How Were Pianos Of The 1800s Different Than Their Predecessors?

During this time, another school of piano building was developing in England, headed by the Broadwood Company. Their pianos were larger, more heavily strung and were thereby able to produce a greater sound. This kind of piano pointed in the direction that piano construction would be taking as the nineteenth century began. As piano playing and composition of music developed, greater and greater demands were made on the instrument.

In efforts to adjust to the ever-increasing demands of pianists, piano manufacturers built larger and heavier frames to support the desired string tension. The real solution to the problem proved to be in the one-piece cast-iron frame. In 1825, the idea was applied in the "square" piano (resembling the clavichord) by an American craftsman, Alpheus Babcock, and was incorporated in the grand pianos of Jonas Chickering of Boston. Later, it was improved on by the New York firm of Steinway & Sons, whose frame, developed in 1855, has been the model for all successive pianos up to the present time. For all practical purposes, by the mid-1800's the piano had developed into the instrument that we know today, although many refinements are still being made.