The Piano: An Encyclopedia was selected in its first edition as a Choice Outstanding Book and remains a fascinating and unparalleled reference work. The instrument has been at the center of music history with even composers of large symphonic work asserting that they do not write anything without sketching it out first on a piano; its limitations and expressive capacity have done much to shape the contours of the western musical idiom. Within the scope of this user-friendly guide is everything from the acoustics and construction of the piano to the history of the companies that have built them.

This new edition of the award-winning encyclopedia has been thoroughly revised, updated and expanded to include new technological advances, scholarship and bibliographic information. An international team of distinguished specialists has contributed over 440 entries including information on everything from builders, composers, and important events to technical descriptions and research discoveries. Uniformly well-written and authoritative, this user-friendly guide will channel anyone's love for the instrument, through social, intellectual, art history and beyond into the electronic age.

Includes entries on:

70 Builders

65 Composers

Over 200 technical terms

History, by country and of the piano's evolution

Important developments, organizations and piano types