Why Is It Called a Piano?
If you are relatively new to the piano, you may wonder why this instrument is called that. At first glance, the name doesn’t make a lot of sense.
You’ve been taught that “piano” is the musical term for “soft” (or “quiet”). And why would this large, heavy object full of hammers and metal be called “the soft”? Or even “the quiet”? (It can be anything but quiet — as you’re probably aware.)
Actually, the term “piano” is only a nickname. The instrument’s full name, used only rarely today, is “pianoforte.”
What? This makes even less sense! You know that “piano” is the musical term for “soft or quiet.” You also know that “forte” is the musical term for “strong” (or “loud”). So the instrument’s more formal name means, literally, “the soft-strong” or “the quiet-loud.”
Why? The answer goes back to the piano’s origins.
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument, as distinct from a stringed instrument without a keyboard, such as a violin. It was invented in Italy at around 1700, by a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori. At that time, the best-known stringed keyboard instruments were the clavichord and the harpsichord. The harpsichord produced sound by means of plucking the strings with a quill, while the clavichord’s strings were struck by a small metal blade called a tangent.
As versatile and widely-accepted as these instruments were, they lacked dynamic range.
The harpsichord’s strings were plucked with the same force no matter how forcefully the player’s fingers struck the keyboard. The clavichord, while offering a greater subtlety in dynamic range, was rather quiet, since the tangent remained in contact with the string after it was struck. (This has the effect of both producing the sound and damping it, or keeping it quiet.) The clavichord was best suited to intimate chamber music and would have been drowned out if accompanied by a full orchestra, as in a concerto performance.
So when Cristofori invented his instrument, it had this great advantage over these forerunners: Dynamic range.
As you know, the piano can produce a sound that is either soft and quiet, or large, forceful, and loud — all depending on the force with which the player strikes the keys. So revolutionary was this capability, that its original name in Italy, the land of its birth, was “clavicembalo col piano e forte.” This translated literally as, “harpsichord with soft and loud.” Such a rather unwieldy handle became shortened to “pianoforte,” and since then, to “piano.”
So now you know why your favorite stringed keyboard instrument is called “the piano” — even though its very capability to play more dynamics than “soft” is its hallmark, and the source of that name.
Take advantage of this capability the next time you play. Whether you’re playing for your teacher, a packed auditorium, or just yourself, make sure you use that full dynamic range. And enjoy it.
The Pipe Organ: 8 Facts That May Surprise You
There are many keyboard instruments besides the piano. The pipe organ is one of the most impressive as well as the most challenging. Mozart called the pipe organ “the king of instruments.” Think you know the pipe organ? Read on! Test your knowledge of this versatile keyboard instrument.
1. You can usually see all the pipes in a pipe organ. True or False?
Answer: False. Most pipe organs have several ranks of pipes (groups of pipes organized by timbre and pitch). Most of these pipes are enclosed in a windchest; usually only the main principle stop is visible.
2. The pipe organ is one of the oldest musical instruments still in general use today. True or False?
Answer: True! The basic form of the pipe organ still in use today is essentially unchanged from a keyboard instrument developed in the early 1500’s. In fact, one of the earliest precursors of today’s organ was invented in about 250 B.C. !
3. When an organist “pulls out all the stops” this is akin to…
A. A full choir singing together, with no soloists.
B. A return to the most primitive form of the pipe organ.
C. Turning on all the faucets in your home at once.
D. All of the above.
Answer: D. In its earliest form, the pipe organ had no stops; all pipes played all the time. This is similar to tutti passages in a choir or orchestral work when all parts are being performed simultaneously. To enable the pipe organ to produce more nuanced sounds, a slider was developed which would selectively “stop” air from entering a particular rank of pipes, and therefore prevent that type of pipe from sounding. When an organist “pulls out all the stops,” this enables air to flow through all the organ’s pipe ranks, producing a sound that is full, rich, complex — and usually fortissimo.
4. An “eight-foot pitch” refers to…
A. The length of the pipe for the lowest C on the pipe organ keyboard.
B. A note that is one octave below the four-foot pitch.
C. An extremely poor performance in baseball.
D. Both A and B.
E. None of the above.
Answer: D. The main principle tone for most organs is produced by a rank of pipes whose lowest C results from vibrating an eight-foot column of air. Very often, another rank of pipes produces a C from a four-foot pipe; the notes of this rank are all one octave above the notes produced by the pipes of the eight-foot pitch.
