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Arpicimbalo Sounds
Arpicimbalo Sounds

Solo Performances

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Performed By

  • Edwin Good, pianoforte by Thomas and Barbara Wolf after Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1722

  • Recordings

    • Allemande from French Suite in E-flat Major, BWV 815 by Johann Sebastian Bach
      This short piece demonstrates the different timbres in the various ranges of the piano.
    • Sonata in A minor, K. 3 by Domenico Scarlatti
      This is a short early work of Scarlatti
    • Aria in D minor, K. 35 by Domenico Scarlatti
      This piece is played using the una corda stop—the hammers striking one string of the two.
    • Giga from Sonata IV in E minor by Lodovico Giustini
      Giustini’s twelve sonatas were the first music published indicating the use of the Cimbalo di piano e forte, that is, the “harpsichord with soft and loud,” one of the early terms for the piano. In this movement Giustini specifies “forte,” “piano,” and toward the end of the second section, “softer.”

The Cristofori Consort

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  • Recordings:

    Performed By:

    • Rachel Streeter, baroque flute by Daniel Deitch after Palanca, 1750
    • Margret Gries, baroque viola by David Kerr after Matteo Goffriller
    • Edwin Good, pianoforte by Thomas and Barbara Wolf after Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1722

    Additional Information

    In 1711, Scipione Maffei, an Italian intellectual and journalist, published an article about Cristofori's invention, described the instruments carefully, and included this comment about musical value of the gravecembalo de' piano e forte: "This is properly a chamber instrument, and it is not adaptable for church music, or for a large orchestra…. It is certain that to accompany a singer, and to support an instrument, or even for a smallish ensemble, it succeeds perfectly." (translation by Stewart Pollens)

    Recorded In Concert at the Knight Library, Univ. of Oregon - Feb. 10, 2007

The photograph shows the Cristofori, a copy of one of the earliest pianos made in Italy, at the convention of the Piano Technicians Guild in Kansas City, MO, sitting next to the most recent model, the "M. Liminal," by Fazioli, the only piano manufacturer now working in Italy.

Recordings on CD

Giustini on Cristofori

Edwin Good plays the Wolf-Cristofori piano in five sonatas by Lodovico Giustini, the first music published for the earliest pianos.

Price: $15.00, including postage.

To Order

Send check or money order to:
Arpicimbalo Records
845 E. 43rd Ave
Eugene, OR 97405