"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.
Nos. 69-90
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 324459
Nos.91-99
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 324462
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 239485
Nos.61-68
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 324457
Nos. 1-20
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 175284
di diversi composizioni toccate, kyrie, canzoni, capricci e recercari in partitura a quattro
transcriptions for keyboards
Monumenti Musicali Italiani XII
Girolamo Frescobaldi Opere complete XII
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 744999
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1689142
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
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999101
Tre Partite per clavicembalo op. IV
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1557402
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999015
for: 2 harpsichords
Score
Item no.: 648709
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999016
Einfache Intonationen für Orgel (oder andere Tasteninstrumente) zu allen Liedern im Stammteil
Begleitpublikation zum neuen Gotteslob
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 617612
op. 2
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 137395
(London, British Library Ms. Add.31501/I)
for: 2 harpsichords
Music score
Item no.: 1351419
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999067
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999017
Convivio Musicale 71
for: 2 harpsichords
Music score
Item no.: 372620
A Historical Guide to the Basics
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 155243
(Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 347066
Text und Notenband
for: Organ [harpsichord]
2 Books
Item no.: 202977
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998981
3 Concerti, Serenata, Sinfonia
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999189
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999156
8 Concerti & 1 Sonata
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999191
Edizioni Anastatica Con Commento e Note Biografiche
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 997470
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998980
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999099
10 Concerti
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999190
9 Concerti & 2 Ouvertures
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 999192
Collection of First Editions
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 475503
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1565626
bearbeitet für Cembalo
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 671306
Denkmaeler Der Tonkunst In Oesterreich~Dtoe 115
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Score
Item no.: 103500
per clavicembalo
Urtext
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Music score
Item no.: 245964
Essercizi per gravicembalo
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 779029
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Buch
Item no.: 838962
(HH.32 n. 11)
for: 2 horns, string orchestra, harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 692892
for: 2 harpsichords
Score
Item no.: 390364
for Organ or Harpsichord
Duos para principiantes; Obras de a tres para principiantes; Obras de a cuatro (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 456894
Guida pratica per Pianisti, Organisti e Clavicembalisti
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 768447
France 1650-1700
for: Harpsichord
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 122457
o sia il basso fondamentale sopra il Cembalo
Theorie und Praxis des Partimentospiels – Manuskript, Transkription und Übersetzung
Quellenkataloge zur Musikgeschichte Band 43
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Study book
Item no.: 562360
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 362032
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 34
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 290328
for: Basso continuo
Single part
Item no.: 156720
Edición crítica
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1009492
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