"Brightly the keys, all twinkling, linked, all harpsichording, called to a voice to sing the strain of dewy morn..." James Joyce
The harpsichord is widely seen as the forerunner of the modern day piano, the main difference being its plucking mechanism, rather than hammers, which gives it its distinct sound, the sound of the Renaissance and the Baroque, signalling in a new dawn for early music.
Concert pitch at the time was 415 Hz, approximately a semitone lower than today, which is 440 Hz. The harpsichord it very sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and needs to be tuned at least once a day. The tuning process only takes about 20 minutes on average, so it is a small price to pay, for a beautiful, clean tone.
Not only is the harpsichord an excellent solo instrument, for which many works (such as sonatas, suites, toccatas, variations and many more) were written by composers such as B. Sweelinck, J. S. Bach, his son C. P. E. Bach, D. Scarlatti, Handel and F. Couperin, but the harpsichord, alongside the Organ, Theorbo and Lute, plays a central role in the basso continuo in most Baroque ensembles.
The harpsichord forms the harmonic bridge between melody and bass, and its central role within the basso continuo is comparable to the modern keyboard’s function in a rock, pop or jazz band.
One of the main features of the Baroque style for harpsichord is ornamentation, such as trills, mordents, turns and tremolo, which are particularly prominent in the French Baroque with composers such as Francois Couperin and Rameau. Many such ornaments can also be found in the famous Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) by J. S. Bach.
As a favoured instrument of the bourgeoisie and royalty, the untimely end of the harpsichord was brought about by the people’s revolts of the French Revolution (1789 to 1799), harpsichords and clavichords were thrown out of the windows onto the streets of Paris in anger and burned!
With the revival of early music in the 1970s, more and more new harpsichords were built. Pioneers such as B. Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and Nikolaus Harnoncourt reinvented Renaissance and Baroque style, and the harpsichord grew in popularity, and was once again seen on concert stages, and in chamber venues all around the world.
Today you can find harpsichords built in Flemish, French, Italian, Austrian and German styles all over the world. They all have their own individual character and tone. Historical performance practice has now become second nature for harpsichord players, and has influenced the way we approach modern keyboard instruments, and most importantly how we view the piano.
für zwei Cembali
for: 2 harpsichords
Ensemble score
Item no.: 628543
Cembalo
Solostimme
for: Harpsichord
Solostimme
Item no.: 1624867
Suite for Harpsichord (Piano)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 627321
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 768872
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 174696
Anleitung für Heimwerker
Neuauflage 2016
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 119785
Musica Clavibus 2
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 401740
Musica Mundi 22
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 397731
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 286062
Text und Notenband
for: Organ [harpsichord]
2 Books
Item no.: 202977
(Collection, Urtext)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 165660
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 167701
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 459446
Divertimenti 4-8 (E-Dur WV 32, C-Dur WV 64, B-Dur WV 80)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 229222
für Klavier
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 582570
Performers' Facsimiles
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 376702
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 374058
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 374692
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 475014
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 115127
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 428798
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 426030
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 378196
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 551461
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 605023
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 143733
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 161739
German Keyboard Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries
Volume 2
Musical Treasures of the Past
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 157729
Collection of First Editions
German Organ and Keyboard Music of the 17th Century, Volume II
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition, anthology)
Item no.: 150804
Divertimenti 4-6 (G-Dur WV, 54 c-Moll WV 16, E-Dur WV 33)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 185311
"Was der Generalbass sey?" Teil II: Beiträge zu Theorie und Praxis
Schola cantorum Basiliensis
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 190538
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 190142
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 297839
Vol. 1: 18th century printed sources
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 554038
Schirmer Library Of Msc Clssc
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 316499
K 398-403
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 113816
Heilbronner Musikschatz 15
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 368149
Performers' Facsimiles 134
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 364615
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 156481
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1670723
Urtext-Ausgabe nach der Handschrift Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Napoli ms. 9478
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549972
Performers' Facsimiles 132 (Faksimile) (Facsimile)
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 347656
op. 1
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 549929
Edición crítica
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1009492
Musica Britannica 5
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 929383
Nr. 1–56
Lüneburg Ratsbücherei
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 463726
(K 115)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648664
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648611
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