Social history of the piano

At the time of its origin around the year 1700,[1] the piano was a speculative invention, produced by the well-paid craftsman and inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori for his wealthy patron Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Prince of Florence.

When the piano was invented in 1700, it failed to catch the public's attention due to its expense and the fact that the harpsichord was the preferred instrument of the time.

Very few people knew of the piano until after the Seven Years' War when a young man named Johannes Zumpe fled Germany for London.

To understand the rise of the piano among the middle class, it is helpful to remember that before mechanical and electronic reproduction, music was in fact performed on a daily basis by ordinary people.

The virtuosi also prepared their own editions of classical works, which included detailed marks of tempo and expression to guide the amateur who wanted to use their playing as a model.

The piano compositions of the great composers often sold well among amateurs, despite the fact that, starting with Beethoven, they were often far too hard for anyone but a trained virtuoso to play well.

Evidently, the amateur pianists obtained satisfaction from coming to grips with the finest music, even if they could not perform it from start to finish.

Artur Schnabel's book My Life and Music[11] vividly depicts his own experience along these lines, which took place in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th century.

To the reformers who were threatened with European domination, the piano functioned as a symbol of international modernity, granting access to a world where western technical expertise and cultural knowledge were valued.

This was part of a process of avoiding European colonialism by accepting western cultural practices and institutions, which was quickly internalized by the Meiji government and the people.

[12] Playing the piano was adopted in Japan as part of domestic modernity, as opposed to the traditional and pre-modern conception of musicians as social outcasts.

First the player piano (c. 1900), then the home phonograph (which became common in the decade before World War I), then the radio (in the 1920s) dealt severe blows to amateur piano-playing as a form of domestic recreation.