I thoroughly enjoyed last week’s video about recorders and Van Eyck, so this week, we’re going to do something similar. 🙂 I have two videos for you today. The first one is an informational video about the fortepiano, and then the second one is a musical selection that Miss Darcy might have played on her fortepiano.
And the music in the video is actually being played on the fortepiano, which means the piece of music sounds as it would have when Beethoven first composed it. Surely, I can’t be the only one who finds that cool, can I be? 🙂
I’ve paired the above musical videos with an excerpt from a book where Georgiana plays a key role in bringing her brother and Elizabeth together. This excerpt is from a scene where Georgiana and Darcy are about to have a disagreement.
Two Days Before Christmas is the first book in my Darcy Family Holidays series. Darcy has returned home from Netherfield sooner than expected, and he’s in quite the state. Georgiana thinks she knows what his trouble is and determines that she is going to give him the best Christmas present — an unbroken heart.
Is there a difference between a fortepiano and a pianoforte? I’ve seen it written both ways, sometimes in a single book.
Yes, the two instruments are different (the fortepiano replaced the harpiscord and then the fortepiano evolved into the pianoforte which we now just call a piano). However, at one time (when the instrument was changing from the fortepiano to our modern pianoforte), the two terms were used interchangeably and eventually shortened to just piano. Now days, we would most likely use the term fortepiano to only refer to the sort of early instrument like the one in the first video that has the hand and knee levers for sustaining and dampening sound, but a Regency era character such as Georgiana might have indeed called the instrument a fortepiano, a pianoforte, or a piano.
Thank you Leenie. This is very helpful.
You’re welcome.
Thank goodness that Georgina is just as stubborn as her brother!
That is a very good thing in this story. Lol
I love these videos. It was so informative about the evolution of what Georgiana might have played. I imagine she would have several instruments at Pemberley and at Darcy House. And, of course, she would have the latest innovations available to someone of her wealth and station. I had goosebumps as I listened to him play in that second video. I think my OCD would be screaming as I tried to make out the difference between the black and white keys. It was rather disconcerting. Thanks for sharing.
I agree. I think she’d have the older version and the newest one as well. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the videos. I found them fascinating.