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How is the harpsichord. Harpsichord: history, video, interesting facts, listen

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

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

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

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

The sound of the harpsichord is brilliant, but not melodious (jerky) - which means that it is not amenable to dynamic changes (it is louder, but less expressive than that of), 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, double, triple and even quadruple strings (for each tone) were used, which were tuned in unison, octave, and sometimes other intervals.

Evolution

From the beginning of the 17th century, instead of vein, metal strings, increasing in length (from treble to bass). The instrument acquired a triangular pterygoid shape with a longitudinal (parallel to the keys) arrangement of strings.

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

The registers were actuated 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, more often reminiscent of a lute (the so-called lute keyboard).

Appearance

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

Harpsichord in different countries

The name "harpsichord" (in France; archichord - in England, kilflugel - in Germany, clavichembalo or abbreviated cembalo - in Italy) was preserved 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 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 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-18th centuries. -, J.F. Rameau, L. Daken, F. Daidriyo. French harpsichord music is an art of refined taste, refined manners, rationalistically clear, subordinate to aristocratic etiquette. The delicate and chilly sound of the harpsichord was in harmony with the "good tone" of the chosen 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 (“Capturing”, “Flirty”, “Gloomy”, “Shy”, “Sister Monica”, “Florentine” by Couperin), a large place was occupied by gallant dances (minuet , gavotte, etc.), idyllic pictures peasant life(“The Reapers”, “The Grape Pickers” by Couperin), onomatopoeic miniatures (“The Hen”, “The Clock”, “The Chirping” by Couperin, “The Cuckoo” by Daken, etc.). typical feature harpsichord music- an abundance of melodic ornaments.

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

This happened as a result of a radical change in aesthetic preferences. Baroque aesthetics, which is based either on a clearly formulated or clearly felt concept of the theory of affects (briefly the very 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, on the contrary, the idea of changeability - feelings, images, moods - has become the most attractive and cultivated. And the piano was able to express it. The harpsichord could not do all this in principle - due to the peculiarities of its design.

HARPSICHORD

Surely at concerts you have noticed a musical instrument that looks like a piano, but is much smaller in size, with several keyboards and a completely different ringing metallic sound? The name of this instrument is harpsichord (derived from the French word). In each country it is called differently: in France and Russia it is a harpsichord, in Italy it is a cembalo (and sometimes a clavichembalo), in England it is a harpsichord. The harpsichord is a keyboard stringed musical instrument whose sound is plucked.

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, ancient dances, balls, and noble court ladies in magnificent dresses with unimaginable hairstyles immediately appear. The main difference between the harpsichord is that its sound cannot change smoothly in dynamics, like other instruments. In order to solve this problem, the masters came up with the idea of adding other registers, which are turned on with the help of manual switches and levers. They are located on the sides of the keyboard. A little later, footswitches appeared to make it easier to play.
Interesting Facts:

The harpsichord has always been considered an aristocratic instrument that adorned salons and halls. the richest people Europe. That is why in the old days it was made from expensive types of wood, the keys were covered with plates of tortoise shell, mother of pearl, and sometimes they were inlaid with precious stones.
Have you noticed that some harpsichords have black bottom keys and white top keys - everything is exactly the opposite than that of a grand piano or piano? Harpsichords with this key coloring were common in France in the 17th century. As historians explain, such a keyboard finish was associated with the gallant style prevailing in art at that time - the snow-white hands of harpsichordists looked very elegant and embossed on a black keyboard.
At first, the harpsichord was placed on the 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 lead the musicians with his right.
Trying to recreate the sound of the harpsichord, some masters went to the trick. So, in the piano Red October, made in Soviet time, the third pedal lowers a special fabric onto the strings, to which metal reeds are attached. Hammers strike them and a characteristic sound occurs. The Soviet piano "Accord" has the same design.
Footswitches on the harpsichord did not appear until 1750.
At first, the sound dynamics was changed by doubling and tripling the strings, only in the 17th-18th centuries they began 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 instrument of the Italian master Hieronymus in 1521 was considered the oldest harpsichord that has survived to this day. However, later they found an older harpsichord, made on September 18, 1515 by Vincentius of Livigimeno.
Harpsichords of the 16th century were predominantly of Italian origin (Venice) and were made of cypress. French instruments with two keyboards (manuals) were walnut.
Most harpsichords have a lute register, it is characterized by a nasal timbre. In order to achieve this sound, the strings were muffled with pieces of cloth made 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 where cats were placed. Before that, the animals were tapped, stepping on their tails, and arranged according to their voices. Then the tails of the unfortunate cats were fixed under the keys, when pressed, a needle stuck into them. The animal screamed loudly, and the performer continued to play his melody. It is known that Perth I also commissioned 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 used by musicians in our time.
It was Couperin who began to actively use the thumb (first finger) when playing the harpsichord, before that, the musicians played only four, and the fifth was not involved. 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, as his father was against the career of a musician and dreamed that he would receive a law degree.
Interestingly, the action of the jumper was described by W. Shakespeare in his 128th sonnet.
The musicians who played the harpsichord were called clavierists, since they also successfully owned the organ and clavichord.
It is noteworthy that the range of the concert harpsichord is ser. XVIII century was wider than that of the piano, which supplanted it a little later

