Gottfried Silbermann was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two.
Silbermann organ in Freiberg Cathedral
Image: Gottfriedsilbermannfortunabrunnen
A fortepiano, sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to refer to the mid-18th to early-19th century instruments, for which composers of the Classical era, especially Haydn, Mozart, and the younger Beethoven and Hummel, wrote their piano music.
Fortepiano by Paul McNulty after Walter & Sohn, c. 1805
Danilo Mascetti fortepiano specialist
A 1720 fortepiano by Cristofori in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is the oldest surviving piano.
Fortepiano by Johann Andreas Stein (Augsburg, 1775) – Berlin, Musikinstrumentenmuseum