Modern harpsichord. Harpsichord: history, video, interesting facts, listen. Different types of keyboard string instruments

The Parisian companies Pleyel and Erard also started producing harpsichords. On the initiative of Wanda Landowska, in 1912 the Pleyel factory began producing a model of a large concert harpsichord with a powerful metal frame carrying thick, tightly stretched strings. The instrument was equipped with a piano keyboard and a whole set of piano pedals. Thus began the era of a new harpsichord aesthetics. In the second half of the 20th century, the fashion for “piano” harpsichords passed away. Boston craftsmen Frank Hubbard and William Dowd were the first to make copies of antique harpsichords.

Device

Initially, the harpsichord had a quadrangular shape, but in the 17th century it acquired a wing-shaped, oblong triangular shape; metal strings began to be used instead of gut strings. Its strings are arranged horizontally, parallel to the keys, usually in the form of several choirs, with groups of strings of different manuals located at different height levels. Externally, harpsichords were usually elegantly finished: the body was decorated with drawings, inlays and carvings. During the era of Louis XV, the decoration of the harpsichord was consistent with the stylish furniture of the time. In the 16th-17th centuries, the harpsichords of the Antwerp masters Rukkers stood out for their sound quality and artistic design.

Registers

The sound of the harpsichord is brilliant, but not very melodious, jerky, and not amenable to dynamic changes, that is, a smooth increase and decrease in volume on the harpsichord is impossible. To change the strength and timbre of the sound, the harpsichord can have more than one register, which are activated by manual switches and levers located on the sides of the keyboard. Foot and knee register switches appeared in the late 1750s.

The harpsichord, depending on the model, may have the following registers:

• 8ft (8`)- register that sounds according to musical notation;
• lute- register of characteristic nasal timbre, reminiscent of pizzicato on bowed instruments; usually does not have its own row of strings, but is formed from an ordinary 8-foot register, the strings of which, when the lever is switched, are muted by pieces of leather or felt using a special mechanism;
• 4ft (4`)- register sounding one octave higher;
• 16ft (16`)- a register sounding one octave lower.

Manuals and their range

In the 15th century, the range of the harpsichord was 3 octaves, with some chromatic notes missing in the lower octave. In the 16th century, the range expanded to 4 octaves (from C major octave to C 3rd: C - C'''), in the 18th century - to 5 octaves (from F counter octave to F 3rd: F' - F ''').

In the 17th-18th centuries, to give the harpsichord a dynamically more diverse sound, instruments were made with 2 (sometimes 3) manuals (keyboards), which were located terrace-like, one above the other, as well as with register switches for octave doubling and changing timbre color.

A typical 18th-century German or Dutch harpsichord has two manuals (keyboards), two sets of 8' strings and one set of 4' strings (sounding an octave higher), which, thanks to the available register switches, can be used separately or together, as well as a manual copulation mechanism ( copula), allowing you to use the registers of the second manual when playing the first.

Pusher

Figure 1 shows the function of the pusher (or jumper), the numbers indicate: 1 - limiter, 2 - felt, 3 - damper, 4 - string, 5 - plectrum (tongue), 6 - splint, 7 - axis, 8 - spring, 9 - pusher, 10 - deflection of the langet with plectrum.

• A- initial position, damper on the string.
• B- pressing the key: lifting the pusher, the damper releases the string, the plectrum approaches the string.
• C- the plectrum plucks the string, the string sounds, the height of the pusher jumping out is controlled by a limiter covered with felt underneath.
• D- the key is released, the pusher lowers, while the yoke is deflected to the side (10), allowing the plectrum to slide off the string almost silently, then the damper dampens the vibration of the string, and the yoke returns to its original state using a spring.

Figure 2 shows the structure of the upper part of the pusher: 1 - string, 2 - languette axis, 3 - languette (from the French languette), 4 - plectrum, 5 - damper.

