Title: Piano Facts UK
Ref: http://www.uk-piano.org/

Did you know that . . .


Vladimir Horowitz received his first music lesson from his mother, a professional pianist who later taught at the Kiev Conservatory. At his own public debut at the age of 17 he was hailed as a highly promising pianist, but the situation in the aftermath of the Russian revolution convinced him that his best prospects lay outside his native country, so he set out for the west in 1925, at the age of 22.

In Rome around the year 800 music notation started to be developed. At first it was crude, just a simple curve to indicate that the pitch should rise or fall. Then around 1160 in Paris the familiar five lines of the staff appeared, giving more specific pitch information. Around 1400 in England musical notation started to look more like the notation we know today, with open and closed notes, ties, and colours in the score. Red was used at first but later dropped.

Around 1800 the Jacquard weaving loom was manufactured in Lyon. When designed it wove cloth under the control of punched cards. Later developments of the idea were applied to musical instruments, which eventually led to the invention of the player piano and the Pianola