"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
Music score
Item no.: 256436
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 964241
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
für Orgel(Cembalo)
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Organ score
Item no.: 176313
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 277156
Recent Researches In The Music Of The Renaissance Vol 90-91
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 327033
für junge Pianisten
Band 2: Sonatinen Nr. 4-6
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 380933
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 381714
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 457193
Conciertos 1–3
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score
Item no.: 352437
für Cembalo (Orgel, Klavier)
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 228835
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 492904
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 378206
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 321326
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score, CD (audio)
Item no.: 425956
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 285939
for Harpsichord, Clavichord or Piano
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1551580
Nos. 57–88
Vol. 2
zen-on piano library
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 193958
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 366465
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1696390
Musica Clavibus 2
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 401740
Reprint of works from Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Artaria, Vienna
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 152759
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 444418
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Sämtliche Orgel- und Clavierwerke 3,1 | BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 426099
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 312118
Editio princeps based on sources of the Berlin Sing-Akademie and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 762270
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559394
Girolamo Frescobaldi. Orgel- und Klavierwerke 5
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Spielpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115306
Part 1: BWV 846-869
Edition without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 560791
aus: Musicalischer Parnassus
Augsburg, 1738
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5234
BWV 934
aus "Sechs Praeludien für Anfänger auf dem Clavier"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3859
Rondeau
aus: "Pièces de Clavecin, Première Suite"
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4343
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2183
Hob. XVII : D1
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2479
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2860
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3072
für zwei Cembali oder Cembalo und Diskantinstrument
aus: Troisiéme Livre de piéces de Clavecin, Paris 1722
for: 2 harpsichords [flute/violin, harpsichord]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6126
aus: Second Livre de piéces de Clavecin, Neuviême Ordre
Paris 1717
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 6128
aus "Sei Fughe e Preludie per il Clavicembalo ò Organo", op. 6
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4240
aus: "Six Fugues pour L'Orgue ou Le Clavecin", op. 6
Paris, 1777
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5374
aus: Huit Fugues pour le Clavecin ou l'orgue
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3839
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 726495
TWV 33:2
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3894
aus "Compositioni musicali per il Cembalo, divise in due parti ..."
Hamburg, c. 1735
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3058
Ed. A. Longo - Sonate 151-200
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1659751
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3436
aus: Huit Fugues pour le Clavecin ou l'orgue
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5354
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1327297
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![DL: Fugue III, Klavier [Cembalo/Orgel]](https://www.stretta-music.com/media/images2/54/53/5354.jpg)
