"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.
(K 115)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648664
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648611
Sonatas 1 - 6
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 727748
Nr. 1–56
Lüneburg Ratsbücherei
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 463726
Performers' Facsimiles
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 376702
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 374692
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 605023
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 475014
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 428798
für Orgel(Cembalo)
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Organ score
Item no.: 176313
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 285939
Edición crítica
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1009492
Heilbronner Musikschatz 15
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 368149
Performers' Facsimiles 134
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 364615
Musica Britannica 5
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 929383
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 143733
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 492904
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 277156
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 551461
Reprint of works from Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Artaria, Vienna
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 152759
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
Convivio Musicale 65
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 648660
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 930635
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 366465
Divertimenti 4-6 (G-Dur WV, 54 c-Moll WV 16, E-Dur WV 33)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 185311
Girolamo Frescobaldi. Orgel- und Klavierwerke 5
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115306
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Sämtliche Orgel- und Clavierwerke 3,1 | BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 426099
Recent Researches In The Music Of The Renaissance Vol 90-91
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 327033
Collection of First Editions
German Organ and Keyboard Music of the 17th Century, Volume II
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition, anthology)
Item no.: 150804
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 161739
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 167701
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 374058
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score, CD (audio)
Item no.: 425956
Piano music pre-classicism
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 760584
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 156481
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 378206
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 768872
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 932097
Musica Britannica 94
for: Organ [harpsichord], orchestra
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 930048
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 667422
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 964241
German Keyboard Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries
Volume 2
Musical Treasures of the Past
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 157729
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 190142
for Harpsichord, Clavichord or Piano
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1551580
Divertimenti 4-8 (E-Dur WV 32, C-Dur WV 64, B-Dur WV 80)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 229222
(Collection, Urtext)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 165660
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 115127
Nos. 57–88
Vol. 2
zen-on piano library
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 193958
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