Piano Player Day is marked on November 8 annually, it concerns primarily those persons that are dealing with the piano. It is gaining popularity in the music scene Italian master Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) is considered to be the person that created the piano. The instrument, the arrangement of which developed and took shape mainly during the 18th century, nowadays has two options -- piano and grand piano. They differ in the way the strings are strung: a piano has horizontal strings, a grand piano – vertical ones. Piano has 88 keys -- 52 white and 36 black. The holiday appeared almost three centuries after this musical instrument invention. Nowadays, the date has no official status. Nevertheless, every year more and more countries celebrate the day.
On November 14, 2014, the concert dedicated to pianists from all over the world took place in the capital of Belarus. Musical performances were interspersed with life stories of the prominent composers and stories about the world famous musical masterpieces. Reporters covered the event, one of them referred to it as Piano Player Day in his article. The name stuck.

Since 2016, Russia and China are celebrating the Piano Player Day. Israel, Ukraine and Austria later lined up with it. The number of countries hosting Piano Player Day events constantly grows. Today we are remembering Ferencz Liszt, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergey Rachmaninoff, Anton Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels and many other virtuoso pianists. The life of one of the brilliant pianists of the 20th century, Władysław Szpilman during the Second World War formed the script of the Hollywood masterpiece “The Pianist”.

History gave the world the names of remarkable piano players, either of which contributed to the development of music art and technique. Each of them had unique powers, transforming sound into a truly living, intangible substance capable of conveying an incredibly wide range of emotions, with power, character and vividness, evoking in the listener profound emotions ranging from elation to sadness and tears.

Welcome to the museum Sound Library and listen to music selection that was prepared for the Piano Player Day. All tracks were digitized from paper music rolls and recorded from Reproducing grand piano "Steinway Duo-Art". USA, New York. 1926

On the cover: Musical automaton “Pianist”. Germany. Circa 1890