The Precursors of the Pianoforte.

A good sized audience assembled in Sanders Theatre, last night, to hear Mr. Krehbiel's lecture on the "Precursors of the Pianoforte." The lecture was very interesting, and with the illustrations on the various points by Mr. Steinert, very instructive. The lecturer was introduced by Prof. Paine.

The idea of stringed instruments can be traced back to the time of Homer, who pictures one of his heroes with a bow, which he uses not only as a weapon, but also as a means of producing pleasant sounds. The mode of producing these sounds, picking the strings, is the basis of most of the string instruments, up to the pianoforte. The other mode of striking the strings a blow, was employed by the Assyrians, and later was made use of in the piano.

Mr. Steinert played on the chavichord, a number of selections from Bach. This instrument has contested the supremacy of the piano, down to our own century, down in fact to Beethoven's time, and may still be found in some German homes, in place of the piano. He also gave some improvisations on the spinet and the harpsichord which is exactly like the spinet in principle. Sounds are produced in these, by picking the strings with quills.

After some slight deviations from his main theme, in which he explained the bowed clavier, Mr. Krehbiel gave a brief history and explanation of the pianoforte. This instrument was invented almost simultaneously, by three men of different nationalities, about 1715. It was the outcome of the impatience which was felt at the limitations of the other instruments, in which no variation of volume could be secured. After the lecture, Mr. Arthur Freidheim played on a Steinway Concert Grand a number of pieces by Chopin and Liszt, showing the remarkable superiority of the pianoforte over its predecessors, in the matter of varying the amount of tone.