20 Facts About Bartolomeo Cristofori

Bartolomeo Cristofori was born in Padua in the Republic of Venice.

Probably the most important event in Bartolomeo Cristofori's life is the first one of which we have any record: in 1688, at age 33, he was recruited to work for Prince Ferdinando de Medici.

Bartolomeo Cristofori moved rather quickly to Florence, was issued a house, complete with utensils and equipment, by the Grand Duke's administration, and set to work.

Bartolomeo Cristofori did eventually obtain his own workshop, usually keeping one or two assistants working for him.

The entry in this inventory for Bartolomeo Cristofori's piano begins as follows:.

Edward Good infers that this is what Bartolomeo Cristofori himself wanted his instrument to be called.

Specifically, a 1716 inventory of the musical instrument collection is signed "Bartolommeo Bartolomeo Cristofori Custode", indicating that Bartolomeo Cristofori had been given the title of custodian of the collection.

Bartolomeo Cristofori continued to make pianos until near the end of his life, continually making improvements in his invention.

Also, the Bartolomeo Cristofori action included a check that catches the hammer and holds it in a partially raised position until the player releases the key; the check helped to prevent unwanted second blows.

However, Bartolomeo Cristofori's design ultimately won out; the standard modern piano action is a still more complex and evolved version of Bartolomeo Cristofori's original.

Bartolomeo Cristofori's principle continues to be applied in modern pianos, where the now-enormous string tension is borne by a separate iron frame.

Wraight has written that the three surviving Bartolomeo Cristofori pianos appear to follow an orderly progression: each has heavier framing than its predecessor.

On two of his surviving instruments, Bartolomeo Cristofori employed an unusual arrangement of the tuning pins: they are inserted all the way through their supporting wrest plank.

Bartolomeo Cristofori used cypress, the wood traditionally favored for soundboards in the Italian school of harpsichord making.

Bartolomeo Cristofori's strings are all equally spaced regardless of their pitch, rather than being grouped so that strings of identical pitch are closer together.

The sound of the Bartolomeo Cristofori replicas is as close to the harpsichord as it is to the modern piano; this is to be expected given that their case construction and stringing are much closer to the harpsichord than to the piano.

Knowledge of how Bartolomeo 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.

The ultimate success of Bartolomeo 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.

Bartolomeo Cristofori was evidently admired and respected in his own lifetime for his work on the piano.

Bartolomeo Cristofori is given credit for originality in inventing the piano.