“On the first day of creation, God made the violin. And it has remained practically unchanged ever since.” (Louis Kentner)
The piano, on the other hand, is an instrument with a very long history of development.
The first keyboard instruments were already designed in the 15th century, such as the harpsichord or the clavichord. On these instruments, however, the strings were not struck but plucked, so that it was not yet possible to change the volume.
Bartolomeo Christofori developed the first real preform of the piano in 1698. He called it: “apricembalo che fa il piano e il forte”, literally translated: “A harpsichord that can play loudly and quietly”.
On winding paths the German piano maker Gottfried Silbermann was given a report describing the mechanics of this instrument . Inspired by this, he constructed the first fortepiano.
This laid the foundation for the triumphal march of the piano in Western music.
In this recording one hears that the harpsichord is not capable of changing volume. The composers were thus forced to implement their musical ideas in a different way, for example through stronger contrasts in the tempos used.