"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.
Für Klavier oder Cembalo
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 138863
Notenband zu: "Historisches Cembalospiel" von Jürgen Trinkewitz
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 492703
an indroduction to contemporary harpsichord music from around the world (part 1)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 634781
on Harpsichord, Vibraphone and Bells
for: Harpsichord, percussion
Ensemble score
Item no.: 136768
Adapted for the Organ by Edward Miller
London 1785
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 280723
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 148939
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1551571
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 744999
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Score
Item no.: 349586
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Score
Item no.: 303821
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 409148
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 492904
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296588
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 352405
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 461358
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 469219
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549575
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 483971
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 277854
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Book
Item no.: 388825
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 116109
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 137548
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 144300
for: Harpsichord, percussion
Score
Item no.: 635025
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 778190
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648622
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648639
zeitgenössische Cembalomusik
for: Harpsichord
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 180032
Variations
Corpus of Early Keyboard Music Volume 5
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 605407
Bologna, Arch. Prov. di Cristo Re
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 773418
S.B.P.K. Landsberg 215 – Parte IV
Tastature – Musiche intavolate per strumenti da tasto
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 773424
Motette
for: Basso continuo
Set of parts
Item no.: 293212
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Item no.: 476199
MusicaLady – Komponistinnen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts 8
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 313701
for: Harpsichord
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 214243
IGW 50
for: 4 harpsichords
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1550300
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177105
for: Harpsichord
Sheet music
Item no.: 1124
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 369057
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 443930
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1035
First Part of the Clavier Übung
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116748
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 817301
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3020
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1438
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559397
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 196215
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1010259
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