Jack Dauner Music
1780's Piano (fortepiano) vs. 2000's Piano | Haydn: Piano Sonata in B Minor HOB. XVI:32 III. Presto
In this video I will play a piece by Joseph Haydn on a pianoforte (also called a fortepiano) and my Kawai baby grand (circa 2005). I switch back and forth from the two pianos, so you can really hear the difference.
The piece I am playing is: J. Haydn: Piano Sonata in B Minor HOB. XVI:32 III. Presto
The pianoforte in the video is dated from around 1780, and is said to have been played on by Haydn himself. This cannot be 100% verified, but whether or not he did actually play on this instrument, he would have been playing and composing on this same type of piano with this sound.
A fortepiano( sometimes referred to as a pianoforte,) is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Typically it is used to refer to the mid-18th to early-19th century instruments for which composers of the Classical era, especially Haydn, Mozart, and the younger Beethoven wrote their piano music. Starting in Beethoven's time, the fortepiano began a period of steady evolution, culminating in the late 19th century with the modern grand. The earlier fortepiano became obsolete and was absent from the musical scene for many decades. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
