# HELP please........



## inspired young pianist

Hi
I'm learning Mozart's D minor piano concerto, and wondered if anyone could tell me what sort of keyboard Mozart would have written it for (i.e. piano, virginal, harpsichord?) Also a brief description of the development of the instrument in terms of pedals etc. 
Thanks
By the way, does anyone else agree that it is probably the most beautiful work Mozart ever wrote?
Thanks again


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## Amaya&beet

*Reply to HELP!!!*

The name of the work is piano concerto in d minor, so of course the instrument concerned is the piano  .

There is a brief description of the piano, extracted from Wikipedia:

A piano or pianoforte is a musical instrument classified as a keyboard, percussion, or string instrument, depending on the system of classification used. Playing the piano is widespread in western music for solo performance, chamber music, and accompaniment, and is popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal.

Types
Grand pianos have the frame and strings placed horizontally, with the strings extending away from the keyboard. This makes the grand piano a large instrument, for which the ideal setting is a spacious room with high ceilings for proper resonance.

Upright pianos, also called vertical pianos, are more compact because the frame and strings are placed vertically, extending in both directions from the keyboard and hammers.

Keyboard
Almost every modern piano has 88 keys (seven octaves plus a minor third, from A0 to C8). Many older pianos only have 85 keys (seven octaves from A0 to A7), while some manufacturers extend the range further in one or both directions.

Pedals
The damper pedal (also called the sustaining pedal or loud pedal) is often simply called "the pedal", since it is the most frequently used. It is placed as the rightmost pedal in the group. Every string on the piano, except the top two octaves, is equipped with a damper, which is a padded device that prevents the string from vibrating. The damper is raised off the string whenever the key for that note is pressed. When the damper pedal is pressed, all the dampers on the piano are lifted at once, so that every string can vibrate. This serves two purposes. First, it assists the pianist in producing a legato (playing smoothly connected notes) in passages where no fingering is available to make this otherwise possible. Second, raising the damper pedal causes all the strings to vibrate sympathetically with whichever notes are being played, which greatly enriches the piano's tone.

The soft pedal or "una corda" pedal is placed leftmost in the row of pedals. On a grand piano, this pedal shifts the whole action including the keyboard slightly to the right, so that hammers that normally strike all three of the strings for a note strike only two of them. This softens the note and modifies its tone quality.

The sostenuto pedal or "middle pedal" keeps raised any damper that was raised at the moment the pedal is depressed. This makes it possible to sustain some notes (by depressing the sostenuto pedal before notes to be sustained are released) while the player's hands are free to play other notes.

Do these lines help you much? If you doubt any detail, feel free to ask your teacher.

Mozart's piano concerto in d minor has a graceful melody, and belongs to the minority of his composition in minor keys. Other famous works such as_ The marriage of Figaro_ is also comparable.


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