Piano

The Piano is the most complete instrument in the orchestra.  No other instrument can match the piano for range or power.  It can produce beautiful melodies, explosive chords and graceful accompaniments but is only really used in the orchestra as a solo instrument.

The Piano was designed in the 18th century in response to composers demands for a keyboard instrument capable of expression because the organ and harpsichord had a restricted volume.  In 1709, Bartolemmo Cristofori answered their plea by inventing the Pianoforte (Italian for Loud-Soft) whose strings were struck by a hammer when the appropriate key was pressed.  Pushing harder caused the hammer to hit the strings more forcefully, increasing the volume.  The piano case houses 88 sets of strings, each set tuned to a different note in the instrument's 7 octave range.

The Piano is the most composed for instrument and there are a multitude of brilliant concertos by such composers as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Grieg and Rachmaninov.