Text в рianoforte

The pianoforte (most often called simply “piano”) may be briefly described as a stringed instrument with a separate string (or sets of two or three strings tuned in unison) for each tone. The strings are struck by hammers which are put in motion from keys (keyboard) by means of a complicated lever mechanism called action. Its name refers to the fact that it is possible to play louder or softer by striking the keys more or less vigorously, an effect impossible on the harpsichord. The earliest pianofortes were built about 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori of Florence but it was not until about 1770 that they came into general use. J.S. Bach probably saw his first pianoforte late in life (1747) when he visited the Prussian king, Frederick the Great. Mozart, on the other hand, composed all of his mature clavier works for the pianoforte.

In addition to the above-described parts the pianoforte has dampers, i.e. small rectangular pieces of wood whose underside is covered with felt. The dampers lie above the strings and by means of stiff wires move together with the key, making the string free for vibration when the hammer strikes and checking (damping) the vibration at the moment the key is released. Without the dampers the strings would continue to sound for a considerable time, thus leading to a blurred noise. For special purposes however this continued sounding is desirable and can be effected by the so-called damper pedal (right pedal) which raises all the dampers allowing the strings to vibrate at will. It is therefore, properly speaking, a “non-damper pedal”. The soft pedal (left pedal) causes the entire keyboard and action to shift a little to the right, so that the hammers strike only two (or one) of the three (or two) strings tuned in unison for a given tone. Large modern instruments usually have a third pedal, the sostenuto (or sustaining) pedal (middle pedal), which is a modification of the damper pedal. It raises the dampers only for the key or keys which are depressed when the pedal is put into action. It can be used to sustain a low bass note (pedal point), leaving both hands free for playing in the higher registers.

Pianofortes are built in two basic shapes, the wind-shaped grand piano and the box-shaped upright piano. Grand pianos exist in various sizes from the Concert Grand (about nine feet long) to the Baby Grand Piano (about five feet).

Proper Names

Bartolomeo Gristofori [‘bRtqlq’mIq ’krIstq’fourI]

Johann Sebastian Bach [jou’hxn sI’bxstjqn bRk]

J. S. Bach [Gei es bRk]

Frederick [‘fredrik]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [‘vOlfgqN , xmq’dIqs ‘moutsRt]

Florence [‘flOrqns]

Prussia [‘prASq]

Prussian [‘prASqn]

1.4. Wind instruments active words and word combinations

1. actually [‘xktjuqlI]	фактически, на самом деле
2. available [q’veIlqbl]	доступный, имеющийся в распоряжении
3. brass [brRs]	медь; духовые инструменты
4. breath [breT]	дыхание, вдох
5. circular [‘sWkjulq]	круглый, круговой, дуговой
6. column [‘kOlqm]	колонна, столбик
7. cupped	чашевидный
8. differ	отличаться, различаться
9. dimension [di’menSn]	измерение, размер, величина
10. edge [eG]	край, кромка, грань
11. enclose [in’klouz]	охватывать, окружать, заключать
12. generic [GI’nerIk]	общий, родовой
13. hole	отверстие
14. in order to	для того чтобы
15. loosely [‘lHslI]	свободно
16. means	средства
17. mouthpiece	мундштук
18. obtain [qb’teIn]	получать, достигать, добиваться
19. on the other hand	с другой стороны
20. pipe	труба, трубка, дудка, свисток
21. pitch	высота /тона, звука/
22. proper [‘prOpq]	правильный, надлежащий
23. reed	язычок
24. relative [‘relqtIv]	родственник
25. shape	форма
26. slide	кулиса /тромбона/
27. straight	прямой, неизогнутый
28. stream	поток, течение
29. term	термин
30. valve [vxlv]	клапан, пистон, вентиль