"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.
Suite
aus: Musicalischer Parnassus, Augsburg 1738
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2742
Rondeau
aus: "Pièces de Clavecin, Troisième Suite"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4444
K. 13 (Longo 486)
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5554
aus: Musicalischer Parnassus
Augsburg, 1738
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5853
aus: Toccate d' intavolatura d'organo, Libro primo
Rom 1608
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6094
K. 420 (Longo S. 2)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2537
aus: "L’Art de toucher le clavecin" (Paris 1716)
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2885
BuxWV 171
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3150
aus "Pièces de Clavecin, Dix-Septième Ordre"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4285
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1154
BWV 926, aus dem Clavierbüchlein für W. Fr. Bach
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1569
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3270
From "The Sufferings of the Queen of France" (No. 5/6)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3490
aus: B. Schmid, Tabulatur Buch Von Allerhand außerlesnen Schoenen Lieblichen Praeludijs, Toccaten, Motetten, Canzonetten, Madrigalien vnnd Fugen ...
Straßburg, 1607
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5650
aus: "Sonate di Gravicembalo"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2762
(1724)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4247
From "The Sufferings of the Queen of France" (No. 7/8)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3656
aus: "Modulatio organica super Magnificat octo ecclesiasticis tonis respondens"
München, 1686
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3983
aus: "Recueil des differentes pièces pour clavecin"
Mannheim, 1787
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5201
aus: Sonate di Gravicembalo
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3122
aus: B. Schmid, Tabulatur Buch Von Allerhand außerlesnen Schoenen Lieblichen Praeludijs, Toccaten, Motetten, Canzonetten, Madrigalien vnnd Fugen ...
Straßburg, 1607
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5611
aus "Sei Fughe e Preludie per il Clavicembalo ò Organo", op. 6
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5637
aus: VIII Sonate per cembalo, op. 1
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5749
aus dem Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach
BWV Anh. 114-116
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2102
BWV 943
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2262
aus: "Sonate di Gravicembalo"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3342
BWV 901
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1048
aus "XXVII Sonatas Para Clave"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2161
aus "Sei Fughe e Preludie per il Clavicembalo ò Organo", op. 6
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4590
aus "Andanten, Gavotte, Ariaen..."
Antwerpen, 1746
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3620
G-Dur
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3921
aus: "Tabulatura / Darinnen Etzliche Präludia, Toccaten und Couranten uff das Clavir gesetzt"
Leipzig, 1645
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5272
aus: "Six Fugues pour les Orgues ou le Clavecin", Amsterdam 1770
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4682
aus: "Sonate di Gravicembalo"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5629
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3253
aus: VI Ouverturen nebst zween Folgesätzen
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3145
aus: "Sonate di Gravicembalo"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4388
aus "Toccate, Canzoni, ed altre Sonate, ..."
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3471
Amsterdam, 1671
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3691
BWV 999
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1047
BWV 942
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2829
aus: Hexachordum Apollinis, Nürnberg 1699
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3321
aus: VI Ouverturen nebst zween Folgesätzen
Nürnberg, c. 1745
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5673
aus "Pièces de Clavecin, Dix-Huitième Ordre"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4243
aus: Octi-Tonium novum organicum
Augsburg, 1696
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5705
aus: "Tabulatura / Darinnen Etzliche Präludia, Toccaten und Couranten uff das Clavir gesetzt"
Leipzig, 1645
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5273
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4250
aus: Six Fugues pour L’Orgue ou Le Clavecin, op. 6
Paris, 1777
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6065
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