"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.
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 189530
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 160070
Critical Edition
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 191140
No.154-213
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 257378
Sonate 274-333
Edizione Critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 191368
Sonate 334-397
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 257379
Edizione critica
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 388953
Dover Piano And Keyboard Editions
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 284761
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 285833
Corpus of Early Keyboard Music 38
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 168308
Vol. I: Le musiche
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Item no.: 764562
(Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 289452
(Facsimile)
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 289454
Analyse und Gestaltung
for: Piano [harpsichord]
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 460328
Collection of First Editions
German Organ and Keyboard Music of the 17th Century, Volume II
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition, anthology)
Item no.: 150804
Johann Jacob Froberger. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 2 (Gesamtausgabe, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe) (Complete edition, Collection, Urtext)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 171612
Manuscrpit from Italian Library (but not in Venice)
Harpsicord or Organ
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 648715
Musica per Tastiera Vol. 1
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 648713
Musica Per Tastiera Vol. 2
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 648714
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 1109804
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 16
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 290331
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 36/1
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Item no.: 290329
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 558208
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 686609
Saggi di contrappunto (S.B.P.K. Landsberg 214)
Regole... per ben accompagnare con il Cembalo (Bc, MS. D 138/2)
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 1652505
Saggi di contrappunto (S.B.P.K. Landsberg 214)
Regole... per ben accompagnare con il Cembalo (Bc, MS. D 138/2)
Tastata – Opere d'intavolatura d'organo e cimbalo
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Music score
Item no.: 773425
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 638563
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 190414
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 616173
Johann und Johann Philipp Krieger. Sämtliche Orgel- und Clavierwerke 1
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 358296
Eine praktische Anleitung fur Pianisten, Organisten und Cembalisten
for: Harpsichord
Music lesson book
Item no.: 615003
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 43
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 168301
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 47/5
Lose Blätter / keine gebundene Ausgabe
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 342207
Johann Jacob Froberger. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 5,1 | BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Gesamtausgabe, Sammelband, Spielpartitur, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 603657
(Roma 1727)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 369821
für Orgel (Cembalo)
SSWV 139-158
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 227077
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 144199
mit SSWV 111 Cantio Belgica Ach du feiner Reuter
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 154677
Collection of First Editions
German Organ and Keyboard Music of the 17th Century, Volume II
Bärenreiter
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition, anthology)
Item no.: 134890
Georg Friedrich Händels Übungen zur Satzlehre
Praxis und Theorie des Partimentospiels 2
Quellenkataloge zur Musikgeschichte 45
for: Harpsichord [organ]
Study book
Item no.: 331865
(Collection, Urtext)
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Ensemble score
Item no.: 165660
Dances, Polish Songs, Untitled, and Unidentified Works
Volume 5
Corpus Of Early Keyboard Music 6
Bound copy temporarily out of stock!
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score
Item no.: 625996
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 638187
for: Harpsichord
Book
Item no.: 999066
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 638243
Klassik
for: Harpsichord
Buch
Item no.: 1194077
Trascrizione dell'autore per 2 clavicembali
for: 2 harpsichords
Music score
Item no.: 648655
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 648611
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