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I'm wondering when fp (fortepiano) was first used. I looked it up on Google but found nothing indicating its etymology. Are there any records of this at all? Could it potentially have coincided with the invention of the modern day (forte)piano?

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  • Which development in piano design are you counting as "the invention of the modern day (forte)piano"? Also note that the marking is unidiomatic for piano since it is not generally possible to modify the volume of a note after it is played.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 15, 2023 at 8:00

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I can't imagine that this connection can be confirmed.

Dynamics were used since Gabrieli, and "got viral" in the Baroque. There is no magic in combining a strong start with some sort of diminuendo, actually sforzato is the the same direction and only gradually different. Note, that there is no problem creating fp with practically all wind and string instruments, just percussion and harpsichord are handicapped here.

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    It's possible with many percussion instruments (especially drums, when you consider rolls). It's difficult if not impossible to play a single note or chord fp on a piano.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 15, 2023 at 7:55
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    Someone in the classical music subreddit gave me some information: "Donald Byrd at Indiana says this: Earliest use of fp: Johann Stamitz: Sinfonia in E-flat ("La Melodia Germanica" no. 3) (1755), I. Runner-up: Mozart: Piano Sonata in F, K.280 (1774), III. Stamitz was essentially the leader of the Mannheim school of composition, so that would be important. They are known for their innovation in dynamics."
    – Slipstream2022
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 2:12
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    "got viral in the baroque": in baroque music, dynamics were essentially used only for special effects, even to the end of the period. The "viral" application of dynamics as a routine element of notation did not arise until the Mannheim school as noted by @Slipstream2022, and this is typically taken to herald the advent of the classical style. Even so, much late 18th-century music lacks dynamics or employs them as they were used in the baroque, for example marking orchestra parts "piano" when a soloist is singing or playing.
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 14, 2023 at 10:00

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