5. There’s no difference between closed pipes and open pipes. True or false?
Answer: False. Open pipes produce the principle pitch and the full range of harmonics. Closed pipes are capped on the top end, and produce a sound one octave below that produced by an open pipe of the same length. In addition, closed pipes produce only odd harmonics (1X, 3X, 5X, 7X, etc.) rather than the full range. Hence the quality of their sound is quite unique compared to that of open pipes.
6. Some of the largest pipe organs may have over 20,000 pipes and 7 keyboards!
7. The term “Swell to Great” describes the organ music of J.S. Bach. True or False?
Answer: False! In fact, the terms Swell and Great refer to two different divisions frequently found in pipe organs. Several ranks of pipes are organized into divisions, and each division usually is played using its own keyboard. If the organ is equipped with a coupler, this allows the stops of one division to be played on the keyboard of another. Hence, the label “Swell to Great” is applied to a coupler which enables the stops on the Swell division to be played using the Great keyboard.
8. Pipe organ wind pressures are roughly…
A. 0.01 psi.
B. 0.1 psi.
C. 1.0 psi.
D. 10.0 psi.
Answer: B, about one-tenth of a pound per square inch. Actually, pipe wind pressures are often measured by organ manufacturers in terms of inches of water! The 0.1 psi mentioned above would equate to roughly 2-3/4 inches of water. This odd-sounding metric comes from a “U-nique” tool used to measure the pressure, a water-filled manometer. This is a U-shaped device containing water, and the metric indicates the relative difference in water level in each of the two legs of the U. Where wind pressure coming out of the organ pipe is greater than the surrounding atmospheric pressure, the water level is pushed downward on the organ-pipe side of the U.
As you can see, the pipe organ is quite a complicated mechanism. No wonder people have been fascinated with this instrument for over 2,000 years!
The Organ Repertoire of J.S. Bach
We can’t really discuss Johann Sebastian Bach without mentioning that during his life, Bach was known more widely as an organist than a composer. He also held several posts under local nobility or royalty as court organist, Kapellmeister, and Kantor, the latter two positions indicating responsibility for directing choirs in addition to organ performance.
In 1704, early in his career, young J. Sebastian walked nearly 250 miles to study under the most noted organist of that time, Dieterich Buxtehude. Intending to stay for one month, he stayed for five; Buxtehude’s style became a firm foundation for Bach’s own work on the organ. To this strong foundation in the German tradition, Bach showed a flair for incorporating styles of other regions, notably French and Italian influences.
Bach’s most productive years for organ composition were from 1708 – 1714, while he served as court organist in Weimar. During this time he wrote some of his most famous pairs of toccatas & fugues and preludes & fugues. These included the “Chromatic” Fantasia & Fugue in D minor (BWV 903), the “Dorian” Toccata & Fugue in D minor (BWV 538), the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue (BWV 564), the Fantasia & Fugue in G minor (BWV 542), and of course, the ever-popular Toccata & Fugue in D minor (BWV 565). The familiar theme from this work has been quoted in all sorts of unlikely venues, from rock music to horror movies to ring tones. (Ironically, some musicologists dispute the authenticity of this work as a Bach composition.)
During his Weimar years, Bach also developed an early version of his Orgelbuchlein or “Little Organ Book” to help teach his son to play. Bach originally intended this piece as a set of 164 chorale preludes accompanying the liturgical year. He only completed 46 chorale preludes, however. The “Little Organ Book” is still popular in organ pedagogy today, and showcases Bach’s commitment to teaching. He did not neglect pedagogy despite all the other demands on his time — as a virtuoso soloist himself, choir director, and composer.
Another notable feature of Bach’s Weimar period is that he began to claim certain aspects of Italian style as his own. Among these stylistic elements were dramatic openings, clarity of bass lines, and dynamic rhythms. Although Bach produced other major works for organ after this period, the sheer volume of his production for organ fell off after the Weimar years.
Later influential organ works included The Art of the Fugue, Bach’s last major work, the 14th Fugue of which was never finished. Despite some controversy over the instrumentation Bach intended for this work, it is generally considered as most likely intended for a keyboard instrument and is regularly performed by organists. And the final work that Bach ever produced was a work for organ, a chorale prelude that he dictated to his son-in-law while on his deathbed. This work is known as Before thy throne I now appear (BWV 668a), and is often played after the unfinished 14th Fugue to conclude performances of The Art of the Fugue.
From beginning to end Bach devoted his life to music, and organ music occupied a central place in that life. As a performer of the organ, consultant regarding the instrument, composer for it, and teacher of younger organists, Johann Sebastian Bach made tremendous contributions to organ repertoire.
