"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.
Nr. 1–104
Lüneburg Ratsbücherei
for: harpsichord [organ/piano]
2 music scores
Item no.: 695952
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 366327
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 478268
London, B1 Ms. Add. 31501, I
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 764559
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 429783
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 561752
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 550005
from "Pièces de clavecin", Vol. 2, Ordre No. 6
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 755921
Edition Schott
for: Violin, harpsichord, string orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 726652
arranged for harpsichord (piano)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 285085
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 217071
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 474880
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 331185
for: Organ [harp/harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 130428
für Tasteninstrument
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 274699
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6444
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1052
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 5446
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 817303
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 280871
for: Basso continuo
Set of parts
Item no.: 341758
for: Basso continuo
Music score
Item no.: 394543
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score
Item no.: 485145
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 383088
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 145103
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1559399
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1556857
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 116786
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 144074
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6/2
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290319
Musica per Tastiera Vol. 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 648713
of the most celebrated lessons from Handel’s “Rinaldo” and other operas by Bononcini, Gasparini, Haym, Handel
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 364823
Süddeutsche Orgelmeister des Barock 11
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 211915
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 344871
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 142016
15 Barock-Stücke
for: Organ [harmonium/harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 376923
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 156362
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 296586
of the most celebrated lessons from Handel’s “Rinaldo” and other operas by Bononcini, Gasparini, Haym, Handel
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 342697
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 3475
Fantasias and Selected Works
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 686617
Opera Omnia Per Strumento A Tastiera 2~Complete Works For Keyboard (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 368324
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177112
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 602477
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 177103
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 369056
"Triple Concerto"
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Harpsichord, flute, violin, strings, basso continuo
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 817353
for: Harpsichord, orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 149204