The History of the Harpsichord

1. The History of the Harpsichord

2. The 15th Century: • What we know today as a harpsichord seems to have evolved in the early 1400s in Flanders • The earliest surviving representation is an altar carving from Germany ca.1425. • The second is from England: a beautiful stained glass window attributed to John Prudd c1440 in the Beauchamp chapel of St.Mary's Church, Warwick England … it clearly shows its Flemish influence in the case decoration.

3. By the 16th century: • Italian makers dominated the harpsichord development. • The Italian case is light and the stress of the strings supported by internal knees. • The keyboard range has doubled from the earlier northern instruments. And, the harpsichord has taken the musical world by storm.

4. Here is an Italian Harpsichord: • This model is from the 16th century

5. Here is my mom playing Harpsichord:

6. The 17th Century:

7. The 17th Century: • During this century, the harpsichord range was increased. • Most early instruments cover less than 4 octaves, this was gradually expanded to 5 octaves. • Often this was done by retuning the bass octave to omit sharp notes, thus reaching deeper notes with no change to the instrument. • Instrumental range (1677) has been extended by splitting the lowest two sharp keys and squeezing two new sets of strings into an existing design.

8. 18th Century:

9. 18th Century: • The number of strings increased, large instruments often having three choirs per note. • The choirs were now designed to be easily selected by the player in various combinations for different sound effects. • The essential mechanical layout and sound of the Flemish instruments of the mid-1500s were retained in northern instruments during the 1700s. • This was the instrument for which the Couperins, J.S.Bach, Handel, Haydn, and the other great northern composers wrote.

10. 19th Century:

11. 19th Century: • Essentially, use of the harpsichord ceased by 1800. The precision and clarity of the baroque had been replaced by mush and bombast.

12. 19th-20th Century: • Several German firms experimented with plucked pianos late in the 1800's. • By 1900, a young Polish pianist, Wanda Landowska, had figured out how to make good music with them • 1912, the French firm of Pleyel brought out a model designed for her. • Ralph Kirkpatrick and others used similar instruments to join her in developing a wholly new sound that blended piano and organ techniques of the time.

13. 19th-20th Century: • A French violinist, Arnold Dolmetsch, made a number of instruments at several workshops based on English harpsichords of the late 1700s, but without their sonority - they attracted few admirers. • Some of the surviving large harpsichords were modified by replacing a set of strings by strings an octave below normal pitch - at least one such modified instrument was attributed to J.S.Bach.

14. Harpsichord Facts: • They have been made in varying shapes, sizes and sounds over the years dating back to the 14th century. • Some of the strings were plucked with a quill • Some with metal plectra • At least one harpsichord was designed to strike the strings with a metal staple in the manner of the dulcimer.

15. Here are some songs played on the Harpsichord: • This is a simple sound clip in a major key signature and played with a midi harpsichord  

16. Do you recognize this melody?

17. Three major Harpsichord Composers: • J.S. Bach • Domenico Scarlatti • Francois Couperin

18. J.S. Bach from Germany(1685-1750)

19. Domenico Scarlatti from Italy(1685-1750)

20. Francois Couperin from France(1668-1733)

21. Sources pulled from the internet are available upon request. The end!