[CAUT] clavichord

[Fred Sturm]

On Feb 11, 2011, at 2:35 PM, Laurence Libin wrote:

> It's a mistake to think of early pianos as crude; some are highly  
> sophisticated instruments by any standard, starting with Cristofori's.


Cristofori's were/are the opposite of crude: extraordinarily  
sophisticated. But some of those early squares were, shall we say,  
pretty basic. In one case, described by Pfeiffer, the hammer on a  
shank rectangular in cross section, lying directly on the key, hinged  
to the key with parchment. End of the shank sticking out beyond the  
end of the key to hit against a bumper rail. That being the action in  
total. I call that crude, comparatively speaking. Still, a functional  
instrument. I'd also call the actions of the squares with "fixed  
pilote" (a stiff wire with a leather bit on top that pushed the hammer  
up, no escapement, no check) rather crude. The rest of the instrument  
was usually sophisticated cabinetry, but the action was about as  
unsophisticated as you can get. Once again, quite functional and also  
important in getting the piano off the ground as an economically  
viable product.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain