A description and history of the pianoforte and of the older keyboard stringed instruments . iti. pp. 119-126. + A. Kraus figlio, Catalogue des Instruments de Musique du Mus6e Kraus (Florence, 1878), p. 16, and Trocadero, Historical Exhibition. Paris, 1878,No. 1H THE EAKLY PIANOFOETE. 101 The actions of both these instruments are alike, except that thefirst has had new hammers of modern shape put to it; they areimproved upon the diagram given by Maffei—especially by theinvention and introduction of the check (paramartello). Thediaoram here o-iven is from a model I had made of this action ; it
A description and history of the pianoforte and of the older keyboard stringed instruments . iti. pp. 119-126. + A. Kraus figlio, Catalogue des Instruments de Musique du Mus6e Kraus (Florence, 1878), p. 16, and Trocadero, Historical Exhibition. Paris, 1878,No. 1H THE EAKLY PIANOFOETE. 101 The actions of both these instruments are alike, except that thefirst has had new hammers of modern shape put to it; they areimproved upon the diagram given by Maffei—especially by theinvention and introduction of the check (paramartello). Thediaoram here o-iven is from a model I had made of this action ; it isevident from it, as well as from the earlier sketch of Maffei, thatCristofori had satisfactorily solved the problem of escapement. Italso shows that he had provided for repetition, so far as could bewithout a double escapement. a is the key ; b the hopper (linguetta mobile—moveable tongue,Cristofori called it), c the notch for the hopper beneath an under-hammer or escapement lever, lettered A-. This lever, covered withleather upon the end, is to raise the hammer-butt d. The hammer-. JAHsc CRISTOFORI S ACTIOiN:. head is e. The spring i, regulating the play of the hopper ordistance between it and the string, is regulated by. a small hoppercheck, h. The hammer check , the damper g. The damper stopis J. It will be observed that the shallowness of Cristoforis caseand the thickness of his wrest-plank constrained him to pierce thekey with his hopper, the spring of which is underneath. It wo aid seem that Cristofori tried to keep to the shallow measureof an Italian harpsichord, and. therefore inverted his wrest-plank,which had necessarily to be much stronger than in thehbirpsichord,attaching his strings beneath. The pins pierced the wrest-plank sothat the tuning was done harp fashion. The spacing of the two 102 THE EARLY PIANOFORTE. unisons of a harpsichord, unUke the pianoforte, brings into proximitytwo strings a semitone apart. Cristofori did not see his way to themore prac
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1896
