentation of the fugue theme and countersubject in a sforzando marcato at bars 96–117, the massive stretto of the tenth leap and trill which follows,

21450-461: The period from about 1790 to 1860, the Mozart-era piano underwent significant changes that led to the modern structure of the instrument. This revolution was in response to a preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained piano sound, which was made possible by the ongoing Industrial Revolution with resources such as high-quality piano wire for strings and precision casting for

21615-437: The pianist to sustain the notes that they have depressed even after their fingers are no longer pressing down the keys. As such, by holding a chord with the sustain pedal, pianists can relocate their hands to a different register of the keyboard in preparation for a subsequent section. Silbermann showed Johann Sebastian Bach one of his early instruments in the 1730s, but Bach did not like the instrument at that time, saying that

21780-439: The pianist's touch (pressure on the keys): the greater the pressure, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings and the louder the sound produced and the stronger the attack . Invented in 1700, the fortepiano was the first keyboard instrument to allow gradations of volume and tone according to how forcefully or softly the player presses or strikes the keys, unlike the pipe organ and harpsichord. The invention of

21945-537: The piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua , Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany , as the Keeper of the Instruments. Cristofori was an expert harpsichord maker and was well acquainted with the body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments. This knowledge of keyboard mechanisms and actions helped him to develop the first pianos. It is not known when Cristofori first built

22110-527: The piano". The preceding Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 was also titled as being for "Hammerklavier", but the epithet has come to apply to the Sonata No. 29 only. The work makes extensive use of the una corda pedal , with Beethoven giving for his time unusually detailed instructions when to use it. Dedicated to his patron, the Archduke Rudolf , the sonata was written primarily from the summer of 1817 to

22275-556: The piano's versatility, the extensive training of musicians, and its availability in venues, schools, and rehearsal spaces have made it a familiar instrument in the Western world. The piano was based on earlier technological innovations in keyboard instruments . Pipe organs had been used since antiquity, and as such the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding pitches . The first string instruments with struck strings were

22440-515: The player piano replays the performance using pneumatic devices. Modern equivalents of the player piano include the Bösendorfer CEUS, Yamaha Disklavier and QRS Pianomation, using solenoids and MIDI rather than pneumatics and rolls. A silent piano is an acoustic piano having an option to silence the strings by means of an interposing hammer bar. They are designed for private silent practice, to avoid disturbing others. Edward Ryley invented

22605-418: The production of massive iron frames that could withstand the tremendous tension of the strings. Over time, the tonal range of the piano was also increased from the five octaves of Mozart's day to the seven octave (or more) range found on today's pianos. Early technological progress in the late 18th century owed much to the firm of Broadwood . John Broadwood joined with another Scot, Robert Stodart, and

22770-599: The right hand that anticipate some of the techniques of Romantic piano music. NPR 's Ted Libbey writes, "An entire line of development in Romantic music—passing through Schubert , Chopin , Schumann , Brahms , and even Liszt —springs from this music." The movement begins with a slow introduction that serves to transition from the third movement. To do so, it modulates from D ♭ major/B ♭ minor to G ♭ major/E ♭ minor to B major/G ♯ minor to A major, which modulates to B ♭ major for

22935-450: The rim was constructed from several pieces of solid wood, joined and veneered, and European makers used this method well into the 20th century. A modern exception, Bösendorfer (an Austrian manufacturer of high-quality pianos) constructs their inner rims from solid spruce, the same wood that the soundboard is made from, which is notched to allow it to bend; rather than isolating the rim from vibration, their "resonance case principle" allows

23100-410: The second bar in the second system, and the first middle entry. Here, Bach has altered the second countersubject to accommodate the change of mode . At any point in the fugue there may be "false entries" of the subject, which include the start of the subject but are not completed. False entries are often abbreviated to the head of the subject, and anticipate the "true" entry of the subject, heightening

23265-403: The soundboard instead of dissipating uselessly in the case parts, which are inefficient radiators of sound." Hardwood rims are commonly made by laminating thin (hence flexible) strips of hardwood, bending them to the desired shape immediately after the application of glue. The bent plywood system was developed by C.F. Theodore Steinway in 1880 to reduce manufacturing time and costs. Previously,

