Harpsichord - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Harpsichord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a

keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is
pressed.
"Harpsichord" designates the whole family of similar plucked
keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, muselar,
and spinet.
The harpsichord was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque
music. During the late 18th century, it gradually disappeared from
the musical scene with the rise of the piano. In the 20th century, it
made a resurgence, being used in historically informed
performances of older music, in compositions, and in popular
culture.

Contents
1
2
3
4
5

Mechanism
Strings, tuning, and soundboard
Multiple choirs of strings
Case
Variants
5.1 Harpsichord
5.2 Virginals
5.3 Spinet
5.4 Clavicytherium
5.5 Clavicymbalum
5.6 Ottavino
5.7 Other
5.8 Compass and pitch range
6 History
7 Music
7.1 Historical period
7.2 Music written for the revived instrument
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links

This harpsichord is the work of two

celebrated makers: originally constructed by
Andreas Ruckers in Antwerp (1646), it was
later remodeled and expanded by Pascal
Taskin in Paris (1780).

Mechanism
Harpsichords vary in size and shape, but all have the same basic functional arrangement. The player depresses a

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key that rocks over a pivot in the middle of its length. The other end of the
key lifts a jack (a long strip of wood) that holds a small plectrum (a wedgeshaped piece of quill, nowadays often plastic), which plucks the string. When
the player releases the key, the far end returns to its rest position, and the jack
falls back. The plectrum, mounted on a tongue that can swivel backwards
away from the string, passes the string without plucking it again. As the key
reaches its rest position, a felt damper atop the jack stops the string's
vibrations. These basic principles are explained in detail below.
Detail of the mechanism of the
Harpsichord by Christian Zell, at
Museu de la Msica de Barcelona

Figure 1. Schematic view of a 2 8' single manual harpsichord

The keylever is a simple pivot, which rocks on a balance pin that passes through a hole drilled through the
keylever.
The jack is a thin, rectangular piece of wood that sits upright on the end of the keylever. The jacks are held
in place by the registers. These are two long strips of wood (the upper movable, the lower fixed), which
run in the gap between pinblock and bellyrail. The registers have rectangular mortises (holes) through
which the jacks pass as they can move up and down. The registers hold the jacks in the precise location
needed to pluck the string.

Figure 2. Upper part of a jack

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In the jack, a plectrum juts out almost horizontally (normally the plectrum is angled upwards a tiny
amount) and passes just under the string. Historically, plectra were made of bird quill or leather; many
modern harpsichords have plastic (delrin or celcon) plectra.
When the front of the key is pressed, the back of the key rises, the jack is lifted, and the plectrum plucks
the string.
The vertical motion of the jack is then stopped by the jackrail (also called the upper rail), which is covered
with soft felt to muffle the impact.

Figure 3: how the harpsichord action works

When the key is released, the jack falls back down under its own weight, and the plectrum passes back
under the string. This is made possible by having the plectrum held in a tongue attached with a pivot and a
spring to the body of the jack. The bottom surface of the plectrum is cut at a slant; thus when the
descending plectrum touches the string from above, the angled lower surface provides enough force to
push the tongue backward.[1]
When the jack arrives in fully lowered position, the felt damper touches the string, causing the note to
cease.

Strings, tuning, and soundboard

Each string is wound around a tuning pin, normally at the end of the string
closer to the player. When rotated with a wrench or tuning hammer, the
tuning pin adjusts the tension so that the string sounds the correct pitch.
Tuning pins are held tightly in holes drilled in the pinblock or wrestplank, an
oblong hardwood plank.
Proceeding from the tuning pin, a string next passes over the nut, a sharp
edge that is made of hardwood and is normally attached to the wrestplank.
The section of the string beyond the nut forms its vibrating length, which is
plucked and creates sound.

Sound board of a harpsichord

with Chladni patterns

At the other end of its vibrating length, the string passes over the bridge,

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another sharp edge made of hardwood. As with the nut, the horizontal
position of the string along the bridge is determined by a vertical metal pin
inserted into the bridge, against which the string rests.
The bridge itself rests on a soundboard, a thin panel of wood usually made of
spruce, fir orin some Italian harpsichordscypress. The soundboard
efficiently transduces the vibrations of the strings into vibrations in the air;
without a soundboard, the strings would produce only a very feeble sound.
A string is attached at its far end by a loop to a hitchpin that secures it to the
case.