The pushers are installed on the end of each key of the harpsichord; this is a separate device that is removed from the harpsichord for repair or adjustment. In the longitudinal cutout of the pusher, a languette (from the French languette) is attached to the axis, in which a plectrum is fixed - a tongue made of crow feather, bone or plastic (Delrin duraline plectrum - on many modern instruments), round or flat. In addition to one plectrum, double brass plectrums were also made, which were located one above the other. Two pluckings in a row were not perceptible to the ear, but the prickly attack characteristic of the harpsichord, that is, the sharp beginning of the sound, was made softer by such a device. Just above the tongue there is a damper made of felt or soft leather. When you press a key, the pusher is pushed up and the plectrum plucks the string. If the key is released, the release mechanism allows the plectrum to return to its original position without plucking the string again, and the vibration of the string is damped by the damper.

Varieties

• spinet- with strings diagonally from left to right;
• virginal- rectangular in shape, with a manual to the left of the center and strings located perpendicular to the keys;
• muselar- rectangular in shape, with a manual to the right of the center and strings located perpendicular to the keys;
• clavicytherium- a harpsichord with a vertically positioned body.

Imitations

On the Soviet piano Red October "Sonnet" there is a primitive imitation of a harpsichord by lowering the moderator with metal reeds. The Soviet Accord piano has the same property due to the fact that when you press the additional built-in third (central) pedal, the fabric with metal reeds sewn to it is lowered, which gives a sound similar to a harpsichord.

Composers

The founder of the French harpsichord school is considered to be J. Chambonnière, and the creator of the virtuoso harpsichord style is the Italian composer and harpsichordist D. Scarlatti. Among the French harpsichordists of the late XVII-XVIII centuries. stood out

CLAVISIN [French] clavecin, from Late Lat. clavicymbalum, from lat. clavis - key (hence the key) and cymbalum - cymbals] - a plucked keyboard musical instrument. Known since the 16th century. (began to be constructed back in the 14th century), the first information about the harpsichord dates back to 1511; The oldest surviving instrument made in Italy dates back to 1521.

The harpsichord originated from the psalterium (as a result of the reconstruction and addition of a keyboard mechanism).

Initially, the harpsichord was quadrangular in shape and resembled a “free” clavichord in appearance, in contrast to which it had strings of different lengths (each key corresponded to a special string tuned to a certain tone) and a more complex keyboard mechanism. The strings of the harpsichord were set into vibration by plucking with the help of a bird's feather mounted on a rod - a pusher. When the key was pressed, the pusher located at its rear end rose and the feather hooked onto the string (later, instead of a bird's feather, a leather plectrum was used).

The structure of the upper part of the pusher: 1 - string, 2 - axis of the releasing mechanism, 3 - languette (from the French languette), 4 - plectrum (tongue), 5 - damper.

The sound of the harpsichord is brilliant, but unsung (short) - which means it is not amenable to dynamic changes (it is louder, but less expressive than that), the change in the strength and timbre of the sound does not depend on the nature of the strike on the keys. In order to enhance the sonority of the harpsichord, doubled, tripled and even quadrupled strings were used (for each tone), which were tuned in unison, octave, and sometimes other intervals.

Evolution

Since the beginning of the 17th century, instead of gut strings, metal strings were used, increasing in length (from treble to bass). The instrument acquired a triangular wing-shaped shape with a longitudinal (parallel to the keys) arrangement of strings.

In the 17th-18th centuries. To give the harpsichord a dynamically more varied sound, instruments were made with 2 (sometimes 3) manual keyboards (manuals), which were arranged in a terrace-like manner, one above the other (usually the upper manual was tuned an octave higher), as well as with register switches for expanding trebles, octave doubling of basses and changes in timbre coloring (lute register, bassoon register, etc.).

The registers were operated by levers located on the sides of the keyboard, or by buttons located under the keyboard, or by pedals. On some harpsichords, for greater timbre variety, a 3rd keyboard was arranged with some characteristic timbre coloring, often reminiscent of a lute (the so-called lute keyboard).