Musical Instrument: Harpsichord

Surely at concerts you have noticed a musical instrument that looks like a piano, but is much smaller in size, with several keyboards and a completely different ringing metallic sound? The name of this instrument is the harpsichord. In each country it is called differently: in France and Russia it is a harpsichord, in Italy it is a cembalo (and sometimes a clavichembalo), in England it is a harpsichord. The harpsichord is a keyboard stringed musical instrument whose sound is plucked.

Sound

Photo:

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 plates of tortoise shell, mother of pearl, and sometimes they were inlaid with precious stones.
Have you noticed that some harpsichords have black bottom keys and white top keys - everything is exactly the opposite than that of a grand piano or piano? Harpsichords with this key coloring were common in France in the 17th century. As historians explain, such a keyboard finish was associated with the gallant style prevailing in art at that time - the snow-white hands of harpsichordists looked very elegant and embossed on a black keyboard.
At first, the harpsichord was placed on the 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 lead the musicians with his right.
Trying to recreate the sound of the harpsichord, some masters went to the trick. So, 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. Hammers strike them and a characteristic sound occurs. The Soviet piano "Accord" has the same design.
Footswitches on the harpsichord did not appear until 1750.
At first, the sound dynamics was changed by doubling and tripling the strings, only in the 17th-18th centuries they began 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 instrument of the Italian master Hieronymus in 1521 was considered the oldest harpsichord that has survived to this day. However, later they found an older harpsichord, made on September 18, 1515 by Vincentius of Livigimeno.
Harpsichords of the 16th century were predominantly of Italian origin (Venice) and were made of cypress. French instruments with two keyboards (manuals) were walnut.
Most harpsichords have lute register, it is characterized by a nasal timbre. In order to achieve such a sound, the strings were muffled with pieces of cloth made 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 where cats were placed. Before that, the animals were tapped, stepping on their tails, and arranged according to their voices. Then the tails of the unfortunate cats were fixed under the keys, when pressed, a needle stuck into them. The animal screamed loudly, and the performer continued to play his melody. It is known that Perth I also commissioned 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 used by musicians in our time.
It was Couperin who began to actively use the thumb (first finger) when playing the harpsichord, before that, the musicians played only four, and the fifth was not involved. This idea was soon picked up by other performers.
Famous performer Handel, as a child he was forced to practice playing the harpsichord in the attic, as his father was against a career as a musician and dreamed that his son would receive a law degree.
Interestingly, the action of the jumper was described by W. Shakespeare in his 128th sonnet.
The musicians who played the harpsichord were called clavierists, since they successfully owned more body and clavichord.
It is noteworthy that the range of the concert harpsichord of the middle of the 18th century was wider than that of the piano, which supplanted it a little later.

Artworks

I.S. Bach - Concerto for harpsichord, strings and basso continuo in D major (listen)

M. Corette - Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra in d-minor (listen)

G.F. Handel - Suite for harpsichord No. 4 Sarabande (listen)

Design

Outwardly, the harpsichord looks a bit like a piano. The elongated triangular shape is complemented by beautiful legs, and the strings in it are arranged horizontally, parallel to the keys. Each key is equipped with a pusher, it is sometimes also called a jumper, a tongue is fixed at its upper end. The sound of the harpsichord is extracted with a pinch. When you press a key, elastic tongues made of bird feathers are set in motion; plastic ones have already been used in more modern models. They catch a tight string, and because of this, a characteristic plucking sound occurs.

