"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: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646261
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559395
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559396
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559398
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559394
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558306
Urtext Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558308
Urtext Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558305
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1556857
Grundlagen – Tipps – Übungen – Hörbeispiele
for: Instrument [voice]
Lesson book (with online media)
Item no.: 1550479
IGW 50
for: 4 harpsichords
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1550300
"Triple Concerto"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 817353
Leichte bis mittelschwere Vor-, Zwischen- und Nachspiele
for: Organ [harmonium/harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1317242
for: Harpsichord, piano, orchestra
Harpsichord [piano] (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1215684
Urtext Edition without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1209881
with 4 Concerts royaux
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 817287
Napoli 1576
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1011480
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 778190
London, B1 Bs. Add. 31501, II-III
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 773422
S.B.P.K. Landsberg 215 – Parte IV
Tastature – Musiche intavolate per strumenti da tasto
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 773424
Variations for Keyboard instrument
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 762988
Six Sonatas for Keyboard
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 745011
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 695374
Orgelpartita
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 692673
Thema und sechs Variationen für Orgel (Cembalo/Klavier)
auf die Melodie von Alfred Hans Zoller
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 682549
Based on historical sources
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 671934
bearbeitet für Cembalo
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 671306
without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 664942
aus "Pièces de clavecin", Vol. 2, Ordre No. 6
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 610535
Girolamo Frescobaldi. Orgel- und Klavierwerke 2
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115303
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 194585
9 Suiten für Cembalo
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 352452
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Book
Item no.: 583679
Includes six harpsichord concertos in full score.
for: 2 harpsichords, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 416718
Fingerübungen und Etüden 1571-1760
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 282917
Praeclassica
for: Harpsichord
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 421434
Dernière œuvre de Bach pour le clavecin – Argumentation
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 247715
Four and Four for Organ 1
for: Organ [harpsichord/ piano] four hand
Ensemble score
Item no.: 160919
Cravistas Portuguezes
Volume 2
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 288886
Revidierte Interpretationsausgabe
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 418152
Für Klavier oder Cembalo. Erstmalig veröffentlicht von A. Kranz
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 418879
for: 2 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Single part harpsichord 1
Item no.: 188603
K 306-357
Oeuvres complètes pour clavier, volume 7
Le Pupitre 37
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177114
(1–44)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 265340
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 18
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 139474
Eine praktische Musiklehre
Heft 1 – Übungsheft
for: Instrument [voice]
Study book
Item no.: 103240
Parte quarta (No. 151-200)
EMB Urtext
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 197563
Chaconne
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 352896
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