Appearance

Externally, harpsichords were usually decorated very elegantly (the body was decorated with drawings, inlays, and carvings). The finish of the instrument was consistent with the stylish furniture of the Louis XV era. In the 16th-17th centuries. The harpsichords of the Antwerp masters Rukkers stood out for their sound quality and artistic design.

Harpsichord in different countries

The name “harpsichord” (in France; harpsichord - in England, keelflugel - in Germany, clavichembalo or abbreviated cymbal - in Italy) was retained for large wing-shaped instruments with a range of up to 5 octaves. There were also smaller instruments, usually rectangular in shape, with single strings and a range of up to 4 octaves, called: epinet (in France), spinet (in Italy), virginel (in England).

Harpsichord with a vertical body - . The harpsichord was used as a solo, chamber ensemble and orchestral instrument.

The creator of the virtuoso harpsichord style was the Italian composer and harpsichordist D. Scarlatti (he owns numerous works for the harpsichord); the founder of the French school of harpsichordists is J. Chambonnière (his “Harpsichord Pieces”, 2 books, 1670 were popular).

Among the French harpsichordists of the late 17th and 18th centuries. - , J.F. Rameau, L. Daquin, F. Daidrieu. French harpsichord music is an art of refined taste, refined manners, rationalistically clear, subordinate to aristocratic etiquette. The delicate and cold sound of the harpsichord harmonized with the “good tone” of the elite society.

The gallant style (rococo) found its vivid embodiment among the French harpsichordists. The favorite themes of harpsichord miniatures (miniature is a characteristic form of Rococo art) were female images (“Captivating”, “Flirty”, “Gloomy”, “Shy”, “Sister Monica”, “Florentine” by Couperin), gallant dances (minuet) occupied a large place , gavotte, etc.), idyllic pictures of peasant life (“Reapers”, “Grape Pickers” by Couperin), onomatopoeic miniatures (“Chicken”, “Clock”, “Cheeping” by Couperin, “Cuckoo” by Daquin, etc.). A typical feature of harpsichord music is an abundance of melodic embellishments.

By the end of the 18th century. works by French harpsichordists began to disappear from the repertoire of performers. As a result, the instrument, which had such a long history and such a rich artistic heritage, was forced out of musical practice and replaced by the piano. And not just superseded, but completely forgotten in the 19th century.

This occurred as a result of a radical change in aesthetic preferences. Baroque aesthetics, which is based on either a clearly formulated or clearly felt concept of the theory of affects (in brief the essence: one mood, affect - one sound color), for which the harpsichord was an ideal means of expression, gave way first to the worldview of sentimentalism, then to a stronger direction - classicism and, finally, romanticism. In all these styles, the most attractive and cultivated idea was, on the contrary, the idea of ​​changeability - feelings, images, moods. And the piano was able to express this. The harpsichord could not do all this in principle - due to the peculiarities of its design.

Method of sound production. A musician who performs works on the harpsichord and its varieties is called a harpsichordist.

Story

Earliest mention of a harpsichord-type instrument ( clavicembalum, from lat. clavis - key or later key and cymbalum - dulcimer) appears in a 1397 source from Padua (Italy). The earliest image is on the altar of the cathedral in the German city of Minden, dating back to 1425. The first practical description of a harpsichord-like instrument (clavichord with a plucked mechanism) with drawings was given by the Dutchman Arno from Zwolle around 1445.

The harpsichord, depending on the model, may have the following registers:

• 8ft (8`)- register that sounds according to musical notation;
• lute- register of characteristic nasal timbre, reminiscent of pizzicato on bowed instruments; usually does not have its own row of strings, but is formed from an ordinary 8-foot register, the strings of which, when the lever is switched, are muted by pieces of leather or felt using a special mechanism;
• 4ft (4`)- register sounding one octave higher;
• 16ft (16`)- a register sounding one octave lower.

