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piano

(Encyclopedia)piano or pianoforte, musical instrument whose sound is produced by vibrating strings struck by felt hammers that are controlled from a keyboard. The piano's earliest predecessor was the dulcimer. The ...

player piano

(Encyclopedia)player piano, an upright piano incorporating a mechanical system that automatically plays the encoded contents of a paper strip. This strip, perforated with holes whose position and length determine p...

Piano, Renzo

(Encyclopedia)Piano, Renzo rĕntˈsō pyäˈnō [key], 1937–, Italian architect, b. Genoa. Piano attended architecture school at Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1964. The prolific Piano has been lauded for respo...

Albéniz, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Albéniz, Isaac ēsäkˈ älbāˈnēth [key], 1860–1909, Spanish pianist and composer. He made his debut as a pianist at the age of four. When still young, he ran away from home and traveled in Nort...

Busoni, Ferruccio Benvenuto

(Encyclopedia)Busoni, Ferruccio Benvenuto fār-ro͞otˈchō bānvāno͞oˈtō bo͞ozōˈnē [key], 1866–1924, Italian pianist and composer. A child prodigy, he gave a concert in Trieste at the age of eight, which...

Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich syĭrgāˈ vəsēˈlyĭvĭch räkhmäˈnēnôf [key], 1873–1943, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor. He became known as one of the greatest pianists of his gen...

Moscheles, Ignaz

(Encyclopedia)Moscheles, Ignaz ĭgˈnäts mōshˈəlĕs [key], 1794–1870, Bohemian-German musician. Born in Prague, Moscheles was a child prodigy. He studied in Vienna with Johann Albrechtsberger and Antonio Sali...

Bennett, Sir William Sterndale

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, Sir William Sterndale, 1816–75, English musician. Bennett was a friend of Mendelssohn and Schumann, both of whom influenced his work. Besides composing, he was active as a pianist and condu...

Heller, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Heller, Stephen shtĕfˈən [key], 1814–88, French pianist and composer, b. Budapest. Heller toured as a piano virtuoso, ruining his health before settling in Paris in 1838. There he developed close...

Hummel, Johann Nepomuk

(Encyclopedia)Hummel, Johann Nepomuk yōˈhän nāˈpōmo͝ok ho͝omˈəl [key], 1778–1837, Hungarian-born pianist and composer. In piano technique and improvisatory ability Hummel was thought to rival Beethoven....
 

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