Piano Takes Off in The Classical Period

By the end of the Baroque period, the piano was gaining a steady reputation. 

Bach’s sons were writing for it, especially Carl Philipp Emanuel (CPE) Bach. But there were three other composers – namely Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart – who were destined to elevate the piano to its rightful place.

Each period of the arts represents a shift in attitude to the period before it. In basic terms, this shows itself as an emotional-intellectual see-saw. So composers in the Classical period sought to bring a more intellectual or “classical” approach to music in reaction to the grandeur and indulgence of their more “romantic” Baroque counterparts.

They achieved this by anchoring their music in more classical forms such as the sonata and the concerto. For the first time pianists became star performers, playing along with complete orchestras and pounding out cadenzas to the delight of audiences. But the piano wasn’t just making waves in the concert hall.

A Piano in Every Home

Pianos became the must-have accessory for those who could afford one. Composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were employed by wealthy parents to teach their children. And many great pieces were written in an attempt to help the aristocracy master these new skills of playing the piano.

Early pianos had only four octaves, although we know that Mozart wrote for five-octave instruments and Beethoven for pianos with six octaves. As the range grew, so did the quality and versatility. Eventually damper and una corda pedals were added, giving even more depth of expression to this increasingly popular instrument.

Mozart & Beethoven

Mozart’s piano music includes sonatas, concertos, fantasias, and piano quartets. He continued to write piano pieces throughout his career, although his overall output shows a more eclectic range than that of Beethoven, for example. Such is Mozart’s appeal, though, that certain pieces — such as the Turkish March or the Sonata Facile K. 545 — are instantly identifiable.

Ludwig van Beethoven also wrote concertos, sonatinas, variations, chamber music and miscellaneous other works. But he’s best known for his contribution to the piano literature, having written a cycle of 32 sonatas for solo piano. Known as The New Testament, these form the backbone of almost every pianist’s early repertoire. And they’ve become so universally recognized that even non-musicians can name at least one of them, such as the “Moonlight” sonata, the “Pathetique” or the “Appassionata.”

It was Beethoven who bridged the gap between the Classical and Romantic periods. His later works are full of intensely personal expression, a truly Romantic ideal, and in some cases he stretched Classical forms to their limits. There certainly seems to be a logical progression from his music through to that of Chopin and Liszt, the two big guns of the Romantic piano.