fortepiano / pianoforte

[Bill Kibby]

Briefly, Cristofori's first pianos were known as "gravicembalo col piano e forte" - literally harpsichord with (roughly speaking) soft and loud. They were never harpsichords, except in exterior appearance. After his death, piano making only survived through the efforts of the german "fortepiano" makers, in spite of the fact that they largely ignored some of his most important ideas. The fortepiano came to London around 1760, and by 1767 it was being called piano forte. A fortepiano IS a pianoforte, although the term is now applied mainly to certain early examples.