Origin story

The first information about this instrument is usually attributed to 1511, therefore it is believed that it arose in the 16th century. However, a little later there was new information that in the Italian source of 1397 (“Decameron” by G. Boccacho) there is also information about the instrument. Most ancient image dated 1425 - on the altar in Minden.

The harpsichord owes its origin to the psalterium. The design of this ancient predecessor was changed and a keyboard mechanism was added. The first harpsichords were not very similar to the modern version. They were rectangular in shape and outwardly rather resembled a “free” clavichord, only the strings were of different lengths.

At one time, the harpsichord was very popular and was successfully used in ensembles and orchestras. In the 17th - 18th centuries, the instrument became widespread precisely as a solo instrument. The peculiar timbre of the harpsichord perfectly matched this gallant time. TO early XIX century, the instrument practically went out of use, until the culture of playing it was revived at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Varieties

The name "harpsichord" belongs to keyboard instruments with a range of up to 5 octaves and having a wing-like shape. There are also smaller varieties of the instrument, which come with one set of strings, and their range only reaches 4 octaves. So, among them stand out: the spinet, in which the strings are located diagonally, the muselar is rectangular in shape and the strings are located strictly perpendicular to the keyboard. In addition, virginal also belongs to the varieties.

Video: listen to the harpsichord

I must confess that I am talking about the harpsichord as a deeply personal subject for me. Having performed on it for almost forty years now, I developed a deep attachment to certain authors and played in concerts complete cycles of everything they wrote for this instrument. First of all, this concerns Francois Couperin and Johann Sebastian Bach. This, I hope, will serve as an excuse for my addictions, which, I fear, I will not be able to avoid.

DEVICE

A large family of keyboard-strings is known plucked instruments. They differ in size, shape and sound (colorful) resources. Almost every craftsman who made such instruments in the old days tried to add something of his own to their design.

There is a lot of confusion about what they were called. In the most in general terms instruments are divided according to their shape into longitudinal (reminiscent of a small piano, but with angular shapes - the piano has rounded shapes) and rectangular. Of course, this difference is by no means decorative: with a different arrangement of strings relative to the keyboard, the place on the string in which the pluck, which is characteristic of all these instruments, has a very significant effect on the timbre of the sound.

I. Vermeer of Delft. Woman sitting at the harpsichord
OK. 1673–1675 National Gallery, London

The harpsichord is the largest and most complex instrument of this family.

in Russia since the 18th century. the most widespread French name instrument - harpsichord ( clavecin), but is found, mainly in musical and academic practice, and Italian - cembalo ( cembalo; Italian names are also known clavicembalo, gravicembalo). In musicological literature, especially when it comes to English baroque music, one comes across without translation English name this instrument harpsichord.

In the harpsichord, the main feature of the sound extraction is that the so-called jumper (in other words, the pusher) is installed at the rear end of the key, in the upper part of which a feather is fixed. When a musician presses a key, its back end rises (because the key is a lever) and the jumper goes up, and the feather plucks the string. When the key is released, the feather slips soundlessly thanks to a spring that allows it to deviate slightly.

different types keyboard string instruments

It is noteworthy that the description of the action of the jumper, and unusually accurate, was given by W. Shakespeare in his 128th sonnet. Of the many translation options, the essence of playing the harpsichord is most accurately - in addition to the artistic and poetic side - the translation of Modest Tchaikovsky:

When you, my music, playing,
Set these keys in motion
And, with your fingers so gently caressing them,
Consonance of strings gives rise to admiration,
Then with jealousy I look at the keys,
How they cling to the palms of your hands;
Mouths burning and longing for a kiss
They look enviously at their audacity.
Ah, if fate suddenly turned
Me in a row of these dry dancers!
I'm glad that your hand slid over them, -
Their soullessness is more blessed than living lips.
But if they are happy, then
Let them kiss their fingers, let me kiss their lips.

