"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.
Revidierte Interpretationsausgabe
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 418152
Bärenreiter Urtext
with Fingerings
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 172511
Revised Urtext of the New Bach Edition
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116747
sopra li tuoni a quattro
Vierstimmige Ricercare in den acht Kirchentonarten
für Tasteninstrument oder beliebige Einzelinstrumente
Antiqua
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Score
Item no.: 1689132
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 352398
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 378206
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 497266
op. 1 & 2
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1565630
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [harp], piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549584
Urtext
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1681213
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1664190
Urtext
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 692285
72 nicht ausgesetzte Kirchenlieder des 17. Jh. (Melodie und Bass) für Klavier (Orgel) als Übungsstücke zum Basso-continuo-Spiel
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 348924
9 Suiten für Cembalo
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 352452
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 460268
Urtext Stuttgarter Bach-Ausgaben
for: 2 harpsichords
2 single parts
Item no.: 1676952
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116759
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 279286
für Orgel (Cembalo)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 336182
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 443930
for: 4 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 304032
Miscellaneous Suites and Pieces. First Part
Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116296
Urtext – first printing edited
for: 2 harpsichords
2 music scores (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 182909
BWV 870–893
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 142396
BWV 846–869
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116786
First Part of the Clavier Übung
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116748
Lyre Series
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1547344
Cravistas Portuguezes
Volume 2
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 288886
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 778190
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999117
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646261
Praktischer Teil 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 351356
für Cembalo solo
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381255
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 225675
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
Le pupitre vol. 52
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 177099
Livre 3
Le Pupitre 23
Collection de musique ancienne publiée sous la direction de François Lesure
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177102
Dover Piano And Keyboard Editions
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 187657
K 1-52
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 1
Le Pupitre 31
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177108
K 458-506
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 10
Le Pupitre 40
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177122
K 358-407
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 8
Le Pupitre 38
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177115
en 2 volumes
Le Pupitre 18 : Suites 10–15
Collection de musique ancienne publiée sous la direction de François Lesure
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177105
Part 2: BWV 870-BWV 893
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401228
BWV 870-893
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401125
Part 1: BWV 846-869
Henle Urtext Edition
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401105
for: Harpsichord
Music lesson book
Item no.: 154075
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296552
© 2004–2024 by Stretta Music. Order and buy sheet music online.
Your specialist for all kinds of sheet music. Online shop, sheet music, music scores and play along for download, books, music stands, music stand lights, accessories.
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Luxembourg
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
Poland
Czech Republic
Worldwide
