All those who cultivate the ancient and beautiful art of playing keyboard instruments must for ever be indebted to a generation of craftsmen and technicians who in a very short space of time carried out most of the essential research and experiment which made possible the development of the fine and sonorous piano of our own day. These men had their own problems to solve, and they produced for their generation very perfect musical instruments, but perhaps without knowing it they set the course of development for many years after their day. I hope to show here how in the course of a single lifetime the pianoforte emerged from the stage of being only a modified harpsichord into a musical intrument of power and expressiveness, scientifically designed to work efficiently and to continue to do so. This development took place between about 1770 and 1830, and it has never been exceeded in rapidity by the development of any other musical instrument.