<html> <body> At 11:00 AM 4/15/2006, "Philippe Errembault" <phil.errembault@skynet.be> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Just consulting the french wikipedia, I discovered that piano-forte is the original name of the instrument invented by Cristophori near 1700, and it was in a harpsichord like frame, while forte-piano was built around 60 years later by Friederici, on a square frame like a clavichord. This is not matching with what I find on the english wikipedia...</blockquote> Seems that whoever posted this to Wikipedia hasn't got the foggiest... 1. It isn't known exactly when Cristofori invented his action design. Probably sometime in the 1690's...  In 1709 his invention became known to the rest of Europe through reports and articles published by a traveler named Giuseppe Maffei. The name of the contraption? "Gravicembalo col piano e forte" - roughly translated as "A gravity operated harpsichord capable of loud and soft". For the next 30-40 years these things (and copies of them) were known in various places as "pianofortes" or "fortepianos" interchangeably, as well as the generic "klavier" (in Germany) and even confused with similar but now extinct instruments known as "pantaleons" or "pantalons" (sort of a keyed dulcimer...) 2. The earliest known square (clavichord-like) piano was produced in 1766 and also called "fortepiano". But it was built by a German immigrant in England named Johann Christoph Zumpe - who proceeded to flood England and France with these contraptions for most of the rest of the century and even farmed out some of the work to others. The English and French called them "square pianos" ("Piano carre"), the Germans "Tafelklavier" (Table Piano), the Italians - "pianoforte de tavola" (table piano) or "pianoforte retangolare" (yes, rectangular). It is also not known whether the square piano design was derived from the clavichord or from the "pantalon". There is conflicting evidence which I won't go into... 3. Christian Ernst Friederici (German - not Italian) was an apprentice of Gottfried Silbermann - a famous German piano and organ builder who built instruments on the Cristofori model and developed the design further. Friederici claims to have produced pyramid-shaped upright pianos in the 1740s and 1750s, but nobody much believes that... There is also no evidence that Friederici invented the square piano - though he was known to have built them. The fellow does have a track record of specious claims... 4. The terms :"fortepiano" and "pianoforte" have been used interchangeably throughout the history of the instrument, and typically cannot be assigned an exact correspondence to a particular type instrument except in limited times and places. For example, in some English-speaking countries "fortepiano" is - by convention, since mid-20th century - assumed to mean an earlier instrument, with a wooden frame, single escapement (or Viennese) action etc. But in Russia, for example, "pianoforte" and "fortepiano" are and have been for a long time used interchangeably for all kinds of pianos - along with the Russianized "pianino" (for uprights) and "Royale" for grands.  Israel Stein </body> </html>