Manuals and their range

In the 15th century, the range of the harpsichord was 3 octaves, with some chromatic notes missing in the lower octave. In the 16th century, the range expanded to 4 octaves (from C major octave to C 3rd: C - C'''), in the 18th century - to 5 octaves (from F counter octave to F 3rd: F' - F ''').

In the 17th-18th centuries, to give the harpsichord a dynamically more diverse sound, instruments were made with 2 (sometimes 3) manuals (keyboards), which were located terrace-like, one above the other, as well as with register switches for octave doubling and changing timbre color.

A typical 18th-century German or Dutch harpsichord has two manuals (keyboards), two sets of 8' strings and one set of 4' strings (sounding an octave higher), which, thanks to the available register switches, can be used separately or together, as well as a manual copulation mechanism ( copula), allowing you to use the registers of the second manual when playing the first.

Pusher

• A- initial position, damper on the string.
• B- pressing the key: lifting the pusher, the damper releases the string, the plectrum approaches the string.
• C- the plectrum plucks the string, the string sounds, the height of the pusher jumping out is controlled by a limiter covered with felt underneath.
• D- the key is released, the pusher lowers, while the yoke is deflected to the side (10), allowing the plectrum to slide off the string almost silently, then the damper dampens the vibration of the string, and the yoke returns to its original state using a spring.

Figure 2 shows the structure of the upper part of the pusher: 1 - string, 2 - languette axis, 3 - languette (from the French languette), 4 - plectrum, 5 - damper.

The pushers are installed on the end of each key of the harpsichord; this is a separate device that is removed from the harpsichord for repair or adjustment. In the longitudinal cutout of the pusher, a languette (from the French languette) is attached to the axis, in which a plectrum is fixed - a tongue made of crow feather, bone or plastic (Delrin duraline plectrum - on many modern instruments), round or flat. In addition to one plectrum, double brass plectrums were also made, which were located one above the other. Two pluckings in a row were not perceptible to the ear, but the prickly attack characteristic of the harpsichord, that is, the sharp beginning of the sound, was made softer by such a device. Just above the tongue there is a damper made of felt or soft leather. When you press a key, the pusher is pushed up and the plectrum plucks the string. If the key is released, the release mechanism allows the plectrum to return to its original position without plucking the string again, and the vibration of the string is damped by the damper.

Varieties

• spinet- with strings diagonally from left to right;
• virginal- rectangular in shape, with a manual to the left of the center and strings located perpendicular to the keys;
• muselar- rectangular in shape, with a manual to the right of the center and strings located perpendicular to the keys;
• clavicytherium(Latin clavicytherium, Italian cembalo verticale) - a harpsichord with a vertical body. Descriptions have been known since the second half of the 15th century; the first known copy of the instrument dates back to 1460-70. (possibly from Ulm), the term clavicytherium - for the first time in the treatise of S. Virdung (1511).

Imitations

On the Soviet piano Red October "Sonnet" there is a primitive imitation of a harpsichord by lowering the moderator with metal reeds. The Soviet Accord piano has the same property due to the fact that when you press the additional built-in third (central) pedal, the fabric with metal reeds sewn to it is lowered, which gives a sound similar to a harpsichord.

A musician who performs musical works both on the harpsichord and on its varieties is called harpsichordist.

Origin

The earliest mention of a harpsichord-type instrument appears in a 1397 source from Padua (Italy), the earliest known image is on an altar in Minden (1425). The harpsichord remained in use as a solo instrument until the end of the 18th century. For a little longer it was used to perform digital bass, to accompany recitatives in operas. Around 1810 it practically fell out of use. The revival of the culture of playing the harpsichord began at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

The harpsichords of the 15th century have not survived. Judging by the images, these were short instruments with a heavy body. Most surviving 16th-century harpsichords were made in Italy, where Venice was the main center of production.

