Introducing Mozart's Fortepiano

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Introducing the predecessor of the modern piano, the fortepiano.
OAE Principal keyboard Steven Devine shows us the instrument Mozart would have played towards the end of his life.

Watch Steven play the last movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 on fortepiano here:

[xjesusxchristx]

That basoon pedal, was basically an early distortion pedal, for piano. Humour of that aside, it's interesting, and kinda proves our attraction to distorted sound goes way further back than rock/blues/jazz music. Though it sounds stanky as hell, I think it could be used quite effectively, to summon distress, if you will. So you've got an operetta, and the bad guy is approaching - that kind of thing.

[myboibill]

Who is this gentleman who did this episode. He is exceedingly pleasant and suited to explaining and drawing one in to this subject. Thank you

[iiWNMii]

That bassoon is a "fuzz pedal" for hard rockin' tunes. "Raucous and awful" as the speaker mentioned. That's the tone of rock guitar. I bet those aristocratic teenagers at the dance loved that effect.

[FictionWriter]

That "most of the time" is simultaneously an adorable light jab and a devastating burn, and I am all here for it.

[BuddhistNudist]

It's amazing to think of what people were able to create just using cloth, leather, and metal.

[SmeagolTheBeagle]

It is brain wrenching to think of great concertos being formed in almost more of a chamber setting, I can only imagine the balance, the subtly and the emotional intensity of being pressent during a great classical concerto on an instrument like this and in a time like that.

[theophilos]

Mozart’s English composition pupil had first visited M. towards the end of July 1785 in the afternoon —

‘I said to him, Herr Mozart, I would very much like to learn how to write a correct fugue under your Instruction...’ to which he replied in broken English : ‘Tis all ways best to first study plain counterpoint for about a twelvemonth — then it will be quite enough time to start talking about composing fugues.’

Tho’ the weather outside was quite warm & humid, M. was quite formally drest and was busy writing quartets [probably K. 465 ‘the Dissonant’ in C-major] the six dedicated to Haydn at his stand-up writing table—he was pleas’d to meet an Englishman having himself liv’d in England for over a year as a child with so many fond memories & soon became very animated —but when I shook his hand I was surpris’d that his hand was so unnaturally cold on such a hot day…

‘Now he had in his Study a large forte-piano which was equipt with a removable pedal board attachment at its base not unlike organ pedals of 4 octaves from c to c’’ consisting of 32 notes—acting just like a second piano…’

‘My own private lessons in composition began the following week [Monday 1 August 1785 consisting of 6 lessons a week…] at which time I shew’d him some composition exercises & Arias I had copied out in Naples (first under Filipo Cinque [1745-1810] and later under Gaetano Latilla (1711-1788) ; [Attwood also seems to have interacted to some degree with both Giocomo Insanguine [1728-1795] & Salvatore Rispoli [1739-1812] during the years 1783 to early 1785]

‘M. glanc’d over the sheets & quickly put them aside & said to me ‘My friend, it appears we must begin from the beginning judging by what you have shewn me…’

Can you do a follow-up video on the organ-stile 32 note [4-octave] pedal board attachment which added force & volume to Mozart’s live Klavier concerti performances in public after 1785 (e.g. K. 466 & K. 491 etc.) ?

I for one would be very interested in knowing exactly how much more volume & Pow’r this pedal attachment added to the notes on the page written for right & left hands …

[vxman]

"this pedal is used probably in dance music"
Great now I imagine that's like their idea of wubwub or distortion effect in EDM and they do that in some rowdy ballroom after party or something

[josephdicarlo]

Can anyone imagine MOZART`s reaction upon being presented a modern 88 key grand piano ..brands not necessary to mention,
Mozart never heard his piano concerto music as we hear it today
After owning AMADEUS the movie since it became available and the yearly ritualistic viewing, I can imagine that Mozart would have been inspired to write music of imponderable beauty, complementing the already astounding beauty of his works we are all familiar with .

[Renshen]

Beethoven calls for the special effect of the sustain in the Moonlight Sonata (held through the entire piece) with the moderator pedal as indicated in Italian in the score.

[geneklee]

The Rondo alla Turca was very appropriate for the bassoon lever. It sounded like cymbals.

[KorKhan]

I guess the “bassoon mode” was meant to mimic the harsh and jangly effect of Turkish janissary bands, which were en vogue in Europe at the time (making it especially appropriate to the Rondo alla Turca).

[wavelength]

I like that plain sanded wood look so much more than the dark modern piano look.

[joepalooka]

Extremely interesting. Not enough gets written or videos made about the historical instrument makers who actually produced the instruments that made the music of Mozart and Bach etc. possible. This goes for all types of instruments from keyboards to violins to brass. Anyone who works with wood or has any background can appreciate the extremely high level of workmanship involved. It's truly fantastic. Hundreds of years later, we have never surpassed the original makers. Their standards are still the ones to match.

[anonymousctorfgod]

With the bassoon lever on, it sounds a bit like harpsichord.

[jasonhurd]

It took me a while to get used to the sound of the fortepiano, but now it's very difficult for me to hear the Viennese classics played on a modern grand. The Haydn sonatas sound hideous on a modern grand, and Beethoven's Waldstein, with all its running passages in the bass, now sounds muddy and clouded on a modern piano. The fortepiano reveals the sharp clarity of the deep bass, the almost folklike geniality of the tenor and alto registers, and the twangy, triangle-like tic-toc of the high soprano. Thank you so much for this video.
Edit: I wish Professor Devine hadn't apologised so much for the bassoon stop. I found it quite exhiliarating, like a fortepiano version of a regal.

[Ianthe]

Quite advanced for it's time i think. Wonder if there is a lot of maintenance for this instrument.

[synchro]

I've always liked the reverse color of those keys. (I suppose the way most keyboards are now are the ones that are really reversed!)

[koshersalaami]

One thing to realize about using unlimited sustain is that the sustain per note on an early fortepiano is a whole lot less long than on a modern piano, so leaving the dampers off then would give you a way less muddy result than holding down the right pedal indefinitely on a modern piano. Sonically, this fits the way we think of Mozart and Haydn pretty well, but not so much with Beethoven because Beethoven works very well on modern pianos (and modern orchestras). What’s interesting when we look at Beethoven is that we realize he was hearing something way different than what we hear now and that would almost definitely have affected performance practice. You play the opening C minor chord of the Pathetique on a 13’ Bosendorfer and the result is massive and dramatic and also a sound Beethoven never heard. You play the same chord on this instrument and what you get instead is melodramatic, a sort of drama more akin to the playing used to accompany silent movies (which was sonically more like the early instrument). To get dramatic out of that instrument would take a lot of extreme exaggeration, a lot of abrupt changes in dynamics and phrasing because the player can only rely on the inherent drama of the instrument itself so much.

[rainblaze.]

it's easy to understand how moza could have been enamoured, and inspired, by these instruments, as they sound so delicately balanced and well defined. Unlike most modern piano's, that seldom have that kind of definition and always sound harsh and "blurry" to my ears, certainly in comparison, even to the harpsichord, which i really like.