Florence Is The Birthplace Of The Piano

By the last part of the eighteenth century, the pianoforte, more generally known as the piano, became a key instrument of Western art music, used by both professionals and amateurs. No middle-class family of any size lacked one by the end of the nineteenth century in either Europe or North America. The piano repertory, whether performed solo, in chamber ensembles, or with an orchestra, is at the core of the Western classical professional performance. Almost every significant Western composer from Mozart onwards has played it, many of them as virtuosi.

The piano, at the time known as the pianoforte, was created in 1698 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. He did so at Cosimo III de' Medici's Florentine court. The harpsichord gave rise to the pianoforte. Existing Cristofori pianos number three. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is where you may locate the oldest one, which was created in 1720. Another of his pianos from 1722 can be found in Rome's Museo Strumenti Musicali. One of his pianos from 1726 is on display at Leipzig University's Musikinstrumenten-Museum.