"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 [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2554
for: Piano [harpsichord]
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Item no.: 4298
for: Harpsichord [piano]
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Item no.: 3305
for: Harpsichord [piano]
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Item no.: 1712
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4782
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4662
for: 3 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 3989
for: Harpsichord [piano], strings, basso continuo
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 3908
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3807
for: Harpsichord [piano]
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Item no.: 3561
for: Harpsichord [piano]
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Item no.: 3485
for: Organ [harpsichord]
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Item no.: 3461
for: Piano [harpsichord]
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Item no.: 5652
for: Piano [harpsichord]
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Item no.: 5496
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1221
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1144
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 733726
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 726493
No. 7 Bb Major
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 740655
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 459452
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 473829
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3073
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 977476
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 389117
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 278387
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1207763
für Klavier
Frutti Musicali (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Piano score
Item no.: 579171
Introits, an Intonation, a Hymn, Magnificats, Kyries, Appendix
Volume 5
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 36
Bound copy temporarily out of stock!
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 583107
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 348423
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score, Parts
Item no.: 278189
Volume I-IV
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
5 music scores (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 686726
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 488097
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 430362
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 116900
for: Harp [harpsichord], string orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 413102
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 881728
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 873991
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 420092
für Klavier (Cembalo) (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 284934
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1625063
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 354613
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 212915
for: Harpsichord
Playback-CD (without sheet music)
Item no.: 131730
Part 2: BWV 870-893
Edition without fingering
Henle Studien-Edition
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 157163
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 662117
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 141957
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 549782
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 553751
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