They had an 8` register (less often two registers 8` and 4`) and were distinguished by their grace. Their body was most often made of cypress. The attack on these harpsichords was clearer and the sound more abrupt than that of later Flemish instruments.

The most important center of harpsichord production in Northern Europe was Antwerp, where representatives of the Ruckers family worked since 1579. Their harpsichords have longer strings and heavier bodies than Italian instruments. From the 1590s, harpsichords with two manuals were produced in Antwerp. French, English, and German harpsichords of the 17th century combine features of Flemish and Dutch models.

Some French two-manual harpsichords with walnut bodies have survived. From the 1690s, harpsichords of the same type as Ruckers instruments were produced in France. Among the French harpsichord masters, the Blanchet dynasty stood out. In 1766, Blanchet's workshop was inherited by Taskin.

The most significant English harpsichord manufacturers in the 18th century were the Shudys and the Kirkman family. Their instruments had a plywood-lined oak body and were distinguished by a strong sound with a rich timbre. In 18th-century Germany, the main center of harpsichord production was Hamburg; among those manufactured in this city are instruments with 2` and 16` registers, as well as with 3 manuals. The unusually long harpsichord model was designed by J.D. Dulken, a leading Dutch master of the 18th century.

In the 2nd half of the 18th century, the harpsichord began to be replaced. Around 1809, the Kirkman company produced its last harpsichord. The initiator of the revival of the instrument was A. Dolmech. He built his first harpsichord in 1896 in London and soon opened workshops in Boston, Paris, and Haslemere.

The production of harpsichords was also launched by the Parisian companies Pleyel and Erard. Pleyel began producing a model of a harpsichord with a metal frame carrying thick, taut strings; Wanda Landowska trained a whole generation of harpsichordists on instruments of this type. Boston masters Frank Hubbard and William Dowd were the first to copy antique harpsichords.

Device

It has the shape of an oblong triangle. Its strings are positioned horizontally, parallel to the keys.

At the end of each key there is a pusher (or jumper). At the upper end of the pusher there is a languette in which a plectrum (tongue) made of feather is fixed (on many modern instruments it is made of plastic), just above the plectrum there is a damper made of felt or soft leather. When you press a key, the pusher rises and the plectrum plucks the string. If the key is released, the release mechanism will allow the plectrum to return to its place under the string without plucking the string again. The vibration of the string is damped by a damper.

For registration, i.e. changes the strength and timbre of the sound, using hand and foot switches. Smoothly increasing and decreasing the volume on a harpsichord is impossible. In the 15th century, the range of the harpsichord was 3 octaves (in the lower octave some chromatic notes were missing); in the 16th century it expanded to 4 octaves (C - c«`), in the 18th century to 5 octaves (F` - f«`).

A typical 18th-century German or Dutch harpsichord has 2 manuals (keyboards), 2 sets of 8' strings and one set of 4' strings (sounding an octave higher), which can be used individually or together, as well as a manual copulation mechanism. Foot and knee register switches appeared in the late 1750s. Most instruments have a so-called lute register with a characteristic nasal timbre (to obtain it, the strings are slightly muffled by bumps of leather or felt using a special mechanism).

Composers who composed harpsichord music

Francois Couperin the Great
Louis Couperin
Louis Marchand
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Pachelbel
Dietrich Buxtehude
Girolamo Frescobaldi
Johann Jacob Froberger
George Frideric Handel
William Bird
Henry Purcell
Johann Adam Reinecke
Dominico Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Matthias Weckman
Dominico Zipoli

Video: Harpsichord on video + sound

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HARPSICHORD

Surely at concerts you have noticed a musical instrument similar to a piano, but much smaller in size, with several keyboards and a completely different, ringing metallic sound? The name of this instrument is harpsichord (derives from the French word). In each country it is called differently: in France and Russia it is a harpsichord, in Italy it is a cymbalo (and sometimes a clavicembalo), in England it is a harpsichord. The harpsichord is a keyboard stringed musical instrument in which the sound is produced by plucking.

