Those people who are even slightly connected with music have heard of such an instrument as harpsichord. At the moment, he is not so popular, but his sound can really captivate the listener. Still, we will try to consider the question of what harpsichord is. What story does he have?
Harpsichord musical instrument
Those who attended lessons in musical history and literature can safely say that harpsichord is an ancient instrument that appeared in the XV-XVI century.
The mechanism of its work is quite complicated, and the sound is peculiar. In order to understand this, you need to listen to several tracks when playing such an instrument.
For the most part, such an instrument can now be found in specialized places, namely in conservatories and musical institutions. All these instruments are considered a rarity, and they are played very carefully, with care and caution, as old plucked mechanisms can break.
Harpsichord music today
Few people at the moment can boast that they prefer to listen to music played on the harpsichord. It takes a bit of effort to find this kind of audio.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that the instrument sounds unusual for us.
Harpsichord story
In order to understand what a harpsichord is, it’s worth a little deeper into its history. This will let you know how it is created.
The harpsichord musical instrument has a rather interesting and dynamic sound. It was created back in the 15th century. This instrument was structurally significantly different from the clavichord, as each wooden key in it was attached to the string. It was due to this new approach that the harpsichord played quite loudly, which at that time could really surprise people.
Such an instrument was created a large amount of time, since the mechanism, which required a separate string for each key, had to be qualitatively executed.
The types of such a tool may also be different. It could be reduced, such as a piano, and expanded - like a piano. It could also be harpsichords that had several rows of keys, but today it’s hard to see it somewhere.
This was done in order to change the strength of sound depending on which piece was to be played.
Next, we will examine how the harpsichord has changed since the 15th century. The instrument is constantly improved for harmonious sound. It is understood that with its initial design the sound range is only three octaves, then four. After that, more complex forms of the instrument were created, in which there were two or even three tiers of keys.
The switches made it possible to constantly change the sound registers of the instrument, it was even possible to use several registers simultaneously. In this case, the harpsichord could act as an independent tool. One register was used for accompaniment in singing with ensembles and choral groups.
What is the difference between this type of instrument?
The first distinguishing feature of such an instrument is the harpsichord keyboard. Each of us knows what a piano keyboard looks like. She also looked like a harpsichord, only without enamel. These were simple wooden sanded planks.
It is also worth noting that the same type of keyboard and mechanism was used by the creators of the instrument, which is now called the piano. We can say that this is its original version, which has been improved. For a long time, corrections were made to the design of the instrument, the mechanism for attaching the string to the key was changed.
Harpsichord in modern times: where you can hear
Powerful sound and unusual appearance arouse interest in such an instrument as a harpsichord.
As you can understand, today harpsichord is not such a popular instrument, but it is still used by some musicians in order to achieve the original sound and hit the audience. He even appears in contemporary films and TV shows. Many watched the Hannibal series. The main roles were played by Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Carolyn Davernas. Viewers may note that the hero, who was in the role of Hannibal Lector, mastered such an unusual art as playing the harpsichord. He noted that the sounds of the harpsichord are more powerful. This tool allows you to give the music a new sound.
“When the Harpsichord is Playing” is a film of Soviet cinema. It was released on screens in 1966. It also has a storyline that is associated with such an instrument.
Harpsichord sound
The sound of the harpsichord is completely different from the music played on other types of instruments. This is determined by the design features of the harpsichord. He has a special sound for every string.
People who have good hearing and proper education know that you can play chords on the piano that require permission. It can be dominant chords, as well as terzquarts, which should come in tonic (consonant and allowed sound).
On the piano, such chords sound very intense. On an instrument such as a harpsichord, they will be even more dissonant. Again, this depends on the fact that each key produces a completely unique sound, but it corresponds to the usual scale.
Harpsichord: photo. Disassembled and assembled musical instrument
We have almost figured out this topic. In order to better understand what a harpsichord is and how it looks, it is worth taking a look at the photo. So you can examine the tool in detail and find out what features it has. In this case, it is important to understand that the harpsichord can be quite simple in appearance, but its sound is absolutely unique. This instrument has a beautiful timbre that can be used in different directions of classical music.
Let's see how a musical instrument such as a harpsichord looks from the inside. Photos show what is under his cover. You can see that the harpsichord is also quite complex structurally. It contains many strings, which were driven by a pinch. To do this, use a bird's feather or genuine leather, mounted on a special rod. Interestingly, each key and string has a special tone.
As you can see, the harpsichord in appearance is very unremarkable. But at that moment, when it was just created, it struck the imagination of the public.
Harpsichord was popular in the 20th century. Musicians played on it the classical works of various composers.
Total
At the moment, the harpsichord is not very popular, and some people do not even know about its existence as a musical instrument. But it is worth saying that the specific sound characteristic of this instrument is very interesting. It is thanks to him that the music performed on the harpsichord sounds so bewitching. It is worth finding records of musical works performed on this instrument, and listen to them.
Alas, harpsichord today is practically not used as accompaniment in musical accompaniment. Today, other instruments are in great demand - those that sound more melodic and ordinary.
We hope that after reading this article, you will learn what a harpsichord is and see how it looks.