"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
Book
Item no.: 999125
Orgelwerke Nuernberger Sebaldusorganisten
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 361555
(Six canonic inventions for two voices)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1650971
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Stimmen-Set
Item no.: 310657
for: Harpsichord
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 633717
Suiten
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 781026
für Cembalo mit Begleitung von Streichinstrumenten
for: Harpsichord, strings
Item no.: 103562
"Il Gardellino"
for: Harpsichord
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 421374
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 5/6
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 303820
F-Dur
for: Harpsichord
Solostimme
Item no.: 1199457
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 773113
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1200691
The Flemish Music Collection
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1344397
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1202210
for: 4 melodic instruments [keyboard instrument]
Single part 2
Item no.: 1544675
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 265936
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 108202
Praeclassica
for: Harpsichord
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 421434
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 314371
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 390538
for: Harpsichord
Single part(n)
Item no.: 576848
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1006255
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1565631
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1006772
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 491614
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Flute (orchestral part)
Item no.: 116706
for: Harpsichord, piano, orchestra
Harpsichord [piano] (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1215684
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Single part (Violin solo)
Item no.: 116121
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 342219
for: 3 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Single part harpsichord 1
Item no.: 289768
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1541417
Urtext Stuttgarter Bach-Ausgaben
for: 2 harpsichords
2 single parts
Item no.: 1676952
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1193823
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1044020
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648616
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648625
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999105
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1162663
Edition Vieweg (Musikschätze vergangener Zeiten)
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 339463
Corpus of Early Keyboard Music 20
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 290333
Performers' Facsimiles
for: Harpsichord
Music lesson book (reprint)
Item no.: 302297
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999015
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 476200
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 342127
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 384850
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 385293
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