Bartolomeo Cristofori

Bartolomeo Cristofori

Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori invented the piano forte. One of the most popular instruments of today.He was born in northern Italian city of Padua on May 4, 1655. He was a harpsichord maker and curator that worked for Prince Ferdinand de' Medici in Florence, Italy from 1690 until his death in 1731. During this time he began his work on the arpicembalo che fail piano e il forte, or " the harpsichord that can play quietly and loudly." Which became the stepping stone on which he eventually created the first piano in about 1705 which he called the gravecembalo col piano e forte or "the clavichord with soft and loud." Eventually the name shortened to Pianoforte. He made about twenty pianos during 1709-1726. When the prince died, in 1713, his successor, Cosimo III, named Bartolomoe curator of all the musical instruments of  the Florentine royal collection.HE contunued to make his pianoforte's but they were not excepted right away and Bartolomeo died in obscurity.( Encyclopedia of world Biography)