"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.
9 Concerti & 2 Ouvertures
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999192
Ricercars
Volume 2
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 36
Bound copy temporarily out of stock!
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 290330
fatte sopra diversi oblighi in partitura – Libro Primo (1615)
Frescobaldi Opere Complete IX
Monumenti Musicali Italiani XXIV
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 695016
für Cembalo
organum Band 10
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 682036
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648610
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 420103
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 47/5
Lose Blätter / keine gebundene Ausgabe
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 342207
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 481927
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 638198
per Organo o Clavicembalo
Band 1 (Nr. 1 - 3)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 677707
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Musik 36
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 301395
für Cembalo
Douglas Allanbrook / Joseph Stephens gewidmet
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381365
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1201832
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 930304
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 347520
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (reprint)
Item no.: 331432
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 314072
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 300243
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 137547
Classic Chorale Preludes
Arranged for Keyboard and Any Solo Instrument
for: Melody instrument (C/B-flat/E-flat/F), organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Piano score, solo part, online media (anthology)
Item no.: 692702
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 335593
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 935029
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 321328
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 655488
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 818346
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 818116
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 313374
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 550882
Edition Schott
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 748023
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 726495
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3894
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3859
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3839
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4343
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4240
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3436
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3095
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3072
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3058
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5374
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5354
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5234
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6128
for: 2 harpsichords [flute/violin, harpsichord]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6126
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5815
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2860
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