Action strings manual
Twentieth-century efforts to revive the harpsichord began with instruments that used piano technology, with heavy strings and metal frames. By 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. The piano also allows variation in volume, which the harpsichord did not. The piano is capable of a quieter sound, which is why it has the name it has. The piano uses percussion, the strings being struck with muffled wooden hammers instead of being plucked. German builders extended the sound repertoire of the instrument by adding sixteen-foot and two-foot choirs these instruments have recently served as models for modern builders.Īround the year 1700 the first piano was built. In England, the Kirkman and Shudi firms produced sophisticated harpsichords of great power and sonority. Instruments from the peak of the French tradition, by makers such as the Blanchet family and Pascal Taskin, are among the most widely admired of all harpsichords, and are frequently used as models for the construction of modern instruments. In France, the double keyboards were adapted to control different choirs of strings, making a more musically flexible instrument. The Flemish instruments served as the model for 18th-century harpsichord construction in other nations. They included the first harpsichords with two keyboards, used for transposition. Their harpsichords used a heavier construction and produced a more powerful and distinctive tone. A different approach was taken in the Southern Netherlands starting in the late 16th century, notably by the Ruckers family. By the 16th century, harpsichord makers in Italy were making lightweight instruments with low string tension. The harpsichord was most likely invented in the late Middle Ages. Problems playing these files? See media help. Performed by Sylvia Kind on a harpsichord of the type made in the early 20th century In the 20th century, it made a resurgence, being used in historically informed performances of older music, in new compositions, and, in rare cases, in certain styles of popular music (e.g., Baroque pop). During the late 18th century, with the development of the fortepiano (and then the increasing use of the piano in the 19th century) the harpsichord gradually disappeared from the musical scene (except in opera, where it continued to be used to accompany recitative). The basso continuo part acted as the foundation for many musical pieces in this era. During the Baroque era, the harpsichord was a standard part of the continuo group. The harpsichord was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque music, both as an accompaniment instrument and as a soloing instrument. The term denotes the whole family of similar plucked-keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, muselar, and spinet. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute. Harpsichords may also have stop buttons which add or remove additional octaves.
Like a pipe organ, a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard manual, and even a pedal board. The strings are under tension on a soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic. 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).Ī harpsichord ( Italian: clavicembalo, French: clavecin, German: Cembalo, Spanish: clavecín, Portuguese: cravo, Dutch: klavecimbel) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard.