"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.
Fourth Part of the Clavier Übung
Urtext der Neuen Bach-Ausgabe
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 116758
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 564837
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 278168
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Score
Item no.: 101620
for: Harpsichord, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 277129
based on works by various masters
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 359898
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 108746
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 132081
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Organ score
Item no.: 582574
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 389110
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 379220
Edition Urtext
Without fingering
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 401402
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 129251
for: 2 harpsichords, strings, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 228477
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 1207763
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1584443
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 471320
Klassik
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Buch
Item no.: 1635282
(Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 289452
Introits, an Intonation, a Hymn, Magnificats, Kyries, Appendix
Volume 5
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 36
Bound copy temporarily out of stock!
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 583107
Berlin 1781 und 1782 , 4. Reprint
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 347070
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999112
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 998930
Faksimile - Shumilov Facsimile Collection
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 662839
Chorale settings
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 1549209
Für Cembalo, 2 Violinen und Baß
Edition Vieweg (Musikschätze vergangener Zeiten)
for: Harpsichord [piano], 2 violins, cello
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 185043
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 172964
in partitura – Libro Quarto (1645)
Frescobaldi Opere Complete X
Monumenti Musicali Italiani XXV
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 695019
Variationen für Tasteninstrument
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 458966
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 644390
Easier Piano Pieces 58
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 1043573
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Item no.: 326235
Die auf dem Clavier lehrende Caecilia welche guten Unterricht ertheilet
Tocccaten – Präludien – Verse
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 696965
Musik alter Meister Bd. 35
Beiträge zur Musik- und Kulturgeschichte Innerösterreichs
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 103556
for: 2 pianos [harpsichords/ organs]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1018317
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 989584
14 Toccate und 2 Minuetti
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 989366
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 458547
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1087218
Vol. 2: 18th century handwritten sources
for: Harpsichord
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 549932
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 929320
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 269063
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 256053
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 390656
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 116900
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 488097
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 430362
for: Harpsichord
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 881728
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