Cristofori’s Hammer

How did the ‘Soft and Loud Harpsicord’ conquer the world?

What were ducks in the scientist’s world before the revolution are rabbits afterwards.

Thomas Kuhn, American Philosopher of Science

Among the voluminous scribblings of history, there exists numerous mentions of genius inventors who created immortal instruments, only to be betrayed by the mortal one that carried them through life. These were fabricators of devices that changed the world, but the world took notice only after the originator of the device was no longer around to receive our thanks.

Bartolomeo Cristofori was one such man. The 18^th century Italian craftsman specialized in the construction of harpsicords – a keyboard instrument that is a close relative of what the adoring world today calls the piano. However, what the piano’s many admirers may not know is the identity of the man who gifted us this marvellous instrument.

Unlike the harpsicord, which used a string-plucking mechanism to produce its emphatic, accented notes, the piano relies on a hammer mechanism which gives the pianist far greater control over the volume of the sound that emanates from the instrument. In fact, the piano gets its name because of its dynamic range. It was originally called “gravicembalo col piano e forte” which is Italian for “harpsicord that can play soft and loud.” Today hardly anyone refers to the instrument using its full name. We prefer its pet name – ‘piano’ – meaning ‘soft,’ a quality that the harpsicord lacked.

This is truly a thought worth pondering over:

Today, the piano is revered for multiple reasons, chief of which is arguably its immense versatility. There was a time however, where there was no instrument capable of rendering soft keyboard sounds—a feature of the piano that is taken for granted today.

The thesis of Thomas Kuhn’s book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, gives us an interesting angle to pursue this line of thought from. In his book, Kuhn writes of how paradigm shifts or sudden monumental changes in science were reliant on an ecosystem that made certain landmark discoveries (that may previously have been glossed over—like Cristofori’s piano) fluorescent and utterly unmissable.

The question that Kuhn’s idea leads us to ask about the piano is this:

What ecosystem resulted in Cristofori’s invention—regrettably overlooked during his lifetime—becoming one of the world’s most celebrated musical instruments?   

~ Granville D. Austin

Sources for Further Thinkering:

History of the Piano – Bach helped popularize the instrument!

Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions – Explanatory Video