The piano is a longstanding, classical, and revered instrument. Invented in the 1700s by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Padua, Italy, with plenty of hammers and planters to boot, the piano came to be quite popular in the homes of many a Western brood by the end of the nineteenth century. When someone thinks of a classical composer, it wouldn't be unusual to go to Bach, Beethoven, and the like and easily associate them with piano. Many believe...