The pianoforte—meaning “soft-loud”—enables the performer to express gradual variations in volume. Critosfori’s design contained all the basic mechanical components of a modern piano action including:
● Dampers: felt fabric that touches the string, stopping the vibration
● Back-check: a device that catches the hammer, preventing re-striking
● Escapement: a mechanism that allows the hammer to “escape” or fall back after a string has been struck, leaving the string free to vibrate
● una corda: a device to reduce the number of strings struck
Copy of 1726 Cristofori piano (Leipzig)
4 octaves (C to c3)