"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.
Konzert Nr. 1 (F-Dur) und Nr. 2 (G-Dur) für Orgel oder Cembalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 211274
Per Pianoforte
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 257088
Lyre Series
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1547344
per clavicembalo solo
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 832306
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 667422
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 773078
BoWV 164
Partitur
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 265936
Cravistas Portuguezes
Volume 1
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 288012
Cravistas Portuguezes
Volume 2
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 288886
Conciertos 4–6
for: 2 harpsichords [2 pianos]
Score
Item no.: 352438
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 549565
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 242761
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 553751
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score, Parts
Item no.: 103555
Obras de Musica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 289054
Süddeutsche Orgelmeister des Barock 11
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 211915
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score
Item no.: 300189
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 496660
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 352347
Edition without fingering
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 778193
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 778190
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999117
per Cembalo (Organo)
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Music score
Item no.: 648648
for: Harpsichord
Book (reprint)
Item no.: 998661
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646261
ars instrumentalis 026
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 109087
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 305569
for two harpsichords
set of parts
for: 2 harpsichords
Set of parts
Item no.: 628528
17 Composizioni rare per clavicembalo
Erstausgabe
Frutti Musicale
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Single part Harpsichord
Item no.: 694031
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 301106
Modulatio Organica
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 134925
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 305563
Praktischer Teil 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 351356
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 796775
(Kassel, s.d.)
for: Harpsichord
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549563
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 305568
für Tasteninstrument
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 274699
BWV 992, 993, 989, 963, 820, 823, 832, 833, 822, 998
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296588
für Cembalo (Orgel, Klavier)
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 228835
for Keyboard
From the Fitzwilliam Collection
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 120896
Erformers' Facsimiles 208 (Faksimile) (Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 560940
für Cembalo solo
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 381255
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1148138
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 216545
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 551796
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 225675
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 286062
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