Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/509

 PIANOFORTE PIARISTS 493 the agraffes lapped over and abutted against the wrest plank, and a new arrangement of the strings and braces. In the treble regis- ter the strings were parallel with the blow of the hammer, but from the middle of the scale the unisons of the strings were spread grad- ually from right to left like a fan along the bridge of the sounding board. The covered strings of the lower octaves were laid a little higher and across the others, and spread in the same form as the others, but from left to right, on a lengthened sounding-board bass bridge running parallel to the first bridge. Several important advantages were thus obtained. By lengthening the bridges of the sounding board, more of its surface was covered ; the space be- tween the unisons of the strings was increased, thus more powerfully developing the sound from the sounding board ; and the bridges, be- ing moved from the iron-covered edges nearer to the middle of the sounding board, produced a greater volume of tone, while the oblique- ness of the strings in respect to the blow of the hammers produced the rotating vibrations which give to the thicker strings softness and pliability. The^ystem of bracing also was far more effective, a'nd the power of keeping in tune greatly increased. The first grand piano constructed on this plan was played publicly for the first time at the New York academy of music, Feb. 8, 1859. Lindeman and sons of New York introduced in 1860 the so-called cycloid pianos (patented Aug. 7, 1860), intend- ed to combine the advantages of the grand and square forms, while possessing the strength and sonorousness of tone of the grand pia- no. In 1863 a patent was granted to Decker brothers of New York for an improvement in square pianos, by which they claimed to prevent the too heavy bearing of the strings. A patent was given to Steinway and sons in 1866 for a double iron frame for uprignt pia- nos, in which the front plate and rear frame were cast in one piece, giving the instrument a superior capacity for standing in tune ; also for an improvement called the resonator, which has since been applied to all their pianos. In 1868 they received a patent for a tubular metallic frame action to take the place of the wooden bars which formerly supported the action, and which were subject to atmospheric influences. It is sustained by hollowed brass tubes filled with wood, which are not affected by the atmosphere. Patents were granted to Chickering and sons on July 7, 1868, and April 6, 1869, for a combination truss frame and other improvements in the construction of up- right pianos, tending to increase their capacity for standing in tune. In 1870 George Steck and co. of New York also received a patent for an improvement in upright pianos, con- sisting of an iron plate so constructed as to hold all the inner works of the instrument, which are fastened to it before it is put into the case. In 1872 the same firm introduced the small parlor grand piano, which, although 662 VOL. xin. 32 only 6 ft. long, is said to surpass the square piano in richness and volume of tone, and to be but little inferior to the full grand piano. Decker brothers and Albert Weber of New York, and Knabe and co. of Baltimore, have also made the manufacture of upright pia- nos a specialty, and large numbers of them are now produced in these two cities and in Bos- ton. On May 14, 1872, a patent was granted to Steinway and sons for an improvement by which is added to the principal scale a second scale of reduced proportional length, between the agraffes and tuning pins, representing a higher octave for each note. Chickering and sons' latest improvement, the double-bearing agraffe, was patented Dec. 11, 1872. Stein- way and sons also received a patent on Oct. 27, 1874, for a tone-sustaining pedal, by which the tones of distinct notes or groups of notes are sustained without interfering with the re- maining notes of the scale. No essential im- provements in the pianoforte have been made by European manufacturers during the past 30 years. This was proved by the results in the musical department of the Paris exposition of 1867, where the highest honors were awarded to Messrs. Chickering and Steinway, and the decoration of the legion of honor was con- ferred on Mr. C. F. Chickering. The United States now far outstrips Europe in the manu- facture, and possesses the two largest estab- lishments in the world. Exact statistics of the American piano trade are attainable from the internal revenue returns for several years pri- or to 1870, when the tax was abolished. The gross amount of sales of new pianos by the 26 most prominent firms in the United States du- ring the year 1869 was $5,253,167, distributed as follows : New York makers (17), $3,104,- 783 ; Boston (6), $1,632,500 ; Baltimore (3), $515,884. For further information concern- ing the history and construction of the piano- forte, see Fischhof's Versuch einer Geschichte des Clavierlaues (8vo, Vienna, 1853) ; Pole's "Musical Instruments in the Exhibition of 1851 " (London, printed for private circula- tion) ; Rimbault's "Pianoforte," &c. (4to, Lon- don, 1860) ; Paul's Geschichte des Klaviers (8vo, Leipsic, 1868) ; Blicthour and Gretschel's Lehr- luch des Pianofortebaues (1871) ; and Brins- meade's " History of the Piano Forte " (Lon- don). In respect to performing, tuning, &c., there are various popular manuals. . PIARISTS, or Fathers (REGULAR CLEEKS) of the Pious Schools (scholarum piarum, whence the popular name), a religious order in the Roman Catholic church, whose members take, in ad- dition to the three common monastic vows, a fourth, to devote themselves to the gratuitous instruction of youth. The order was found- ed at Rome by St. Joseph Casalanza or Cala- sanctius (1556-1648), a Spanish priest of noble birth, who in 1597, in union with three other priests, opened a free school, which was soon attended by upward of 700 children. In 1617 Pope Paul V. conferred on the corporation of