Tinkling the first ivories
QUESTION
Where is the oldest piano?
The pianoforte was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori. In 1688, he was appointed to the Florentine court of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici to care for his musical instruments.
A 1700 inventory lists an instrument resembling a harpsichord, ‘newly invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori with hammers and dampers, two keyboards and a range of four octaves’.
Cristofori named the instrument un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte (a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud), abbreviated over time as pianoforte, fortepiano and later, simply, piano.
The first pianos had 54 keys rather than 88, and used small wooden hammers covered with deerskin. This was a key development from the harpsichord, which used plucked strings and thus did not have the range of sound variation.
Three pianos by Cristofori survive in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Museo Strumenti Musicali in Rome and the Musik instrument enMuseum of Leipzig University. The Metropolitan’s Cristofori, the oldest surviving piano, is in a plain wing-shaped case. The sound differs considerably from a modern grand piano. Its range is narrower and its thinner strings and harder hammers give it a timbre closer to a harpsichord.
In 1732, Lodovico Giustini composed 12 Sonate da cimbalo di piano e forte detto volgarmente di martelletti, Op.1, which is the earliest music written for the piano. In 2013, baroque musician Dongsok Shin gave a performance of Giustini’s Sonata No 6 and Sonata in D minor, K.9 by Domenico Scarlatti on the Cristofori piano, which can be viewed online.
Alice Blackham, Tenby, Pembs.
QUESTION
Is it true there are more CEOs called Dave than women CEOs in the UK?
ThIS fact came to light during last year’s International Women’s Day. It related to the number of CeOs in the FTSe (Financial Times Stock exchange) 100, the share index of the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock exchange.
It still holds true. There are seven CeOs in the FTSe 100 called David/Dave and six female CeOs.
The seven Davids are: David Stevens of Admiral Group, David Thomas of Barratt homes, David Warren of the London Stock exchange, David Potts of Morrisons supermarkets, David Jenkinson of Persimmon homes, David Sleath of Segro PLC (property investment) and Dave Lewis of Tesco.
The six female CeOs are: Carolyn McCall of ITV, emma Walmsley of GlaxoSmithKline, Alison Brittain of Whitbread, Olivia Garfield of Severn Trent Water, Alison Cooper of Imperial Tobacco and Veronique Laury of Kingfisher, the retail giant. William Coles, Salford, Gtr Manchester.
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