piano makers

"This picture book biography chronicles the lifelong friendship that began in adolescence between Ludwig van Beethoven and master piano maker Nannette Streicher emphasizing her support for him and his work and his influence on the many innovations she made to piano construction"--.

Bartolomeo Cristofori, a young musical inventor, attempts to create an instrument than can do "pianissimo" sounds that are light and soft, as well as "forte" sounds, that are strong and loud. When Prince Ferdinando de Medici invites him to his court in Florence, Bartolomeo sees and hears goldsmiths' tiny hammers and blacksmiths' big sledgehammers making both sounds and realizes hammers are the key to a new, beautiful instrument. Includes a timeline, notes on today's piano, and links to piano selections online.

The story of Bartolomeo Cristofori, the Italian harpsichord maker who invented the piano while working in the city of Florence about three hundred years ago.