PIANO, by David Crombie

• A Photographic History of the World’s Most Celebrated Instrument

200 Color Photographs • Illustrated Glossary

This book is now out-of-print. We are offering these new, never circulated books with their original dust covers, for a special collectors price. Quantities are limited to stock on hand, no longer available from the publisher.

A stunning full-color showcase of how the piano has evolved over the past 300 years, transforming the world of music like no other instrument before or since. When Beethoven saw one of the first pianos in the late 1700s, he was looking at the very future of music. Here is a striking, colorful tribute to the instrument that changed western musical composition and orchestration forever. This handsome book captures the piano’s physical grace and beauty, as well as its technical and musical magic. It traces the piano’s 300-year evolution, from forerunners such as the clavichords and harpsichords made famous by Mozart but left behind by Beethoven, to today’s electric, electronic, and digital models. Lavish color photos and graphics illustrate the piano’s broad range of major landmark variations, including oddities such as the Giraffe piano. Detailed text explains how each of the various instruments function, with special emphasis on the great modern grand and upright pianos. Other topics cover master pianists, how to record a piano, amplification, maintenance, repair, and more.