为方便于国际学生而写的钢琴音乐发展史，英文版

【作者：李教员,编号11070 更新时间：2018-11-29】


The piano is a percussion instrument. When your finger touches the key, the inside of the piano has a small hammer that hits another one, and which therefore makes it an eligible percussion instrument. We learned legato and staccato, as well as sonatas. Back then, the piano did not have a damper pedal, so the sound wasn’t as clear as it is nowadays. The piano was founded in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori, in Italy. There are different eras: the Mid Century (476-1453), the Renaissance (1456-1600), the Baroque era (1600-1750), the Classic era (1750-1820), the Romantic era (1820-1900), and finally the 20th century (1900-Now). There are many composers in piano, but the most famous are sorted throughout the different eras. In the Baroque era, one of the well-known piano composers is [Bowling/Hamburger] Bach. His full name was Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, and he lived 1714-1788. He lived and composed music in the Baroque and early Classical era, and he had a German heritage. Another composer in the Baroque era was Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). He wasn’t as well known as Bach. He was born in Italy and wrote 550 music sonatas. In the Classic era, there is Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). He was born in Austria and became known as the Father of Symphonies. His pieces include Symphony No. 94 in G major, Hob. I:94 ‘Surprise’. Another Classical star was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). He was born in Austria. When Mozart was 4 years old, he started learning piano. When he hit 6 years old, he was already a famous composer. He wrote 5 duets and 19 piano sonatas. Mozart wrote Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and numerous other famous pieces. The third Classical composer is Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827). He had a German background/heritage. He wrote 32 piano sonatas. When Beethoven was young, his piano songs/pieces had a lot of resistance. Some of his pieces include Moonlight Sonatina and Für Elise. Beethoven changed his style as the romantic era approached. When he was young, his pieces had resistance, suspense, and a feeling of fighting. As he grew older, his pieces became more lyrical and were more like singing than fighting. Out of the three most famous Classical piano composers, Beethoven was the youngest and Haydn was the oldest. In the Romantic era, there were two very famous composers. One was Peter L. Tchaikowsky (1840-1893). He was born in Russia. When Tchaikowsky was 22 years old, he went to a school to learn law. Peter wrote the 4th, 5th, and 6th symphonies. His pieces mostly had a feeling of sadness and flowing. They were mostly legato, deep, and lyrical. In the romantic era, there was also Frédéric Franois Chopin (1810-1849), who was a piano poet. His pieces were very famous and beyond compare at the time. He was born in the Classical era and stayed for 10 years, but then switched to writing Romantic pieces afterwards. His pieces have interesting titles such as the Revolutionary tude, or the Minute Waltz. Chopin was very famous and died at the age of 39, in Paris. A typical Romantic era composer was Robert Schumann. He wrote lullabies and romantic music that fit the criteria of a typical romantic piece. The Romantic and Classical era were known for their use of their fingertips, creating a melodic and lyrical sound and music. The piano went through many stages to get to where it is today. The first name for the piano was the pianoforte, but was better known as the piano over time, since it was an easier abbreviation of the word. There are also different types of pianos such as the harpsichord. The sound back then was duller and could not be played as legato as we can nowadays. Pianos typically have 2 pedals, but some have 3. This is because home pianos, pianos that are used at home, need to be quieter if the player wants to play the piano. If the player does not want to wake anyone up in their home, there is a 3rd pedal in the middle which causes the sound to become very quiet and soft. There’s the damper pedal, which dampens and stretches the note. There’s also one that causes the sound to flow slower and softer, plus another that allowed the sound to be muffled. Inside the piano, there are small hammers and strings, bridges and soundboards. The keyboard is consisted of black and white keys which allows more notes and pitches like sharps and flats. How soft or how hard one plays affects the dynamics. There’s piano, which means ‘soft.’ In music, it often looks like p. fortemeans ‘loud’. The sign is often f. In between and even out of range of these two major dynamics, there’s pp, mp, mf, ff.