23430-402: The soundboard is made of spruce boards glued together along the side grain. Spruce's high ratio of strength to weight minimizes acoustic impedance while offering strength sufficient to withstand the downward force of the strings. The best piano makers use quarter-sawn , defect-free spruce of close annular grain, carefully seasoning it over a long period before fabricating the soundboards. This

23595-417: The string, such as rust on plain strings and dirt in the windings of bass strings. The higher the partial, the further sharp it runs. Pianos with shorter and thicker string (i.e., small pianos with short string scales) have more inharmonicity. The greater the inharmonicity, the more the ear perceives it as harshness of tone. The inharmonicity of piano strings requires that octaves be stretched , or tuned to

23760-418: The strings are placed in two separate planes, each with its own bridge height, allowed greater length to the bass strings and optimized the transition from unwound tenor strings to the iron or copper-wound bass strings. Over-stringing was invented by Pape during the 1820s and first patented for use in grand pianos in the United States by Henry Steinway Jr. in 1859. Some piano makers added variations to enhance

23925-448: The strings when the sustain pedal is depressed, key release, the drop of the dampers, and simulations of techniques such as re-pedalling. Digital, MIDI-equipped pianos can output a stream of MIDI data, or record and play MIDI format files on digital storage media, similar in concept to a pianola. The MIDI file records the physics of a note rather than its resulting sound and recreates the sounds from its physical properties (e.g., which note

24090-464: The strings. Inharmonicity is the degree to which the frequencies of overtones (known as partials or harmonics ) sound sharp relative to whole multiples of the fundamental frequency. This results from the piano's considerable string stiffness; as a struck string decays, its harmonics vibrate from a point very slightly from its termination toward the center (or more flexible part) of the string. The inharmonicity may also result from imperfections within

24255-483: The subject in more than one instance, the countersubject must be capable of sounding correctly when played above or below the subject, and must be conceived, therefore, in invertible (double) counterpoint. In tonal music, invertible contrapuntal lines must be written according to certain rules, because several intervallic combinations, while acceptable in one orientation, are not permissible when inverted. As an example, perfect fifths are contrapuntally acceptable, while

24420-404: The subject, and is always used together with the first version of the second countersubject. Following this an episode modulates from the tonic to the relative major by means of sequence , in the form of an accompanied canon at the fourth. Arrival in E ♭ major is marked by a quasi perfect cadence across the bar line, from the last quarter note beat of the first bar to the first beat of

24585-430: The subject, or middle entries, occur throughout the fugue. The development must state the subject or answer at least once in its entirety, and may also be heard in combination with any countersubjects from the exposition, new countersubjects, free counterpoint, or any of these in combination. It is uncommon for the subject to enter alone in a single voice in the middle entries; rather, it is usually heard with at least one of

24750-441: The subject/answer before the first voice has completed its entry of the subject/answer, usually increasing the intensity of the music. Only one entry of the subject must be heard in its completion in a stretto . However, a stretto in which the subject/answer is heard in completion in all voices is known as stretto maestrale or grand stretto . Strettos may also occur by inversion, augmentation and diminution. A fugue in which

24915-437: The sustain pedal is depressed) and full pedal sets can now be replicated. The processing power of digital pianos has enabled highly realistic pianos using multi-gigabyte piano sample sets with as many as ninety recordings, each lasting many seconds, for each key under different conditions (e.g., there are samples of each note being struck softly, loudly, with a sharp attack, etc.). Additional samples emulate sympathetic resonance of

25080-463: The symphonies and in the Baryton trios , exhibit the influence of Joseph Fux's treatise on counterpoint, Gradus ad Parnassum (1725), which Haydn studied carefully. Haydn's second fugal period occurred after he heard, and was greatly inspired by, the oratorios of Handel during his visits to London (1791–1793, 1794–1795). Haydn then studied Handel's techniques and incorporated Handelian fugal writing into

25245-474: The symphony that had suffered an apparent pianistic death. However, Charles Rosen considered attempts to orchestrate the work "nonsensical". Pianoforte A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings . Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temperament . A musician who specializes in piano

