"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]
Item no.: 297839
Second Set of 1733: Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin
Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116295
Part 1: BWV 846-869
Edition without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 560791
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score
Item no.: 352437
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 286062
for: Harpsichord, violin, cello
Score
Item no.: 1677385
Sonatas 1 - 6
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 727748
Sonatas 7 - 12
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 727739
Piano music pre-classicism
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 760584
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5426
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4011
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3595
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6127
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4819
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4614
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2184
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1964
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1099
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 459446
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 378196
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115306
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 401740
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 312118
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 285939
Editio princeps based on sources of the Berlin Sing-Akademie and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 762270
Part 2: BWV 870-BWV 893
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1701339
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1690833
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1690130
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 (pdf download)
Item no.: 692698
Laaber Reprint 6
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (reprint)
Item no.: 225551
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 613127
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648710
Sechs Cembalosonaten für Damen
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 245307
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1327297
Transkription für Orgel oder Cembalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 777892
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999087
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999106
10 Concerti
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999190
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
divise in studii e divertimenti
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 962519
Cembalo CD
for: Harpsichord
CD
Item no.: 1199709
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