"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.
Ed. A. Longo - Sonate 351-400
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 389113
A collection
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1613186
from "Pièces de Clavecin"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 768487
ars instrumentalis 040
for: Oboe, harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 194529
Konzert Nr. 3 (G-Dur) und Nr. 4 (D-Dur) für Orgel oder Cembalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 278386
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648610
Classic Chorale Preludes
Arranged for Keyboard and Any Solo Instrument
for: Melody instrument (C/B-flat/E-flat/F), organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Piano score, solo part, online media (anthology)
Item no.: 692702
für Cembalo
organum Band 10
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 682036
Organ Works, Volume 2
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 115981
aus: VI Ouverturen nebst zween Folgesätzen
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3095
divise in studii e divertimenti
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 962519
Analyse und Gestaltung
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 460328
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1690833
for: 4 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 304032
for: 2 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
2 Piano reductions
Item no.: 359931
für Cembalo
Douglas Allanbrook / Joseph Stephens gewidmet
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381365
Peters East German Library 1949-1990
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 359306
Urtext Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558305
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1690130
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 321328
Sonate 401–450
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 389114
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
le pupitre 58
Tome 2 – Volume 1
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 239777
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 818346
Le Pupitre - Heugel
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 993288
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 818116
for: 4 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Single part harpsichord 4
Item no.: 328043
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1201468
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6/6
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290321
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648636
Claviertranskriptionen aus den Opern von J.B. Lully und Agostino Steffani
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 781023
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290317
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 173890
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1026605
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 173892
"Triple Concerto"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Single part (Flute solo)
Item no.: 817355
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 162760
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Cello, double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 173893
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord, strings
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 191470
for: Basso continuo
Single part
Item no.: 156720
for: 4 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Single part harpsichord 2
Item no.: 328041
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6/3
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290318
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 37/1
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 168306
for: 4 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Single part harpsichord 1
Item no.: 328040
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648635
Pièces pour le clavecin ou l'orgue
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 1646164
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord, strings
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 191469
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 173891
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