Would you choose a used harpsichord or buy new, and would you visit an established sales room or visit a website seeking a better price. When a used John Morley crafted in 1979 can cost you $11,000 it maybe worth shopping around. A great place to visit online is Claviers Baroques who sell, service and build historical keyboard instruments. They can also rent you one, repair and restore as well as tune and arrange transportation. Just go to http://www.claviersbaroques.com/ and you can sample at your computer keyboard.
Some of the best composers who ever lived favored writing for the harpsichord. Johann Sebastian Bach is probably the most celebrated and well known composer to write for the instrument.
Bach was a German composer who lived from March 31st, 1685 to July 28th, 1750. Bach’s father was the director of the local town musicians. The man taught Bach to play harpsichord and violin from a very early age. By the time he was ten, both his parents had died. In 1694, Bach moved in with his brother, Christoph, 14 years his senior. Christoph was also a musician. He played the organ at St. Michael’s Church in Ohdruf, Germany. Under Christoph, Bach was exposed to a few new styles and composers. His brother taught him new instruments and Bach grew in talent and skill.
Bach really grew musically when he turned 14 and moved to Lüneburg to attend St. Michael’s School. There he was exposed to a wide array of musical style, culture, and theory that he would have never been had he stayed with his brother. Eventually he took these skills to help him become one of the best known organists in Europe. By the end of his career however, Bach’s compositions had not risen to fame they no enjoy today. It wasn’t until after his death, in the early part of the 19th century that his works were recognized as being some of the best of his era. His works and musical contributions brought the Baroque movement into maturity during the 18th century.
Bach’s pieces and compositions pioneered the harpsichord concerto. His most notable Harpsichord arrangements include the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and the Harpsichord part of his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. The Well-Tempered Clavier is actually regarded by many historians as one of the most influential musical works in all of Western Culture.
Anyone who knows anything about Harpsichords will know that Igor Kipnis was the best Harpsichordist of our time. Though he passed away nearly ten years ago, his legacy as the best modern Harpsichord player lives on.
Igor came from Russian ancestry but was born in Germany in 1930. Eight years later his family emigrated to the U.S., where Igor grew up learning music and eventually received his Bachelor’s from Harvard. He went on to study the harpsichord under Fernando Valenti and eventually made his concert debut in New York in 1959. His performance was well received enough to earn him several solo performances in every continent other than Asia. He was a soloist for established musical organizations like the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and the Sinfonia of Sydney.
The pieces he performed were not strictly the harpsichord movements you’d recognize from the 16th to 18th century. Igor also transposed several contemporary jazz pieces for the instrument, making him well known for his ability to entertain a crowd for hours with his music. His last concert was a solo piano concert in San Francisco back in October of 2001. Sadly, he died a few months later of renal cancer. But even in death, we can still here Igor Kipnis’ amazing performances. During his long and successful career he recorded over 106 albums, 93 of which were solo. 9 went on to earn Grammy Nominations.
I am a dedicated harpsichord enthusiast. It’s the most soothing instrument I know of. I get sad when some people just think it’s an outdated Piano when really it is more complicated than that. The main difference between the Piano and Harpsichord is the way the strings are played. Pianos rely on a system of hammers that pound the strings. These little mallets can hit their strings hard or soft depending on how hard the player hits the key. A harpsichord’s strings are played with little picks rather than hammers. Unfortunately, the system of plucking makes it almost impossible to control dynamics. Music for harpsichords must be written to sound natural being played at the same volume for the entire piece. But even with this lack of dynamics, the harpsichord can be very relaxing and peaceful.
Harpsichords came into popularity during the Renaissance. Their invention represented a breakthrough in technology and gave new generations of musicians a new tool to bring beauty into our world. They remained widely used through the 16th century and into the Baroque era. However, in the late 1700′s they started to lose popularity as the piano rose to widespread use. By the 1800′s, the harpsichord was almost fazed out completely. But during the 20th century, Harpsichords experienced a revival in the musical world. Several composers saw the beauty of the instrument and began writing again for it and including it in their arrangements. Thanks to them, the Harpsichord has not disappeared from the consciousness of pop culture. We hope it never does.