The influence of the Pianoforte on eighteenth-century keyboard style

Abstract

In the battle for survival between the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the pianoforte, the 18th century witnessed a victory for the pianoforte over its traditional predecessors. Whilst tracing the development of these events I have discovered certain facts which have led me to believe that there was a definite interrelationship between the evolution of the pianoforte and certain concurrent changes in keyboard style and texture. The vague and often ambiguous statements of musicians of that period have led me to try to formulate by comparison and analysis a less biased assessment of this hypothesis.