Of all the types of plucked keyboard-stringed instruments, the harpsichord is the largest and most complex. It is used both as a solo instrument and as an accompaniment. It is indispensable in baroque music as an ensemble. But before talking about the huge repertoire for this instrument, something else needs to be explained in its design.

On the harpsichord, all colors (timbres) and dynamics (that is, the power of sound) were originally laid down in the instrument itself by the creator of each individual harpsichord. In this it is to a certain extent similar to an organ. On the harpsichord, you cannot change the sound by changing the strength of the key. For comparison: on the piano, the whole art of interpretation lies in the richness of the touch, that is, in the variety of ways to press or strike the key.

Diagram of the harpsichord mechanism

Rice. A: 1. Stem; 2. Damper; 3. Jumper (pusher); 4. Register bar; 5. Stag;
6. Frame jumper (pusher); 7. Key

Rice. B. Jumper (pusher): 1. Damper; 2. String; 3. Feather; 4. Tongue; 5. Polster; 6. Spring

Of course, it depends on the sensitivity of the harpsichordist's playing whether the instrument sounds musically or “like a saucepan” (Voltaire roughly put it). But the strength and timbre of the sound do not depend on the harpsichordist, since between the harpsichordist's finger and the string there is a complex transmission mechanism in the form of a jumper and a feather. Again, for comparison: on the piano, hitting the key directly affects the action of the hammer striking the string, while on the harpsichord, the effect on the feather is indirect.

STORY

Early history the harpsichord goes far into the depths of centuries. It is first mentioned in John de Muris' treatise The Mirror of Music (1323). One of the earliest depictions of the harpsichord is in the Weimar Book of Wonders (1440).

For a long time it was believed that the oldest extant instrument was made by Hieronymus of Bologna and dated 1521. It is kept in London, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in Lately found that there is a tool a few years older, also created Italian master- Vincentius of Livigimeno. It was presented to Pope Leo X. Its production began, according to the inscription on the case, on September 18, 1515.

Harpsichord. Weimar Book of Wonders. 1440

In order to avoid the monotony of sound, harpsichord masters, already at an early stage of the development of the instrument, began to supply each key not with one string, but with two, of course, of a different timbre. But it soon became clear that technical reasons More than two sets of strings for one keyboard cannot be used. Then the idea arose to increase the number of keyboards. By the 17th century the most musically rich harpsichords are instruments with two keyboards (in other words, manuals, from lat. manus- "hand").

From a musical point of view, such an instrument is the best means for performing a diverse baroque repertoire. Many of the works of the harpsichord classics were written specifically for the effect of playing on two keyboards, for example, a number of sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. F. Couperin specifically stipulated in the preface to the third collection of his harpsichord pieces that he placed in it the pieces that he calls "Pieces Croises"(plays with crossing [hands]). “Pieces with such a name,” the composer continues, “should be played on two keyboards, one of which should sound muffled by changing registers.” For those who do not have a two-manual harpsichord, Couperin gives recommendations on how to play the instrument with one keyboard. But in a number of cases, the requirement of a two-manual harpsichord is an indispensable condition for a full-fledged artistic performance of a composition. Thus, on the title page of the collection containing the famous "French Overture" and "Italian Concerto", Bach indicated: "for a clavichembalo with two manuals."

From the point of view of the evolution of the harpsichord, two manuals turned out to be not the limit: we know examples of harpsichords with three keyboards, although we do not know works that would categorically require such an instrument for their performance. Rather, these are the technical tricks of individual harpsichord makers.

The harpsichord during its brilliant heyday (XVII-XVIII centuries) was played by musicians who owned all the keyboard instruments that existed at that time, namely the organ and the clavichord (therefore they were called clavier players).

Harpsichords were created not only by harpsichord makers, but also by organ builders. And it was natural to apply in harpsichord construction some fundamental ideas that had already been widely used in the design of organs. In other words, harpsichord makers followed the path of organ builders in expanding the register resources of their instruments. If on the organ it was more and more sets of pipes distributed among the manuals, then on the harpsichord they began to use a larger number of sets of strings, also distributed among the manuals. In volume, these harpsichord registers did not differ much, but in terms of timbre, they were quite significant.