Multiple choirs of strings

Detail of the harpsichord by Karl

Conrad Fleisher; Hamburg, 1720
in Museu de la Msica de
Barcelona. A decorative rose
descends below the soundboard
in which is it mounted; the
soundboard itself is adorned with
floral painting around the rose.
The bridge is at lower right.

While many harpsichords have exactly one string per note, more elaborate
harpsichords can have more. This provides two advantages: ability to vary
volume and ability to vary tonal quality. Volume is increased when the
mechanism of the instrument is set up by the player (see below) so that the
press of a single key plucks more than one string. Tonal quality can be varied
in two ways. First, different choirs of strings can be designed to have distinct tonal qualities, usually by having
one set of strings plucked closer to the nut, which emphasizes the higher harmonics, and produces a "nasal"
sound quality; the mechanism of the instrument permits the player to select one choir or the other. Second,
having one key pluck two strings at once changes not just volume but also tonal quality; for instance, when two
strings tuned to the same pitch are plucked simultaneously, the note is not just louder but also richer and more
complex. A particularly vivid effect is obtained when the strings plucked simultaneously are an octave apart.
This is normally heard by the ear not as two pitches but as one: the sound of the higher string is blended with
that of the lower one, and the ear hears the lower pitch, enriched in tonal quality by the additional strength in the
upper harmonics of the note sounded by the higher string.
When describing a harpsichord it is customary to specify its choirs of strings, often called its disposition. Strings
at eight foot pitch sound at the normal expected pitch, strings at four foot pitch sound an octave higher.
Harpsichords occasionally include a sixteen-foot choir (one octave lower than eight-foot) or a two-foot choir
(two octaves higher; quite rare).
When there are multiple choirs of strings, the player is often able to control which choirs sound. This is usually
done by having a set of jacks for each choir, and a mechanism for "turning off" each set, often by moving the
upper register (through which the jacks slide) sideways a short distance, so that their plectra miss the strings. In
simpler instruments this is done by manually moving the registers, but as the harpsichord evolved, builders
invented levers, knee levers and pedal mechanisms to make it easier to change registration.
Harpsichords with more than one keyboard[2] provide flexibility in selecting which strings play, since each
manual can control the plucking of a different set of strings. In addition, such harpsichords often have a
mechanism that couples manuals together, so that a single manual plays both sets of strings. The most flexible
system is the French shove coupler, in which the lower manual slides forward and backward. In the backward
position, "dogs" attached to the upper surface of the lower manual engage the lower surface of the upper
manual's keys. Depending on choice of keyboard and coupler position, the player can select any of the sets of
jacks labeled in figure 4 as A, or B and C, or all three.

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Figure 4. French shove coupler. To the left: uncoupled keyboards. The depressed upper key lifts the jack A upwards. The
depressed lower key lifts jacks B and C. To the right: The upper keyboard is coupled to the lower one by pulling the latter.
The depressed upper key lifts the jack A upwards. The depressed lower key lifts jacks A, B and C.

The English dogleg jack system (also used in Baroque Flanders) does not require a coupler. The jacks labeled A
in Figure 5 have a "dogleg" shape that permits either keyboard to play A. If the player wishes to play the upper 8'
from the upper manual only and not from the lower manual, a stop handle disengages the jacks labeled A and
engages instead an alternative row of jacks called "lute stop" (not shown in the Figure).[3]

Figure 5. Dogleg jack, English coupler system. When

depressed, the upper key lifts the "dogleg" jack (jack A)
upwards. The lower key lifts all three jacks A, B, and C.

The use of multiple manuals in a harpsichord was not originally provided for the flexibility in choosing which
strings would sound, but rather for transposition. For discussion, see History of the harpsichord.

