"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.
Geistliches Konzert
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 232033
aus: Symphoniae Sacrae III
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 231975
Der zwölfjährige Jesus im Tempel. Aus: Symphoniae Sacrae III (1650)
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 231883
aus: Symphoniae sacrae III
mit singbarer englischer Übersetzung
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 231864
O how fair are all thy dwellings
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 231722
Danket dem Herrn
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 631142
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 229733
für Streicher und Basso continuo
for: Harpsichord
Single part (Harpsichord solo)
Item no.: 327213
a-Moll BR-WFB C 14
for: Harpsichord, strings
Cello, double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 644521
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 230522
aus: Kleine geistliche Konzerte I
mit singbarer englischer Übersetzung
for: Basso continuo
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 231797
Weihnachtskonzert
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 280785
Variationen über Weihnachtslieder
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 382816
Weihnachtskonzert
for: Harpsichord
Single part(n)
Item no.: 421460
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 149204
Le Pupitre - Heugel
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 276211
120 cards for any late elementary music student
for: Instrument [voice]
Cards (teaching material)
Item no.: 474560
for all beginning Students
89 Cards with all the Notes, Symbols and Terms needed for the first 2 Years
for: Instrument [voice]
Cards (teaching material)
Item no.: 668968
Musica per Tastiera Vol. 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 648713
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6/2
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290319
quatrième livre
Le Pupitre 24
Collection de musique ancienne publiée sous la direction de François Lesure
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177103
of the most celebrated lessons from Handel’s “Rinaldo” and other operas by Bononcini, Gasparini, Haym, Handel
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 364823
15 Barock-Stücke
for: Organ [harmonium/harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 376923
of the most celebrated lessons from Handel’s “Rinaldo” and other operas by Bononcini, Gasparini, Haym, Handel
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 342697
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 156362
Ricercari
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 149329
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 144074
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 602477
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 142016
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 344871
Opera Omnia Per Strumento A Tastiera 2~Complete Works For Keyboard (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 368324
Süddeutsche Orgelmeister des Barock 11
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 211915
Adapted for the Organ by Edward Miller
London 1785
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 280771
Fantasias and Selected Works
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 686617
Band 1: Nr. 1 - 12
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 369056
Nos. 1–56
Vol. 1
zen-on piano library
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 243223
BWV 904, 906, 923/951, 951a, 944, 946, 948-950, 952, 959, 961, 967
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296586
Edited from the sources
Wiener Urtext Edition
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 223746
K 206-255
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 5
Le Pupitre 35
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177112
"Triple Concerto"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 817353
Arrangement for Piano
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 279815
Sonate 334-397
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 257379
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 605716
His figured bass exercises
Early Music Series vol.12
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 586877
Grades 4-8
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1163314
für zweimanualiges Cembalo einschließlich Frühfassung für einmanualiges Cembalo
HWV 579
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 661829
for: Voice (baritone), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet), piano
Set of parts (Strings)
Item no.: 929049
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 817771
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