Title page of the first collection of music
for virginal "Parthenia". London. 1611

So, in addition to two sets of strings (one for each keyboard), which sounded in unison and corresponded in height to the sounds recorded in the notes, there could be four-foot and sixteen-foot registers. (Even the designation of the registers was borrowed by harpsichord makers from organ builders: pipes organs are indicated in feet, and the main registers corresponding to musical notation are the so-called eight-foot, while pipes that make sounds an octave higher than notated are called four-foot, an octave below - respectively sixteen-foot. On the harpsichord, in the same measures, the registers formed by the sets strings.)

Thus, the range of sound of a large concert harpsichord of the middle of the XVIII century. was not only not narrower than the pianoforte, but even wider. And this despite the fact that the musical notation of harpsichord music looks narrower in range than piano music.

MUSIC

By the 18th century the harpsichord has amassed an unusually rich repertoire. As an extremely aristocratic instrument, it spread throughout Europe, having its brightest apologists everywhere. But if we talk about the strongest schools of the 16th - early 17th centuries, then we must first of all name the English virginalists.

We will not tell the history of the virginal here, we will only note that this is a type of keyboard-plucked string instruments, similar in sound to the harpsichord. It is noteworthy that in one of the last thorough studies on the history of the harpsichord ( Kottick E. A History of the Harpsichord. Bloomington. 2003), the virginal, as well as the spinet (another variety), are considered in line with the evolution of the harpsichord proper.

Regarding the name of the virginal, it is worth noting that one of the proposed etymologies raises it to English virgin and on to Latin virgo, that is, "virgin", because Elizabeth I, the virgin queen, loved to play the virginal. In fact, the virginal appeared even before Elizabeth. The origin of the term "virginel" is more correct to lead from another Latin word - virga("wand"), which indicates the same jumper.

It is interesting that on the engraving decorating the first printed edition music for the virginal ("Parthenia"), the musician is depicted in the guise of a Christian virgin - St. Caecilia. By the way, the very name of the collection comes from the Greek. parthenos which means "virgin".

To decorate this edition, an engraving from the painting by the Dutch artist Hendrik Goltzius “St. Cecilia". However, the engraver did not specular reflection images on the board, so both the engraving itself and the performer turned out to be turned upside down - her left hand is much more developed than her right, which, of course, could not have been a virginalist of that time. There are thousands of such mistakes in engravings. The eye of a non-musician does not notice this, but the musician immediately sees the engraver's mistake.

Several wonderful pages full of enthusiastic feeling were devoted to the music of the English virginalists by the founder of the harpsichord revival in the 20th century. wonderful Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska: “She poured out from hearts more worthy than ours, and fed folk songs, old English music- ardent or serene, naive or pathetic - sings of nature and love. She exalts life. If she turns to mysticism, then she glorifies God. Unmistakably masterful, it is at the same time spontaneous and daring. It often seems more modern than the latest and greatest. Open your heart to the charm of this music, essentially unknown. Forget that she is old, and do not think that because of this she is deprived of human feeling.

These lines were written at the beginning of the 20th century. Over the past century, a lot has been done to reveal and appreciate in its entirety the invaluable musical heritage of the virginalists. And what are these names! Composers William Bird and John Bull, Martin Pearson and Gil Farnaby, John Munday and Thomas Morley...

There were close contacts between England and the Netherlands (already engraving "Parthenia" testifies to this). The harpsichords and virginels of the Dutch masters, especially the Ruckers dynasty, were well known in England. At the same time, in a strange way, the Netherlands themselves cannot boast of such a bright composing school.

On the continent, the original harpsichord schools were Italian, French and German. We will mention only three of their main representatives - Francois Couperin, Domenico Scarlatti and Johann Sebastian Bach.

One of the clear and obvious signs of an outstanding composer's gift (which is true for any composer of any era) is the development of his own, purely personal, unique style expressions. And in the total mass of countless writers, there will be not so many true creators. These three names certainly belong to the creators. Each of them has their own unique style.

Francois Couperin

Francois Couperin(1668–1733) - true harpsichord poet. He could probably consider himself happy man: all (or almost all) of his harpsichord works, that is, exactly what constitutes his fame and global importance, were published by him and form four volumes. Thus, we have an exhaustive idea of his harpsichord heritage. The author of these lines was lucky to perform full cycle harpsichord works by Couperin in eight concert programs which were presented at a festival of his music held in Moscow under the patronage of Mr. Pierre Morel, Ambassador of France to Russia.