Case

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The case holds in position all of the important structural members: pinblock,
soundboard, hitchpins, keyboard, and the jack action. It usually includes a
solid bottom, and also internal bracing to maintain its form without warping
under the tension of the strings. Cases vary greatly in weight and sturdiness:
Italian harpsichords are often of light construction; heavier construction is
found in the later Flemish instruments and those derived from them (see
History of the harpsichord).
The case also gives the harpsichord its
external appearance and protects the
instrument. A large harpsichord is, in a
sense, a piece of furniture, as it stands
alone on legs and may be styled in the
Jan Vermeer's famous painting A
manner of other furniture of its place and
Lady Standing at a Virginal
period. Early Italian instruments, on the
shows a characteristic practice of
other hand, were so light in construction
his time, with the instrument
that they were treated rather like a violin:
A false inner-outer harpsichord
mounted on a table and the player
kept for storage in a protective outer case,
from the Deutsches Museum in
standing.
and played after taking it out of its case
Munich. The false inner case
and placing it on a table.[4] Such tables
begins to the right of the
were often quite high until the late 18th century people usually played
keyboard, and continues
standing up.[4] Eventually, harpsichords came to be built with just a single
backward only far enough to
case, though an intermediate stage also existed: the false innerouter, which
provide a slot to support the jack
for purely aesthetic reasons was built to look as if the outer case contained an
rail.
inner one, in the old style.[5] Even after harpsichords became self-encased
objects, they often were supported by separate stands, and some modern
harpsichords have separate legs for improved portability.
Many harpsichords have a lid that can be raised, a cover for the keyboard, and a stand for music.
Harpsichords have been decorated in a great many different ways: with plain buff paint (e.g. some Flemish
instruments), with paper printed with patterns, with leather or velvet coverings, with chinoiserie, or occasionally
with highly elaborate painted artwork.[6]

Variants
Harpsichord
In modern usage, "harpsichord" can mean any member of the family of instruments. More often, though, it
specifically denotes a grand-piano-shaped instrument with a roughly triangular case accommodating long bass
strings at the left and short treble strings at the right. The characteristic profile of such a harpsichord is more
elongated than a modern piano, with a sharper curve to the bentside.

Virginals
The virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular form of the harpsichord having only one string per note; the
strings run parallel to the keyboard, which is on the long side of the case.

Spinet

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A spinet is a harpsichord with the strings set at an angle (usually about 30 degrees) to the keyboard. The strings
are too close together for the jacks to fit between them. Instead, the strings are arranged in pairs, and the jacks
are in the larger gaps between the pairs. The two jacks in each gap face in opposite directions, and each plucks a
string adjacent to a gap.
The English diarist Samuel Pepys mentions his "tryangle" several times. This was not the percussion instrument
that we call triangle today; rather, it was a name for octave-pitched spinets, which were triangular in shape.

Clavicytherium
A clavicytherium is a harpsichord with the soundboard and strings mounted vertically facing the player, the
same space-saving principle as an upright piano.[7] In a clavicytherium, the jacks move horizontally without the
assistance of gravity, so that clavicytherium actions are more complex than those of other harpsichords.

Clavicymbalum
An early relative of the harpsichord, first attested in 1323, with an unusual
jack system, and lacking any method to dampen a string once sounded.

Ottavino
Ottavini are small spinets or virginals at four foot pitch. Harpsichords at
octave pitch were more common in the early Renaissance, but lessened in
popularity later on. However, the ottavino remained very popular as a
domestic instrument in Italy until the 19th century. In the Low Countries, an
ottavino was commonly paired with an 8' virginals, encased in a small cubby
under the soundboard of the larger instrument. The ottavino could be
removed and placed on top of the virginal, making in effect a double manual
instrument. These are sometimes called 'mother-and-child'[8] or 'double' virginals.[9]
An ottavino built by Arnold
Dolmetsch in 1923, and modeled
after a 1698 instrument by
Joannes Carcassi

Other
The archicembalo, built in the 16th century, had an unusual keyboard layout, designed to accommodate variant
tuning systems demanded by compositional practice and theoretical experimentation. More common were
instruments with split sharps, also designed to accommodate the tuning systems of the time.
The folding harpsichord was an instrument that could be folded up for travel.
Pedal Harpsichord: Occasionally, harpsichords were built which included another set or sets of strings
underneath and operated by pedals which pluck the lowest keys of the harpsichord. Although there are no known
extant pedal harpsichords from the 18th century or before, from Adlung (1758): the lower set of usually 8'
strings "...is built like an ordinary harpsichord, but with an extent of two octaves only. The jacks are similar, but
they will benefit from being arranged back to back, since the two [bass] octaves take as much space as four in an
ordinary harpsichord[10] Prior to 1980 when Keith Hill introduced his design for a pedal harpsichord, most pedal
harpsichords were built based on the designs of extant pedal pianos from the 19th century, in which the
instrument is as wide as the pedalboard. While these were mostly intended as practice instruments for organists,
a few pieces are believed to have been written specifically for the pedal harpsichord. However, the set of pedals
can augment the sound from any piece performed on the instrument, as demonstrated on several albums by E.
Power Biggs.[11]

