Saturday, May 05, 2007

Thank you Barolomeo


It's the birthday of the man credited with inventing the piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori, born in Padua, Italy (1655). He called his invention "the harpsichord that plays quiet and loud." He had replaced the string-plucking mechanism of the harpsichord with hammers, which allowed the player to adjust its volume by applying different degrees of force to the keys. As the instrument grew more popular, the name was shortened to "quiet-loud" and finally to "quiet." In Italian, the word for "quiet" is "piano."

Thanks to Bartolomeo, we have amazing works of art, pieces like Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, The Gymonopedes by Erik Satie, and any little Mozart piece. Artists, like the great Scott Joplin, Joni Mitchell and our own Davina Sowers.

The list of people who have been touched by the sounds of this simple instrument is endless. What a beautiful soulful world - past, present and future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You must have been a music teacher in a previous life! :)