“The feeble clavichord did not carry far; the harpsichord was only a little stronger; but Cristofori in Italy was working at these defects; he built a machine he called clavicembalo piano e forte – a keyboard instrument to play “soft and loud.” Contrary to all experience, we now call it simply “a soft.”

“The feeble clavichord did not carry far; the harpsichord was only a little stronger; but Cristofori in Italy was working at these defects; he built a machine he called clavicembalo piano e forte – a keyboard instrument to play “soft and loud.” Contrary to all experience, we now call it simply “a soft.”

— Jacques Barzun