I am sorry that I cannot take my reader by the hand, lead him to the harpsichord and play, for example, Couperin's French Masquerade, or Domino Masks. How much charm and beauty in it! But how much psychological depth as well. Here, each mask is of a certain color and - which is very important - character. Author's remarks explain the images and colors. There are twelve masks (and colors) in total, and they appear in a certain sequence.

I already once had a reason to recall this play by Couperin in connection with the story about the “Black Square” by K. Malevich (see Art, No. 18/2007). The fact is that Couperin's color scheme, starting with white (the first variation, symbolizing Virginity), ends with a black mask (Fury or Despair). So the two creators different eras And various arts created works with a deeply symbolic meaning: for Couperin, this cycle symbolizes periods human life- the ages of a person (twelve by the number of months, each by six years - this is an allegory known in the Baroque era). As a result, Couperin has a black mask, Malevich has a black square. In both, the appearance of black is the result of the action of many forces. Malevich bluntly stated: "I consider white and black derived from color and color schemes." Couperin introduced us to this colorful range.

It is clear that Couperin had marvelous harpsichords at his disposal. This is not surprising - after all, he was the court harpsichordist of Louis XIV. The instruments, with their sound, were able to convey the full depth of the composer's ideas.

Domenico Scarlatti(1685–1757). This composer has a completely different style, but just like Couperin, an unmistakable handwriting is the first and obvious sign of genius. This name is inextricably linked with the harpsichord. Although in his younger years Domenico wrote different music, later he became famous precisely as the author of a huge number (555) harpsichord sonatas. Scarlatti extraordinarily expanded the performance possibilities of the harpsichord, introduced an unprecedented virtuoso scope into the technique of playing it.

A kind of parallel to Scarlatti in the later history of piano music is the work of Franz Liszt, who, as you know, specifically studied the performing techniques of Domenico Scarlatti. (By the way, since we are talking about parallels with piano art, then Couperin also had a spiritual heir in a certain sense - this, of course, was F. Chopin.)

The second half of the life of Domenico Scarlatti (not to be confused with his father, the famous Italian opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti) was the court harpsichordist of the Spanish Queen Maria Barbara, and the vast majority of his sonatas were written specifically for her. We can safely conclude that she was an excellent harpsichordist if she played these sometimes extremely technical sonatas.

I. Vermeer of Delft. The girl at the spinet. OK. 1670. Private collection

In this regard, I recall one letter (1977) that I received from the outstanding Czech harpsichordist Zuzanna Ruzickova: “Dear Mr. Maikapar! I have one request for you. As you know, there is a lot of interest in authentic harpsichords now, and there is a lot of discussion around this. One of the key documents in the discussion on these instruments in connection with D. Scarlatti is the painting by Vanloo, which depicts Maria Barbara of Portugal, wife of Philip V. (Z. Ruzickova was mistaken - Maria Barbara was the wife of Ferdinand VI, son of Philip V. - A.M.). Rafael Pouyana (a major contemporary French harpsichordist - A.M.) believes that the painting was painted after the death of Maria Barbara and therefore cannot be a historical source. The painting is in the Hermitage. It would be very important if you could send me the documents on this painting.”

Fragment. 1768. Hermitage, St. Petersburg

The picture about which in question in a letter, - "Sextet" L.M. Vanloo (1768).

It is in the Hermitage, in the storeroom of the department of the French painting XVIII century. Department Keeper I.S. Nemilova, having learned about the purpose of my visit, escorted me to a large room, or rather a hall, where there are paintings that were not included in the main exhibition. How many works of great interest from the point of view of musical iconography, it turns out, are kept here! One after another, we put forward large frames, on which 10–15 paintings were installed, and considered subjects of interest to us. And finally, "Sextet" L.M. Vanloo.

