"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: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 931133
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 932313
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 1109804
for: 2 harpsichords
Score
Item no.: 648709
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 690373
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 321317
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 239788
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 391237
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 648703
Choralbearbeitungen für Orgel / Cembalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 431001
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 477079
Concerto grosso in A Minor
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 748110
Edition Schott
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 721308
Edition Schott
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 782155
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 756273
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3983
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3656
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3490
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5650
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5554
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5201
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6189
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6094
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4285
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4247
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5853
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3150
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3122
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2885
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2762
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2537
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177114
Harmonie et contrepoint au clavier
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 1136877
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646261
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1640111
for: Harpsichord
Sheet music
Item no.: 1640058
for: Harpsichord
Urtextausgabe, Digitalartikel (AODP)
Item no.: 1639969
Frutti Musicali 5 (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Score
Item no.: 494125
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177106
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 7
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Item no.: 367707
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 280071
aus dem Leutschauer Tabulaturbuch (1676)
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 367521
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 659263
Nr. 1-10 op. 5
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1549213
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 458954
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 292316
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 109087
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1639114
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