EARLY SONATAS FOR THE PIANOFORTE - Eugene List, piano

The compositions recorded here are among the earliest keyboard compositions which may reasonably be assurned to have been written for the Hammerklavier. The Hammerklavier is distinguished from older instruments of its kind by its hammer mechanism. The sound is produced by a hammer struck against a string. This instrument, peculiarly suited to the requirements of the "galant" style of the early 18th century, was invented in 1709 by the Italian 
harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori. Since it enabled the player to produce soft as well as loud sounds, he called it gravicem balo col piano e forte"'. Early keyboard works reveal baroque conceptions of form, chiefly the suite. We encounter individual movements which are strict dances. But the limitation of each composition to only a few movements anticipates the classical sonata form.