"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.
K 206-255
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 5
Le Pupitre 35
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177112
aus "Toccate, Canzoni, ed altre Sonate, ..."
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5392
aus: "Toccate e Corenti d’Intavolatura d’Organo e Cimbalo..."
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2725
aus: Huit Fugues pour le Clavecin ou l'orgue
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3049
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2649
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648623
Musica Britannica 66
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 341776
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 583653
Dover Piano And Keyboard Editions
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 187657
Aus den Quellen zusammengetragen
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 817300
per liuto
Musica per la tastiera
Tastenmusik aus dem 16. und 17. Jahrhundert
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 255879
Orgel-, Cembalo- und Orchesterwerke
in leicht spielbarer Manualiter-Bearbeitung
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1556703
Canzoni alla francese e Ricercari ariosi
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 245688
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
4 Study scores (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 289295
9 Suiten für Cembalo
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 352452
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 352398
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 285834
Sinfonías I–VIII
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1009176
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 211945
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 376892
Johann Jacob Froberger. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 1 (Gesamtausgabe, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe) (Complete edition, Collection, Urtext)
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Performance scores
Item no.: 117685
zeitweilig J. S. Bach zugeschrieben
(BWV Anh. 182)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6095
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2889
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 930505
aus "Toccate, Canzoni, ed altre Sonate, ..."
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3198
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 661722
Symposium im Rahmen der 24. Tage Alter Musik in Herne 1999
for: Harpsichord
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 314449
Keyboard Works part 2 (2 vols)
for: Harpsichord
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 586408
Corpus of Early Keyboard Music 38
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 168308
für die Festtage des Kirchenjahres
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 692674
Biblioteca apostolica Vaticana, MS vat.Mus.569
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 561408
K 53-103
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 2
Le Pupitre 32
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177109
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 336641
Settings of secular melodies and dances - Works for lute
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - Opera Omnia (SWE)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 217025
for: Harpsichord
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 625771
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 692282
Thematic Catalogue (ASOT)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 771697
with 4 Concerts royaux
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 817287
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 362032
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 352347
BWV 917, 918, 921, 922, 894-896, 903, 903a
Six Little Preludes BWV 933-938
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296553
en 2 volumes
Le Pupitre 18 : Suites 1–9
Collection de musique ancienne publiée sous la direction de François Lesure
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177104
Variations on Chorales and Psalms
Breitkopf Urtext
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 456918
Werke alter Meister des 17. und 18. Jahrhundert mit Registervorschlägen für Positiv und Cembalo
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 379084
"Sonate d'Intavolatura per Organo e Cimbalo"
Domenico Zipoli. Orgel- und Cembalowerke 1
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 196214
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648705
für Cembalo und Percussion
for: Harpsichord, percussion
Score
Item no.: 635025
an indroduction to contemporary harpsichord music from around the world (part 1)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 634781
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