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Compass and pitch range

On the whole, earlier harpsichords have smaller ranges than later ones, although there are many exceptions. The
largest harpsichords have a range of just over five octaves, and the smallest have under four. Usually, the shortest
keyboards were given extended range in the bass with a "short octave". The traditional pitch range for a 5-octave
instrument is F1F6 (FFf3).
Tuning pitch is often taken to be a = 415 Hz, roughly a semitone lower than the modern standard concert pitch of
a = 440 Hz. An accepted exception is for French baroque repertoire, which is often performed with a = 392 Hz,
approximately a semitone lower again. See Jean-Philippe Rameau's Treatise on Harmony (1722) [Dover
Publications], Book One, chapter five, for insight into French baroque tuning; "Since most of these semitones
are absolutely necessary in the tuning of organs and other similar instruments, the following chromatic system
has been drawn up." Tuning an instrument nowadays usually starts with setting an A; historically it would
commence from a C or an F.
Some modern instruments are built with keyboards that can shift sideways, allowing the player to align the
mechanism with strings at either a = 415 Hz or a = 440 Hz. If a tuning other than equal temperament is used, the
instrument requires retuning once the keyboard is shifted.[12]

History
The harpsichord was most probably
invented in the late Middle Ages. By
the 16th century, harpsichord makers
in Italy were making lightweight
instruments with low string tension.
A different approach was taken in the
Southern Netherlands starting in the
late 16th century, notably by the
Ruckers family. Their harpsichords
used a heavier construction and
produced a more powerful and
distinctive tone. They included the
first harpsichords with two
keyboards, used for transposition.

Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude

in C major, BWV 846
Performed by Robert Schrter on
a French harpsichord
Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in D
minor K. 9, Allegretto
Performed by Martha Goldstein
on an Italian harpsichord
Johann Sebastian Bach English
Suite No. 1 in A major, BWV 806
prelude
Performed by Martha Goldstein

on a Flemish harpsichord
The Flemish instruments served as
An early diagram of a
the model for 18th century
vertical harpsichord
Adriano Banchieri The Battle
harpsichord construction in other
(clavicytherium) by
nations. In France, the double
Arnault de Zwolle, ca.
keyboards were adapted to control
Performed by Sylvia Kind on a
1430
different choirs of strings, making a
harpsichord of the type made in
the early 20th century
more musically flexible instrument.
Instruments from the peak of the French tradition, by makers such
Problems playing these files? See media
as the Blanchet family and Pascal Taskin, are among the most
help.
widely admired of all harpsichords, and are frequently used as
models for the construction of modern instruments. In England,
the Kirkman and Shudi firms produced sophisticated harpsichords of great power and sonority. German builders
extended the sound repertoire of the instrument by adding sixteen foot and two foot choirs; these instruments

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have recently served as models for modern builders.

In the late 18th century the harpsichord was supplanted by the piano and almost disappeared from view for most
of the 19th century: an exception was its continued use in opera for accompanying recitative, but the piano
sometimes displaced it even there. Twentieth century efforts to revive the harpsichord began with instruments
that used piano technology, with heavy strings and metal frames. Starting in the middle of the 20th century, ideas
about harpsichord making underwent a major change, when builders such as Frank Hubbard, William Dowd, and
Martin Skowroneck sought to re-establish the building traditions of the Baroque period. Harpsichords of this
type of historically informed building practice dominate the current scene.

