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Bartolomeo Cristofori
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Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano.
Earlier instrumentsDuring the remaining years of the 17th century, Cristofori invented two keyboard instruments before he began his work on the piano. These instruments are documented in an inventory, dated 1700, of the many instruments kept by Prince Ferdinando. Stewart Pollens conjectures that this inventory was prepared by a court musician named Giovanni Fuga, who may have referred to it as his own in a 1716 letter.
The spinettone, Italian for "big spinet", was a large, multi-choired spinet (a harpsichord in which the strings are slanted to save space), with disposition 1 x 8', 1 x 4'; most spinets have the simple disposition 1 x 8'.
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Timeline
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1655 Born
1700 An inventory made for the Medici family of Florence documents the first piano, invented by their instrument keeper Bartolomeo Cristofori.
1731 Died
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Encyclopedia
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano.
Earlier instrumentsDuring the remaining years of the 17th century, Cristofori invented two keyboard instruments before he began his work on the piano. These instruments are documented in an inventory, dated 1700, of the many instruments kept by Prince Ferdinando. Stewart Pollens conjectures that this inventory was prepared by a court musician named Giovanni Fuga, who may have referred to it as his own in a 1716 letter.
The spinettone, Italian for "big spinet", was a large, multi-choired spinet (a harpsichord in which the strings are slanted to save space), with disposition 1 x 8', 1 x 4'; most spinets have the simple disposition 1 x 8'. This invention may have been meant to fit into a crowded orchestra pit for theatrical performances, while having the louder sound of a multi-choired instrument.
The other invention was the highly original oval spinet, a kind of virginals with the longest strings in the middle of the case.
Cristofori also built instruments of existing types, documented in the same 1700 inventory: a clavicytherium (upright harpsichord), and two harpsichords of the standard Italian 2 x 8' disposition; one of them has an unusual case made of ebony.
Tonal qualityOf all historical pianos, Cristofori's sound the most like harpsichords--in particular, more like harpsichords than do the Viennese-style early pianos of the later 18th century, which are probably the most familiar to modern listeners. To hear the sound of Cristofori instruments (both restored and replicated), consult the external links given below.
The initial reception of the pianoOur knowledge of how Cristofori's invention was initially received comes in part from the article published in 1711 by Scipione Maffei, an influential literary figure, in the Giornale de'letterati d'Italia of Venice. Maffei said that "some professionals have not given this invention all the applause it merits," and goes on to say that its sound was felt to be too "soft" and "dull"--Cristofori was unable to make his instrument as loud as the competing harpsichord. Yet Maffei himself was an enthusiast for the piano, and the instrument did gradually catch on and increase in popularity, in part due to Maffei's efforts.
One reason why the piano spread slowly at first was that it was quite expensive to make, and thus was purchased only by royalty and a few wealthy private individuals. The ultimate success of Cristofori's invention occurred only in the 1760s, when the invention of cheaper square pianos, along with generally greater prosperity, made it possible for many people to acquire one.
Subsequent technological developments in the piano were often mere "re-inventions" of Cristofori's work; in the early years, there were perhaps as many regressions as advances. For the history of the piano after Cristofori, see Fortepiano and Piano.
Surviving instrumentsTen instruments that survive today are attributed to Cristofori:
- The three pianos described above
- Two oval spinets, from 1690 and 1693. The 1690 instrument is kept in the Museo degli strumenti musicali, part of the Galleria del Accademia in Florence. The 1693 oval spinet is in the Musikinstrumenten-Museum of the University of Leipzig.
- A spinettone (see above), also in the Leipzig museum
- An early (17th century) harpsichord, with a case made of ebony. It is kept in the Museo degli strumenti musicali in Florence. An image can be viewed at the of harpsichord builder Tony Chinnery.
- A harpsichord dated 1722, in the Leipzig museum.
- A 1726 harpsichord, in the Leipzig museum. This harpsichord is unusual for having a two foot stop; its disposition is 1 x 8', 1 x 4', 1 x 2'.