25410-456: The term gegenfuge to refer to a counter-fugue construct in his Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739), and some German-language texts use that name to refer to a counter-fugue. Permutation fugue describes a type of composition (or technique of composition) in which elements of fugue and strict canon are combined. Each voice enters in succession with the subject, each entry alternating between tonic and dominant, and each voice, having stated

25575-433: The terms of "species" of counterpoint , and offered a series of exercises to learn fugue writing. Fux's work was largely based on the practice of Palestrina 's modal fugues. Mozart studied from this book, and it remained influential into the nineteenth century. Haydn , for example, taught counterpoint from his own summary of Fux and thought of it as the basis for formal structure. Bach's most famous fugues are those for

25740-405: The themes in related keys. So for example, the fugue of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 is not purely a permutation fugue, as it does have episodes between permutation expositions. Invertible counterpoint is essential to permutation fugues but is not found in simple fugues. A fughetta is a short fugue that has the same characteristics as a fugue. Often the contrapuntal writing

25905-415: The tone of each note, such as Pascal Taskin (1788), Collard & Collard (1821), and Julius Blüthner , who developed Aliquot stringing in 1893. These systems were used to strengthen the tone of the highest register of notes on the piano, which up until this time were viewed as being too weak-sounding. Each used more distinctly ringing, undamped vibrations of sympathetically vibrating strings to add to

26070-542: The tone, except the Blüthner Aliquot stringing , which uses an additional fourth string in the upper two treble sections. While the hitchpins of these separately suspended Aliquot strings are raised slightly above the level of the usual tri-choir strings, they are not struck by the hammers but rather are damped by attachments of the usual dampers. Eager to copy these effects, Theodore Steinway invented duplex scaling , which used short lengths of non-speaking wire bridged by

26235-408: The way the piano was strung. There are one string for each note in the bass, two for each note in the tenor, and three for each note in the tenor. The use of a Capo d’Astro bar instead of agraffes in the uppermost treble allowed the hammers to strike the strings in their optimal position, greatly increasing that area's power. The implementation of over-stringing (also called cross-stringing ), in which

26400-424: Was arranged like a grand set on end, with the soundboard and bridges above the keys and tuning pins below them. " Giraffe pianos ", " pyramid pianos " and " lyre pianos " were arranged in a somewhat similar fashion, using evocatively shaped cases. The very tall cabinet piano was introduced about 1805 and was built through the 1840s. It had strings arranged vertically on a continuous frame with bridges extended nearly to

26565-537: Was designing a stringed keyboard instrument in which the notes are struck by a hammer. The hammer must strike the string but not remain in contact with it, because continued contact would damp the sound and stop the string from vibrating and making sound. This means that after striking the string, the hammer must quickly fall from (or rebound from) the strings. Moreover, the hammer must return to its rest position without bouncing violently (thus preventing notes from being re-played by accidental rebound), and it must return to

26730-411: Was manufactured from the mid-1930s until recent times. The low position of the hammers required the use of a "drop action" to preserve a reasonable keyboard height. Modern upright and grand pianos attained their present, 2000-era forms by the end of the 19th century. While improvements have been made in manufacturing processes, and many individual details of the instrument continue to receive attention, and

26895-503: Was repeated starting on a different note. Gioseffo Zarlino , a composer, author, and theorist in the Renaissance , was one of the first to distinguish between the two types of imitative counterpoint: fugues and canons (which he called imitations). Originally, this was to aid improvisation , but by the 1550s, it was considered a technique of composition. The composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525?–1594) wrote masses using modal counterpoint and imitation, and fugal writing became

27060-490: Was struck and with what velocity). Computer based software, such as Modartt's 2006 Pianoteq , can be used to manipulate the MIDI stream in real time or subsequently to edit it. This type of software may use no samples but synthesize a sound based on aspects of the physics that went into the creation of a played note. By the 2000s, some pianos included an acoustic grand piano or upright piano combined with MIDI electronic features. Such

27225-403: Was the first to use in pianos in 1826, was a more consistent material, permitting wider dynamic ranges as hammer weights and string tension increased. The sostenuto pedal ( see below ), invented in 1844 by Jean-Louis Boisselot and copied by the Steinway firm in 1874, allowed for a wider range of effects. One innovation that helped create the powerful sound of the modern piano was the use of

#278721