forte-piano

[fawr-tey-pee-ah-noh, fawr-te-pyah-naw]

adjective

Music.

1. loud and immediately soft.

forte-piano

/ ˌfɔːtɪˈpjɑːnəʊ /

adjective

1. fp. loud and then immediately soft

noun

1. a note played in this way

Word History and Origins

Origin of forte-piano¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

The piano was first called the hammer-harpsichord, afterward by the Italian name forte-piano, as it could give both loud and soft tones, while the harpsichord produced only loud ones.

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The next name given to it was forte-piano, which signified soft, with power; and this name became piano-forte, which it still retains.

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Thus he wrote to Artaria in 1788: "I was obliged to buy a new forte-piano, that I might compose your clavier sonatas particularly well."

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His instrument was called forte-piano or pianoforte, because it would strike loud or soft.

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It is, perhaps, needless to say that the vastly enlarged possibilities, both technical and tonal, of the newly invented forte-piano were largely the outcome of this seeking for colour in music.

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