Sound, timbre:

The sound of the harpsichord is difficult to confuse with any other instrument; it is special, brilliant and abrupt. As soon as you hear this sound, you immediately imagine ancient dances, balls, and noble court ladies in magnificent dresses with unimaginable hairstyles. The main difference between the harpsichord is that its sound cannot smoothly change dynamics, like other instruments. In order to solve this problem, the craftsmen came up with the idea of ​​adding other registers that are activated using manual switches and levers. They are located on the sides of the keyboard. A little later, foot switches also appeared to make playing easier.
Interesting Facts:

• The harpsichord has always been considered an aristocratic instrument that adorned the salons and halls of the richest people in Europe. That is why in the old days it was made from expensive types of wood, the keys were covered with tortoise shell plates, mother of pearl, and sometimes inlaid with precious stones.
• Have you noticed that some harpsichords have black lower keys and white upper keys - everything is exactly the opposite of that of a grand piano or upright piano? Harpsichords with key colors like this were common in France in the 17th century. As historians explain, this decoration of the keyboard was associated with the gallant style that was dominant in art at that time - the snow-white hands of the harpsichordists looked very graceful and prominent on the black keyboard.
• At first, the harpsichord was placed on a table; a little later, the craftsmen added beautiful legs.
• At one time, the conductor had to sit at the harpsichord, and he managed to play with his left hand and direct the musicians with his right.
• Trying to recreate the sound of a harpsichord, some masters resorted to trickery. Thus, in the Red October piano, made in Soviet times, the third pedal lowers a special fabric onto the strings, to which metal reeds are attached. The hammers strike them and a characteristic sound occurs. The Soviet Accord piano has the same design.
• Foot switches on the harpsichord did not appear until 1750.
• At first, the dynamics of sound were changed by doubling and tripling the strings; only in the 17th-18th centuries did they begin to make instruments with 2 or even 3 manuals, located one above the other with different registers. In this case, the upper manual was tuned an octave higher.
• For a long time, the oldest harpsichord that has survived to this day was considered to be the instrument of the Italian master Hieronymus in 1521. However, later they found an older harpsichord, made on September 18, 1515 by Vincentius from Livigimeno.
• Harpsichords of the 16th century were predominantly of Italian origin (Venice) and were made of cypress. French instruments with two keyboards (manuals) were made of walnut.
• Most harpsichords have a lute register, which is characterized by a nasal timbre. In order to achieve such a sound, the strings were muffled with pieces of felt or leather.
• In the Middle Ages, at the court of the Spanish King Philip II there was a so-called “cat harpsichord”. It was a device consisting of a keyboard and a rectangular box with several compartments in which cats were placed. Before this, the animals were listened to by stepping on their tails and ranked according to their voices. Then the tails of the unfortunate cats were secured under the keys, when pressed, a needle was pierced into them. The animal screamed loudly, and the performer continued to play his melody. It is known that Perth I also ordered a “cat harpsichord” for his cabinet of curiosities.
• The famous French harpsichordist F. Couperin has a treatise “The Art of Playing the Harpsichord,” which is still used by musicians in our time.
• It was Couperin who began to actively use the thumb (first finger) when playing the harpsichord; before that, musicians played with only four, and the fifth was not used. This idea was soon picked up by other performers.
• The famous performer Handel, as a child, was forced to practice playing the harpsichord in the attic, since his father was against a career as a musician and dreamed of him receiving a law degree.
• It is interesting that the action of the jumper was described by W. Shakespeare in his 128th sonnet.
• Musicians who played the harpsichord were called claviers, since they also successfully played the organ and clavichord.
• It is noteworthy that the range of the concert harpsichord is ser. 18th century was wider than the piano, which replaced it a little later