"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
Score
Item no.: 420099
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 239796
Nagels Musik-Archiv
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 123349
dedicated to Joseph Haydn
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 581610
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 497266
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401329
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Harpsichord, strings
Study score
Item no.: 749242
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1031476
No. 7 Bb Major
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 783813
No. 7 Bb Major
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 783812
(HH.32 n. 11)
for: 2 horns, string orchestra, harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 1657374
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1667741
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1689142
Edition Schott
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 728629
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1037878
For Harpsichord
for: Harpsichord
Solostimme
Item no.: 1625067
per clavicembalo
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 390538
Obras de Musica
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 726337
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1625059
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 930906
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Solostimme
Item no.: 1625061
from Op. 1, Op. 2, Op. 5
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 743943
From Six Rondos
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1565631
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998981
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999115
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999116
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999117
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1667686
'The Son Is Scrumptious'
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1541417
Concerto grosso A Minor
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Einzelstimme Bassi
Item no.: 729366
Suiten
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 781026
An Anthology
Selected from Musica Britannica Volume 96
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 932200
sopra li tuoni a quattro
Vierstimmige Ricercare in den acht Kirchentonarten
Antiqua
for: 4 melodic instruments [keyboard instrument]
Choir part Soprano
Item no.: 1549866
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1329335
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999125
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999124
(Parable Xxiv)
for: Harpsichord
Solostimme
Item no.: 1626546
Le Pupitre - Heugel
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 993554
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1109785
Peters East German Library 1949-1990
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1665007
EMB Urtext
for: Piano [harpsichord]
4 music scores (Urtext)
Item no.: 1162474
Tre Partite per clavicembalo op. IV
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1557402
The Flemish Music Collection
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1344397
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1006772
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1006255
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 908732
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