Music
Historical period
The great bulk of the standard repertoire for the harpsichord was written
during its first historical flowering, the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
The first music written specifically for solo harpsichord was published
around the early 16th century. Composers who wrote solo harpsichord music
were numerous during the whole Baroque era in European countries
including Italy, Germany, England and France. Solo harpsichord
compositions included dance suites, fantasias, and fugues. Among the most
famous composers who wrote for the harpsichord were the members of
Bach's Little Prelude in C major
English virginal school of the late Renaissance, notably William Byrd (ca.
being played on a harpsichord
1540 1623). In France, a great number of highly characteristic solo works
were created and compiled into four books of ordres by Franois Couperin
(16681733). Domenico Scarlatti (16851757) began his career in Italy but wrote most of his solo harpsichord
works in Spain; his most famous work is his series of 555 harpsichord sonatas. Perhaps the most celebrated
composer who wrote for the harpsichord was J. S. Bach (16851750), whose solo works (for instance, the
Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations), continue to be performed very widely, often on the piano.
Bach was also a pioneer of the harpsichord concerto, both in works designated as such, and in the harpsichord
part of his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto.
Two of the most prominent composers of the Classical era, Joseph Haydn (17321809) and Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (17561791), wrote harpsichord music. For both, the instrument featured in the earlier period of their
careers and was abandoned once they had shifted their efforts to the piano.

Music written for the revived instrument

Through the 19th century, the harpsichord was almost completely supplanted by the piano. In the 20th century,
composers returned to the instrument, as they sought out variation in the sounds available to them. Under the
influence of Arnold Dolmetsch, the harpsichordists Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (18721951) and in France,
Wanda Landowska (18791959), were at the forefront of the instrument's renaissance. Concertos for the
instrument were written by Francis Poulenc (the Concert champtre, 192728), and Manuel de Falla. Elliott
Carter's Double Concerto is scored for harpsichord, piano and two chamber orchestras. For a detailed account of
music composed for the revived harpsichord, see Contemporary harpsichord.

See also

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Clavichord
Piano

Notes
1. Kottick (1987, 19)
2. In virtually all instances, "more than one" means two. For the one known three-manual instrument, see Hieronymus
Albrecht Hass. For forged three-manual instruments, see Leopoldo Franciolini.
3. Find full details in Hubbard 1967, p.133 ff., Russell 1973, p.65 ff. and Kottick 2003.
4. Hubbard 1967, 19
5. Hubbard 1967, 20
6. Hubbard 1967, various locations
7. Dearling 1996, 138
8. Kottick (2003, 61)
9. Marchand, Leslie Alexis (1973). Byron's letters and journals: 18161817 : 'So late into the night'. Harvard: Harvard
University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-674-08945-7. "Model IX is the famous double virginal. An ottavino of model VIII
is inserted into the case of the virginal like a drawer slipping into a bureau."
10. "Pedal Harpsichords". Harpsichord.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
11. "Bach on the Pedal Harpsichord by E. Power Biggs at". Jsbach.org. 20 May 1995. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
12. "The Transposing Keyboard". Hubharp.com. Retrieved 22 May 2013.

References
Boalch, Donald H. (1995) Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord, 14401840, 3rd ed., with updates by
Andreas H. Roth and Charles Mould, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-318429-X. A catalogue,
originating with work by Boalch in the 1950s, of all extant historical instruments.
Dearling, Robert (ed.) (1996) The ultimate encyclopedia of musical instruments, London : Carlton, ISBN
1-85868-185-5
Hubbard, Frank (1967) Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making, 2nd ed., Harvard University Press, ISBN
0-674-88845-6. An authoritative survey by a leading builder of how early harpsichords were built and how
the harpsichord evolved over time in different national traditions.
Kottick, Edward (1987)The Harpsichord Owner's Guide. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Kottick, Edward (2003) A History of the Harpsichord, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-34166-3. An
extensive survey by a leading contemporary scholar.
The New Grove: Early Keyboard Instruments. Macmillan, 1989 ISBN 0-393-02554-3. (material from here
is also available online in Grove Music Online)
O'Brien, Grant (1990) Ruckers, a harpsichord and virginal building tradition, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN 0-521-36565-1. Covers the innovations of the Ruckers family, the founders of the Flemish tradition.
Russell, Raymond (1973)The Harpsichord and Clavichord: an introductory study, 2nd ed., London : Faber
and Faber, ISBN 0-571-04795-5
Skowroneck, Martin (2003) Cembalobau: Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse aus der Werkstattpraxis =
Harpsichord construction: a craftsman's workshop experience and insight, Fachbuchreihe Das
Musikinstrument 83, Bergkirchen : Bochinsky, ISBN 3-932275-58-6. A study (written in English and
German) of harpsichord building by a leading figure in the modern revival of historically authentic
methods of building.
Zuckermann, Wolfgang (1969) The Modern Harpsichord: twentieth century instruments and their makers,
New York : October House, ISBN 0-8079-0165-2

External links

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Instruments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord

Wikimedia Commons
has media related to
Harpsichords.