According to some reports, this painting depicts the Spanish Queen Maria Barbara. If this hypothesis were proven, then we could have a harpsichord played by Scarlatti himself! What are the reasons to recognize in the harpsichordist depicted in Vanloo's painting, Maria Barbara? First, it seems to me that there really is resemblance between the lady here depicted and famous portraits Mary Barbara. Secondly, Vanloo lived at the Spanish court for a relatively long time and, therefore, could well paint a picture on a theme from the life of the queen. Thirdly, another name for the painting is also known - “Spanish Concerto” and, fourthly, some foreign musicologists (for example, K. Zaks) are convinced that Maria Barbara is in the painting.

But Nemilova, like Rafael Puyana, doubted this hypothesis. The painting was painted in 1768, that is, twelve years after the artist's departure from Spain and ten years after the death of Maria Barbara. The history of her order is known: Catherine II conveyed to Vanloo through Prince Golitsyn the wish to have a painting by him. This work immediately came to St. Petersburg and was kept here all the time, Golitsyn gave it to Catherine as a "Concert". As for the name “Spanish Concerto”, the Spanish costumes in which the characters are depicted played a role in its appearance, and, as Nemilova explained, these are theatrical costumes, and not those that were then in fashion.

W. Landowska

In the picture, of course, the harpsichord attracts attention - a two-manual instrument with a characteristic for the first half of the 18th century. the coloring of the keys, the reverse of the modern one (those that are black on the piano are white on this harpsichord, and vice versa). In addition, it still lacks pedals for shifting registers, although they were already known at the time. This improvement is found on most modern double-manual concert harpsichords. The need to switch registers by hand dictated a certain approach to the choice of registration on the harpsichord.

At present, two directions are clearly defined in performing practice: supporters of the first believe that all modern possibilities of the instrument should be used (such an opinion was held, for example, by V. Landowska and, by the way, Zuzanna Ruzickova), others believe that, performing early music on a modern harpsichord, one should not go beyond those performing means, based on which the old masters wrote (as Erwin Bodki, Gustav Leonhardt, the same Rafael Puyana and others think).

Since we have paid so much attention to the Vanloo painting, we note that the artist himself, in turn, turned out to be a character in a musical portrait: a harpsichord piece is known French composer Jacques Dufly, which is called Vanloo.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach(1685–1750). His harpsichord heritage is of exceptional value. My experience of performing in concerts everything written by Bach for this instrument testifies that his legacy fits into fifteen (!) concert programs. At the same time, the concertos for harpsichord and strings must be counted separately, as well as the mass of ensemble works, which are unthinkable without the harpsichord.

It should be recognized that for all the uniqueness of Couperin and Scarlatti, each of them cultivated one individual style. Bach was universal. The already mentioned "Italian Concerto" and "French Overture" are examples of Bach's study of the music of these national schools. And these are just two examples, in their names reflecting Bach's awareness. Here you can add his cycle of "French Suites". One could speculate about the English influence in his English Suites. And how many musical samples different styles in those of his works that do not reflect this in their titles, but conclude in the music itself! Needless to say, how widely his native, German clavier tradition is synthesized in his work.

We do not know exactly which harpsichords Bach played, but we know that he was interested in all technical innovations (including in the organ). His interest in expanding the performance possibilities of the harpsichord and other keyboards is most clearly demonstrated by the famous cycle of preludes and fugues in all keys "The Well-Tempered Clavier".

Bach was a true master of the harpsichord. I. Forkel, the first biographer of Bach, reports: “No one could replace the worn-out feathers on his harpsichord with new ones so that he was satisfied - he did it himself. He always tuned his harpsichord himself, and was so skillful in this respect that tuning never took him more than a quarter of an hour. With his method of tuning, all 24 keys were at his disposal, and, improvising, he did with them whatever he pleased.

Already during the lifetime of the brilliant creator of harpsichord music, the harpsichord began to lose ground. In 1747, when Bach visited the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great, in Potsdam, he gave him a theme to improvise, and Bach, apparently, was already improvising on the “pianoforte” (that was the name of the new instrument at that time) - one of the fourteen or fifteen, which were made for the king by a friend of Bach, the famous organ master Gottfried Zilberman. Bach approved of its sound, although before that he did not like the piano.