- <One instrument not yet identified by the staff of this encyclopedia>
The later instruments, dating from Cristofori's old age, probably include work by assistant Giovanni Ferrini, who went on after the inventor's death to build pianos of wider range using the same basic design.
Assessments of CristoforiCristofori was evidently admired and respected in his own lifetime for his work on the piano. On his death, a theorbo player at the Medici court named Niccolò Susier wrote in his diary:
- 1731, 27th [January], Bartolomeo Crisofani [sic], called Bartolo Padovano, died, famous instrument maker to the Most Serene Grand Prince Ferdinando of fond memory, and he was a skillful maker of keyboard instruments, and also the inventor of the pianoforte, that is known through all Europe, and who served His Majesty the King of Portugal [João V], who paid two hundred gold louis d'or for the said instruments, and he died, as has been said, at the age of eighty-one years. [trans. Stewart Pollens; Cristofori was actually only 76 at his death]
An anonymous 18th century music dictionary, found in the library of the composer Padre G. B. Martini, says of him
- Christofori Bartolomeo of Padua died in Florence [...] was the famous harpsichord maker, a distinguished restorer rendering even better good instruments made by other past masters and he was also the inventor of harpsichords with hammers, which produce a different quality of sound both on account of the hammer striking the chord and the completely different internal structure of the body of the instrument, not visible from the outside [...] the best instruments that he made were for Ferdinando de' Medici Great Prince of Tuscany, his protector and son of the Grand Duke Cosimo III. [trans. Giuliana Montanari]
After his death, however, Cristofori's reputation went into eclipse. As Stewart Pollens has documented, in late 18th century France it was believed that the piano had been invented not by Cristofori but by the German builder Gottfried Silbermann. Silbermann was in fact an important figure in the history of the piano, but his instruments relied almost entirely on Cristofori for their design. Later scholarship (notably by Leo Puliti) only gradually corrected this error.
In the second half of the 20th century, Cristofori's instruments were studied with care, as part of the general increase in interest in early instruments that developed in this era (see authentic performance). The modern scholars who have studied Cristofori's work in detail tend to express their admiration in the strongest terms; thus the New Grove encyclopedia describes him as having possessed "tremendous ingenuity"; Stewart Pollens says "All of Cristofori's work is startling in its ingenuity"; and the early-instrument scholar Grant O’Brien has
"The workmanship and inventiveness displayed by the instruments of Cristofori are of the highest order and his genius has probably never been surpassed by any other keyboard maker of the historical period ... I place Cristofori shoulder to shoulder with Antonio Stradivarius."
Cristofori is also given credit for originality in inventing the piano. While it is true that there had been earlier, crude attempts to make piano-like instruments, it is not clear that these were even known to Cristofori. The piano is thus an unusual case in which an important invention can be ascribed unambiguously to a single individual, who brought it to an unusual degree of perfection all on his own.
External links- The Metropolitan Museum's on its 1720 Cristofori piano
- A , including an image of the 1722 Cristofori instrument in Rome.
- Web page of the in Rome (no image, but information for visitors)
- The Leipzig Musikinstrumenten-Museum's on its 1726 Cristofori piano.
- Website of Tony Chinnery, harpsichord maker. Hear an and a Cristofori.
- O'Brien, Grant (2003) "Bartolomeo Cristofori/Giovanni Ferrini as restorers and re-builders. A ‘Neapolitan’ connection in two Italian harpsichords in Britain." Online at .
- Puliti, Leto (1874) "Della vita del Serenissimo Ferdinando dei Medici Granprincipe di Toscana e della origine del pianoforte" ("On the life of His Serene Highness Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, and on the origin of the pianoforte," Atti dell'Accademia del R. Istituto musicale di Firenze 12:92-240.
- Wraight, Denzil "A Florentine Piano c.1730 for Early Piano Music", online at .
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