"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, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 191464
for: 3 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 171794
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 464566
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 326915
for: Piano [harpsichord]
4 music scores (Urtext)
Item no.: 1162474
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 197562
for: Harpsichord [piano], chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 274442
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 255857
for: 2 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
2 Piano reductions
Item no.: 1711803
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1670722
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998983
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998931
for: Harpsichord
Book (reprint)
Item no.: 998661
for: Harpsichord; violin ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 1660593
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999109
(IP 55)
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1557382
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 659263
Sonate 6 aus: Sechs Sonaten für Cembalo, mit Begleitung einer Violine, op. 2
for: Harpsichord, violin
Score, part
Item no.: 641807
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 188986
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 19
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 290335
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1201717
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999088
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1661563
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 921175
per clavicembalo
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1653408
3e cycle et cycle spécialisé
for: Instrument [voice]
Music score
Item no.: 1194175
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 43
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 168301
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 638187
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 166987
European Music Archive
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 477079
für Cembalo solo
Melville Smith gewidmet
for: Harpsichord
Piano score
Item no.: 380879
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 18
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 139474
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1203316
BWV 772–786
Fingerings and articulations by Ottavio Dantone
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 693101
Performers' Facsimile 166 (Faksimile) (Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 376700
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 426029
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 15
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 346723
Nr. 1-10 op. 5
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1549213
Serie: Organistica
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 641555
op. 1 & 2
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 1565630
Harmonie et contrepoint au clavier
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 1136877
for: 2 harpsichords
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 419196
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 348199
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 931133
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 932313
Musik Aus Ostbayern 3 (Faksimile) (Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 281848
for: Harpsichord, piano, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 307618
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 7
for: Harpsichord [organ manuals]
Item no.: 367707
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