How to Use fortepiano in a Sentence

fortepiano

noun
  • During the text plates, the fortepiano's sound was puny in the large theater.
    — Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 16 July 2017
  • With the fortepiano’s tang and grit, these pieces came across more as miniature tone poems than as salon confections.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
  • This was a nod to its composer, who led the 1792 premiere in London from the fortepiano.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2018
  • His Mozart is beautiful without ever being pretty—the fortepiano’s innate pungency makes sure of that.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
  • In both the latter two pieces, Richman, usually seen here as a harpsichordist, proved no less nimble at the fortepiano (as early pianos are called these days).
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 16 Nov. 2020
  • The composer took an interest in new instruments, including the fortepiano, and his music should not be confined to the technologies of his time.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 14 May 2018
  • The concert is performed by eight PBO musicians and features a replica of Mozart’s own fortepiano.
    — oregonlive, 30 June 2021
  • Characters in these sections are mute while excerpts from Mozart piano fantasies are played at an unseen fortepiano by Renate Rohlfing.
    — Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 16 Sep. 2017
  • Tao did, however, take advantage of the modern piano’s wider dynamic range than the fortepiano that Mozart used, at times surging out in an almost demonic fashion.
    — Ken Jacques, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2019
  • Maltz specializes in Viennese fortepiano (also known as pianoforte), combining his musicianship with historical techniques.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Feb. 2023
  • Eric Zivian was a dynamic fortepiano soloist, channeling the composer’s improvisatory zeal, and the various vocal contributions were perfectly swell.
    — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fortepiano.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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