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Glite Dictionary
🎹 Old piano 🔊 Loud then soft
fortepiano

fortepiano

1 9.8
An early piano used in the 1700s and early 1800s with a lighter, gentler sound
  • noun
  • /ˌfɔr.tɪˈpiː.ə.noʊ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fortepiano
  • The fortepiano features a lighter tone compared to the modern piano, making it ideal for early classical music.

Examples

  • The music sounded beautifully warm and expressive on the fortepiano during the concert.

  • This one is a Dowd, this square one is a Dutch-style virginal, a Skovroneck, and this is a genuine Stein fortepiano like the kind Mozart used, from about 1796.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Many musicologists prefer the fortepiano for performances of classical compositions, as it captures the era's unique sound.

Synonyms

pianoforte
vsfortepiano
  • Archaic
3 9.6

A large keyboard instrument like a piano where keys make hammers hit strings to make sound

is a more specific early type noted for a lighter older tone
forte-piano
vsfortepiano
  • Specialized
9.9

An early piano from the 18th and early 19th centuries with a lighter, more delicate sound

focuses instead on a lighter, softer tone than later instruments

How Loud

piano
698 1.0
fortepiano
  • Specialized
1 9.8
harpsichord
7 8.4
virginal
  • Archaic
1 9.9
clavichord
1 9.9

Surface Forms

fortepiano singular
fortepianos plural

Morphology

fortepiano = forte + piano (semi-transparent) = forte + piano

While the components are identifiable ('loud' + 'piano'), the name refers to a historical instrument and this historical/technical sense is not an obvious generalisation from the dynamics alone.

Etymology

Fortepiano comes from the Italian parts forte and piano, which mean 'loud' and 'soft', and the early piano was called this because it could play both. So the name explains why that instrument had a lighter, more changeable sound than the modern piano.