"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.
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999117
Includes six harpsichord concertos in full score.
for: 2 harpsichords, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 416718
Revidierte Interpretationsausgabe
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 418152
Peters East German Library 1949-1990
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1665007
Urtext Edition,
Study score (pocket score)
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 166942
(London, British Library Ms. Add.31501/I)
for: 2 harpsichords
Music score
Item no.: 1670330
K 306-357
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 7
Le Pupitre 37
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177114
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 18
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 139474
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646261
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 15
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 346723
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1661563
op. 1 & 2
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1565630
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 460268
K 507-555
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 11
Le Pupitre 41
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177123
le pupitre 57
Tome 1 – Volume 1
Livre de 1649
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177106
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 1682230
Saggi di contrappunto (S.B.P.K. Landsberg 214)
Regole... per ben accompagnare con il Cembalo (Bc, MS. D 138/2)
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 1652505
Musica per Tastiera Vol. 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1681491
Urtext Edition without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1209881
K 156-205
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 4
Le Pupitre 34
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177111
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 664937
Ed. A. Longo - Sonate 401-450
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1658386
(London c.1742)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 377346
Ein Lehrwerk auf der Basis von Quellen des 16. bis 19. Jahrhunderts
Set mit Buch und Notenband
for: Harpsichord
Book, music score
Item no.: 493072
für Cembalo solo
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381255
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559395
Edition Urtext
Without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401402
Ed. A. Longo - Sonate 1 - 50
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1681148
aus dem "Wohltemperierten Klavier" Teil 1
– Urtext –
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 420092
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 977476
Part 2: BWV 870-893
Edition without fingering
Henle Studien-Edition
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 157163
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558295
"Alternative versions, ammendments and addtions included in appendix / with the supplement "Mirror Fugues for two Harpsichords"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1671158
1727 / 1738
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 476196
per Clavicembalo o Arpa, 2 Violini e Violoncello
for: Harpsichord [harp], piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549650
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [harp], piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549583
Musica Mundi 21
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 397723
Klavier- und Lautenwerke, Band 6/2
Johann Sebastian Bach. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke (NBA) V/6/2
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 556739
Einfache Intonationen für Orgel (oder andere Tasteninstrumente) zu allen Liedern im Stammteil
Begleitpublikation zum neuen Gotteslob
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 617612
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 279286
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 119789
K 408-457
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 9
Le Pupitre 39
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177121
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1031333
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [harp], piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549584
Vol. 01: Accord Des 3 Sons 1A Textes
for: Basso continuo
Music score
Item no.: 479766
Girolamo Frescobaldi. Orgel- und Klavierwerke 2
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115303
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1682052
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559396
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