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What is the fortepiano?
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What is the fortepiano?
Did you know Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven did not compose for the modern piano? They wrote for the Vienna pianoforte, an instrument very different from a modern Steinway or Bösendorfer. So let's talk about Viennese fortepianos and how their unique characteristics are better suited to classical music.To get more news about fortepiano, you can visit shine news official website.
This is Paul McNulty's modern copy of an Anton Walter fortepiano. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven would recognise this type of instrument.
It is made almost entirely of wood and doesn't have a cast iron frame like modern pianos. This makes it much lighter, weighing around 95kg or 210lbs, which is 4 or 5 times lighter than modern concert Steinways. I'm always amused by the scene in Amadeus where the men carry Mozart's fortepiano to a concert.
RANGE AND ACTION
The range is much smaller - this instrument has a range of 5.5 octaves. The action is very different from today's pianos. The touch is about 10 times lighter than on modern pianos and the key dip is much shallower. This helps with all the tricky technical issues that arise when approaching classical music on modern pianos. For example, getting the articulations and dynamics right.However, the light action of these pianos also makes them extremely unforgiving. Your fingers need to be more precise to control dynamics and articulation.
STRAIGHT VS. CROSS-STRINGING
Viennese pianos are straight-strung. This means that the strings run straight from the front to the back of the instrument. Modern pianos are cross-strung.Straight-stringing has a significant effect on sound production, as each note is allowed to sound on its own, rather than being mixed together in the centre of the soundboard. This helps to keep textures light, such as Alberti bass passages, and prevents thick chords from becoming too muddy.
HAMMER COMPARISON AND DECAY
Let's have a look inside the instrument. It's a simple action, with each hammer suspended in a capsule. You can also see that the hammers face the player, but more importantly how small they are. For comparison, this massive fellow comes from a modern Bösendorfer piano. This affects the dynamics, and the material they're made of is also important.
The modern hammer is covered in felt, creating a softer, almost imperceptible impact on the string. The result is a broad, fat sound, similar to that of a large handbell. The hammer of the fortepiano is covered with thin leather, producing a perceptible strike, more like that of a xylophone.