"Queen Elizabeth's Virginal". Furniture. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2007.
A few historic harpsichords from the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Double virginal by Hans Ruckers, Antwerp, 1581 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090808194517
/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renk/ho_29.90.htm)
Harpsichord by Girolamo Zenti, Rome, 1666 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090219223051/http:
//metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cris/ho_89.4.1220.htm)
Harpsichord by Jan Couchet, Antwerp, 1650 (https://web.archive.org/web/20081025034734/http:
//www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/09/euwl/ho_89.4.2363.htm)
Octave virginal, Augsburg, ca. 1600 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090211072626/http:
//www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renk/ho_89.4.1778.htm)
Spinetta or Virginal, Venice, ca. 1540 (https://web.archive.org/web/20081011231812/http:
//www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/renk/ho_53.6ab.htm)
Golden Harpsichord by Michele Todini, Rome, ca. 1675 (https://web.archive.org
/web/20090208013121/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/baro/ho_89.4.2929.htm)
Harpsichord, Italy, late 17th century (http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database
/musical_instruments/harpsichord/objectview.aspx?page=1&sort=0&sortdir=asc&
keyword=harpsichord&fp=1&dd1=18&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=18&OID=180015401&vT=1)
Harpsichord by Pleyel et Cie, Paris, 1928 (http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art
/collection_database/musical_instruments/harpsichord_pleyel_et_cie/objectview.aspx?page=1&
sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=harpsichord&fp=1&dd1=18&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=18&
OID=180015607&vT=1)
Three historic harpsichords from the Hans Adler Memorial collection at Witwatersrand University
The Wanda Landowska 16th Century sculptured harpsichord (http://hansadlercollection.blogspot.ca
/2010/11/harpsichord-wanda-landowska.html)
Ferdinand Weber Harpsichord, 1752 (http://hansadlercollection.blogspot.ca/2010/11/ferdinandweber-harpsichord.html)
Italian two manual harpsichord, 1750 (http://hansadlercollection.blogspot.ca/2010/11/two-manualitalian-harpsichord.html)
History
Italian Harpsichord-Building in the 16th and 17th Centuries (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/27149) by
Shortridge
Listen
Hear the sound of various harpsichords (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/hpsi.html)
Sala del Cembalo, free harpsichord sound files (http://www.saladelcembalo.org/archivio.php)
[1] (http://www.harpsichord.org/videos/16-jean-phillipe-rameau/48-les-cyclopes.html) Les Cyclopes, 3:57
min. Composed by Jean-Phillipe Rameau and performed here by Elaine Comparone.
Images
HarpsichordPhoto, photographs of early stringed keyboard instruments (http://HarpsichordPhoto.org/)
Organisations
British Harpsichord Society (http://www.harpsichord.org.uk/)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord

Craftsman insights
Interview with harpsichord builder Jack Peters (http://www.learningmusician.com/features
/1106/JackPeters/)
Interview with harpsichord builder Craig Tomlinson (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia
/vancouver-early-music-concert-to-feature-harpsichords-built-in-west-vancouver-1.3167971/)
Music
Scores featuring the harpsichord: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Procembalo (http://www.procembalo.org/) free catalog of contemporary harpsichord music
Video - Marin Marais - La Sonnerie/cembalo - Complete (09:58). (http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=CzhsbdoRfr0)
Technical
About Harpsichords (http://www.pyirvin.com/about_harpsichords.htm#Top). Harpsichord builder Paul Y.
Irvin treats the question of necessary and sufficient compass, and other instrument technicalities, in this
section of his informative site.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harpsichord&oldid=739915573"
Categories: Harpsichord Keyboard instruments Early musical instruments Baroque instruments
C instruments
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10/4/2016 6:29 PM