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Innovator: Bartolomeo Cristofori Birth: May 4, 1655 in Padua, Republic of Venice Death:  Jan. 27, 1731 in Florence, Italy  Education: he wasn’t known that well at the time and his education is not known. Interesting facts:  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> Bartolomeo Cristofori was an [|Italian] maker of musical instruments, mostly known as the inventor of the [|piano]. [|Cristofori] marks the beginning of the Piano, although there were many keyboard instruments before. He began working on the basic sound of the piano or, as he called it at the time period, “the arcicembal che fa il piano e il forte", in 1698. That name refers to the piano's ability to change loudness according to the amount of pressure on the keys, a quality foreign to the harpsichord. Cristofori apparently invented the piano around 1709, and, it is said that, four of his pianos existed in 1711.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol">   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Little is known of Cristofori's life, and his invention was not well known in his lifetime. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol">   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Until his death Bartolomeo Cristofori went to work at the court of Prince Ferdinand de' Medici in Florence. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Cristofori never attended a guild while many great keyboard makers of his time attended the //Universita di Por san Piero e Fabbricanti.//
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Probably the most important event in Cristofori's life is the first one of which we have any record: in 1688, at age 33, he was recruited to work for Prince Ferdinando de' Medici.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Cristofori's design of the piano was largely ignored in Italy, but it soon became known and adopted in Germany through articles in dictionaries of music.        <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">  Innovation: piano