Welcome to 'The Piano Page' - a chronological look with descriptions of the instruments featured on the Listen page.

Spinetta, 1540

Venice, Italy

Wood, parchment, ivory

A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord. What primarily distinguishes the spinet is the angle of its strings: whereas in a full-size harpsichord, the strings are at a 90 degree angle to the keyboard (that is, they are parallel to the player's gaze); and in a virginal they are parallel to the keyboard, in a spinet the strings are at an angle of about 30 degrees to the keyboard, going toward the right.

The other major aspect of spinet design is that the strings are arranged in pairs. The gap between the two strings of a pair is about four millimetres, and the wider gap between pairs is about ten. The jacks (which pluck the strings (see harpsichord) are arranged in pairs as well, placed in the wider gap. They face in opposite directions, plucking the adjacent string on either side of the wider gap. The fact that half of the gaps are four millimetres instead of ten makes it possible to crowd more strings together into a smaller case.

The disadvantage of the paired design is that it generally limits the spinet to a single choir of strings, at eight-foot pitch. In a full-size harpsichord, the registers that guide the jacks can be shifted slightly to one side, permitting the player to control whether or not that particular set of strings is sounded. This is impossible in a spinet, due to the alternating orientation of the jacks.

The angling of the strings also had consequences for tone quality: generally, it was not possible to make the plucking points as close to the nut as in a regular harpsichord. Thus spinets normally had a slightly different tone quality, with fewer higher harmonics. Spinets also had smaller soundboards than regular harpsichords, and normally had a weaker sound. For these reasons, the spinet was normally only a domestic instrument, purchased to save money and conserve domestic space.

Double Virginal, 1581

Hans Ruckers the Elder, Maker

Antwerp, Flanders

Wood, metal

The double virginal was popular in Antwerp in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It consists of a large virginal ("the mother"), with its keyboard placed off-center, and a small virginal ("the child"), tuned an octave above that of the large instrument and stored in the space next to its keyboard. Either instrument may be played by itself or the small virginal may be placed on top of the larger one. When this is done, the keys of the small virginal are activated when those of the large one are played, thereby causing both instruments to sound at once. This double virginal is the earliest secure work of Hans Ruckers, who founded a dynasty that dominated Flemish harpsichord building for one hundred years and whose instruments profoundly influenced all North European harpsichord building in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The gilded medallions over the keyboard of the large instrument show King Philip II of Spain and his fourth wife, Anne of Austria. The instrument was discovered in the chapel of a country estate near Cuzco in Peru.

Harpsichord, ca. 1650

Jan Couchet the Elder, Maker

Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium

Wood and various materials

Jan Couchet the Elder was the grand-nephew of the famous Flemish keyboard maker Hans Ruckers. Couchet carried on the Ruckers tradition, inheriting the workshop of Ruckers's eldest son in 1643. This harpsichord originally had only one keyboard and one set each of unison and octave strings. In the eighteenth century the case was lengthened and a second keyboard and a second set of unison strings were added.

More information on the harpsichord:

The Harpsichord

A Brief History of the Harpsichord

Grand Piano, 1720

Bartolomeo Cristofori, Maker

Florence, Italy

Various materials

Bartolomeo Cristofori was the first person to create a successful hammer-action keyboard instrument and, accordingly, deserves to be credited as the inventor of the piano. This example is the oldest of the three extant pianos by Cristofori. About 1700 he began to work on an instrument on which the player could achieve changes in loudness solely by changing the force with which the keys were struck. By 1700 he had made at least one successful instrument, which he called "gravicembalo col piano e forte" (harpsichord with soft and loud). His instrument still generally resembles a harpsichord, though its case is thicker and the quill mechanism has been replaced by a hammer mechanism. Cristofori's hammer mechanism is so well designed and made that no other of comparable sensitivity and reliability was devised for another seventy-five years. In fact, the highly complex action of the modern piano may be traced directly to his original conception.

Grand Piano, ca. 1790

Ferdinand Hofmann (1756 - 1829), Maker

Vienna, Austria

Wood, various other materials

This beautifully preserved cherry-wood piano, was built by Ferdinand Hofmann, a leading member of Vienna's civic keyboard-maker's association. He became its president in 1806 and won a court appointment. The striking, almost architectural decor of this instrument typifies the maker's early work. Knee levers lift the dampers and a knob over the nameplate operates a mute, or moderator. The five-octave range was customary in Mozart's day.

Grand Piano, 1815 - 20

Joseph Böhm, Maker

Vienna, Austria

Wood, various materials

Napoleon's second wife, Marie Louise, is believed to have owned this grand piano while she was grand duchess of Parma. The exotic elm veneer is enriched by mercury-gilt mounts depicting grapevines, acanthus, and Psyche at a tripod brazier; imperial eagles crown the legs and nameplate. The original griffin-shaped pedal support was lost during World War II. A six-octave range was customary during Beethoven's later years. Joseph Böhm, the builder of this sumptuous piano, was a member of Vienna's civic keyboard-maker's association.

Grand Pianoforte, ca. 1840

Erard et Cie, Maker

United Kingdom

Wood, various materials

This grand piano's marquetried satinwood case, executed by George H. Blake, is unsurpassed in elegance and iconographic complexity. A nobleman's showpiece, the piano was commissioned by Thomas Lord Foley from the London branch of a distinguished French firm. Erard's eighty-note, double-escapement action was the most advanced of its time. The basis for modern grand actions, it accommodated the virtuosic pianism of Chopin and Liszt. The hammers are covered with felt, first used in place of leather coverings in 1826. Strings of the top twenty-six notes pass through a perforated brass bar that secures them against the hammers' strong blows. Longitudinal steel bars reinforce the open-bottomed case. The painted and gilded stand is a separate construction in the Louis XV style.

Steinway Grand Piano

Steinway & Sons, Maker

New York and Hamburg

Wood, various other materials

Since 1853, Steinway pianos have set an uncompromising standard for sound, touch, beauty, and investment value. Handcrafting each Steinway requires up to one full year – creating an instrument of rare quality and global renown. Not surprisingly, Steinway remains the choice of 9 out of 10 concert artists, and countless pianists, composers, and performers around the world.