pianistic physiologically on account of the strong accentswhich are required to be played
by the weaker fingers.
PIANO SUBITO
‘Piano subito’ is an Italian phrase meaning ‘suddenly soft’. It is a dramatic means of
expression particularly used by Beethoven. When Beethoven marks pianissimo with a
crescendo followed by a piano it is said that the crescendo is to a mezzo forte followed
immediately by a piano. A piano subito appears in the first movement of the ‘Moonlight’
Sonata opus 27 no. 2 and in many other places in Beethoven’s sonatas. Claudio Arrau
was a master of this effect. Another example, explicitly marked by Chopin, appears in
his Nocturne in E flat major opus 55 no. 2 where the emotional expression of the
following melody is enhanced. When we want to say something very significant quite
often we suddenly drop our voice.
PITCH
Concert pitch
Present day concert pitch is A 440. This means that the note A above middle C is
vibrating at exactly 440 times per second. This was recommended at an international
conference in 1935, was taken up by the International Organization for Standardization in
1955 and re-affirmed in 1975. The initial standard was A 439 but, as it was difficult to
reproduce in a laboratory owing to 439 being a prime number, concert pitch was settled at
A 440. If the whole piano is in tune with itself then it is said to be at concert pitch. The
higher the pitch is, the more tension there will be on the frame and the strings and hence
some older pianos will not take the strain of concert pitch. This means that it has to be
tuned lower, flatter or down, which means that, with the piano in tune with itself, A
above middle C would be vibrating at less than 440 times per second.
A common pitch for older pianos is one semitone down at A 415, which means that if
you strike the C key it will actually make the sound B, if you strike an F key it will make
the sound E, and so on. This means that you cannot use that particular piano to
accompany other instruments unless you transpose all the piano music up a semitone. It
also means that a pianist with perfect pitch is confused because their hands tell them one
thing and their ears tell them another.
There are several baroque and other pitches used these days which differ from concert
pitch.
Octave pitch
When a note is played an octave higher or lower it is still the same note but the pitch is
said to be an octave higher or lower.
Perfect pitch