"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.: 1327297
Transkription für Orgel oder Cembalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 777892
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999087
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999106
10 Concerti
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999190
9 Concerti & 2 Ouvertures
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999192
aus "Sei Fughe e Preludie per il Clavicembalo ò Organo", op. 6
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4240
aus: "Six Fugues pour L'Orgue ou Le Clavecin", op. 6
Paris, 1777
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5374
aus: Huit Fugues pour le Clavecin ou l'orgue
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3839
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 302715
Ricercars
Volume 2
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 36
Bound copy temporarily out of stock!
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 290330
fatte sopra diversi oblighi in partitura – Libro Primo (1615)
Frescobaldi Opere Complete IX
Monumenti Musicali Italiani XXIV
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 695016
für Cembalo, Flöte, Violine, Streicher und Basso continuo
BWV 1044
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 287111
für Cembalo
organum Band 10
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 682036
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648610
aus: VI Ouverturen nebst zween Folgesätzen
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3095
Organa Hispanica 4
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 196226
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 420103
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 104945
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 47/5
Lose Blätter / keine gebundene Ausgabe
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 342207
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 481927
Musicalady 15~Komponistinnen Des 18. Und 19. Jahrhunderts
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 367682
divise in studii e divertimenti
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 962519
Cembalo CD
for: Harpsichord
CD
Item no.: 1199709
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 335593
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 638198
per Organo o Clavicembalo
Band 1 (Nr. 1 - 3)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 677707
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 492410
op. 2
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 332744
Nagels Musik-Archiv
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 123349
Das Klavierwerk 16
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 550882
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Musik 36
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 301395
für zwei Cembali oder Cembalo und Diskantinstrument
aus: Troisiéme Livre de piéces de Clavecin, Paris 1722
for: 2 harpsichords [flute/violin, harpsichord]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6126
aus: Musicalischer Parnassus
Augsburg, 1738
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5234
für Cembalo
Douglas Allanbrook / Joseph Stephens gewidmet
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381365
mit SSWV 111 Cantio Belgica Ach du feiner Reuter
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 154677
Peters East German Library 1949-1990
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 359306
Two copies needed for performance
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558844
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ [harpsichord], orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 425115
H43.4/Wq474
for: Harpsichord (solo), 2 flutes, 2 horns, string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 745691
Six Sonatas for Keyboard
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 745011
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 458644
dedicated to Joseph Haydn
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 581610
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1201832
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 460328
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 930304
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 583564
© 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