Mozart still wrote for the harpsichord in his early youth, but on the whole his clavier work is, of course, directed towards the pianoforte. The publishers of Beethoven's early compositions pointed to title pages that his sonatas (imagine, even the Pathetique, which was published in 1799) are intended "for harpsichord or piano". The publishers went to the trick: they did not want to lose those customers who had old harpsichords in their houses. But more and more often only the body remained from the harpsichords: the harpsichord "stuffing" was removed as unnecessary and replaced with a new, hammer-type, that is, piano, mechanics.

The question arises: why this instrument, which had such a long history and such a rich artistic heritage, was by the end of the 18th century. ousted from musical practice and replaced by the piano? And not just forced out, but completely forgotten in the 19th century? And after all, it cannot be said that when this process of displacing the harpsichord began, the piano was in its qualities the best tool. Quite the opposite! Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, one of the eldest sons of Johann Sebastian, wrote his double concerto for harpsichord and pianoforte with an orchestra, meaning to demonstrate firsthand the advantages of the harpsichord over the piano.

There is only one answer: the victory of the piano over the harpsichord became possible under conditions of a radical change in aesthetic preferences. Baroque aesthetics, which is based either on a clearly formulated or clearly felt concept of the theory of affects (briefly the essence: one mood, affect, - one sound paint), 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 was, on the contrary, the idea changeability- feelings, images, moods. And the piano was able to express it.

This instrument acquired a pedal with its fantastic capabilities and became capable of creating incredible rises and falls in sonority ( crescendo And diminuendo). The harpsichord could not do all this in principle - due to the peculiarities of its design.

Let's stop and remember this moment so that we can start our next conversation with it - about the piano, and specifically about the big concert grand piano, that is, the "royal instrument", the true master of all romantic music.

In our story, history and modernity are mixed, since today the harpsichord and other instruments of this family turned out to be unusually common and in demand due to the huge interest in the music of the Renaissance and Baroque, that is, the time when they arose and survived their golden age.

Musician performing 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). As a solo instrument, the harpsichord remained in use until the end of the 18th century. A little longer it was used to perform digital bass, to accompany recitatives in operas. Around 1810, it practically fell into disuse. The revival of the culture of playing the harpsichord began at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

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

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

The most important production center for harpsichords 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. Since the 1590s, harpsichords with two manuals have been produced in Antwerp. French, English, German harpsichords of the 17th century combine the features of Flemish and Dutch models.

Some French two-manual harpsichords with a walnut body have survived. Since the 1690s, harpsichords of the same type as Rookers' instruments have been produced in France. Among the French harpsichord masters, the Blanchet dynasty stood out. In 1766, Taskin inherited Blanche's workshop.

The most significant English harpsichord makers in the 18th century were Schudy and the Kirkman family. Their instruments had a plywood-lined oak body and were distinguished by a strong sound of rich timbre. In 18th-century Germany, the main center for harpsichord production was Hamburg; among the instruments made in this city with 2` and 16` registers, as well as with 3 manuals. The unusually long model of the harpsichord was designed by J. D. Dülcken, a leading 18th-century Netherlandish craftsman.

In the 2nd half of the 18th century, the harpsichord began to be forced out. Around 1809, the Kirkman firm produced their 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, Heislemere.

The release of harpsichords was also established by the Parisian firms Pleyel and Erard. Pleyel began producing a model harpsichord with a metal frame carrying thick, taut strings; Wanda Landowska trained a whole generation of harpsichordists on this type of instrument. Boston craftsmen Frank Hubbard and William Dyde were the first to copy antique harpsichords.

Device

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

At the end of each key is a pusher (or jumper). At the upper end of the pusher is a langetta in which a plectrum (tongue) of a pen is fixed (on many modern instruments- made of plastic), just above the plectrum - a damper made of felt or soft leather. When the key is pressed, the pusher rises, 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 having to pluck the string again. The vibration of the string is dampened by a damper.

For registration, i.e. changes in the strength and timbre of the sound, hand and foot switches are used. It is not possible to smoothly increase and decrease the volume on the harpsichord. In the 15th century, the range of the harpsichord was 3 octaves (some chromatic notes were missing in the lower octave); 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 Netherlandish 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 shifters appeared in the late 1750s. Most instruments have a so-called. the lute register of 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 Jakob Froberger
Georg Friedrich Handel
William Bird
Henry Purcell
Johann Adam Reinecke
Domenico Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Matthias Weckman
Domenico Zipoli