#clavichord

[artschoolglasses]

Clavichord, attributed to Christian Kintzing, German, 1763

From The Met Museum

[gasparodasalo]

Visit Original Link

Georg Simon Löhlein (1725-81) - Clavichord Sonata in d-minor, Op. 2 No. 2, III. Poco presto. Performed by Artem Belogurov, clavichord.

[treasuresfromthearchives]

Clavichord

Attributed to Christian Kintzing German 1763

"This instrument is one of two known clavichords made by Kintzing, who also worked with the cabinetmaker David Roentgen. It has an unusual feature that uses a second separate row of tangents that are activated by knobs on either side of the keyboard. When engaged, these tangent raise the strings and stay in contact with them. When the keys tangents are played the sound of the strings is prolonged. This feature is known as a pantalon stop and was inspired by the popularity of the hammered dulcimer and the famous eighteenth century virtuoso Pantaleon Hebenstreit.

Clavichords were built as far back as the early fifteenth century, and perhaps earlier. This most personal, simplest, and quietest of European keyboard instruments was the perfect vehicle for music pedagogy, keyboard practice, and composition throughout its 400-year history. The action of the clavichord is relatively simple: the finger depresses a key which, working as a lever, causes its opposite end to rise so that a metal tongue (or tangent) hits a metal string, causing it to resonate. When the key is released, the string is damped. The clavichord is very quiet compared to the harpsichord or piano because of the inefficiency of its sound production, with the tangent hitting the string at the end of its resonating length, rather than in the middle. The tangent mechanism, however, allows a player to achieve a range, albeit narrow, of louder and softer tones as well as special effects like bebung, a form of vibrato, so that the clavichord was and is valued for its intimate expressiveness. Earlier clavichords were fretted, that is, a single string might be used to create several different notes, depending on where a tangent struck it. Unfretted clavichords, with a single note per string, came into use in the late seventeenth century.

Technical description: Unfretted clavichord, C-e3, 2-piece ebony naturals with 4 scribe lines, ebony arcades, bone-covered accidentals, Pantalon stop divided treble-bass and operated by knobs on walnut keyboard end blocks, ebonized bridge, softwood case painted gold in 19th century and decorated in 18th-century style, decoupage ornaments glued on varnished soundboard, walnut (veneered?) wrestplank and right-rear corner block, hinged string-box cover with no. 7 (?) penciled inside, on later stand."

[casualclassical]

Some piano music just wasn’t meant for the piano

I’m not sure if this is just me, but I wish people played J.S. Bach less on the piano and more on the instruments he actually composed his “piano” pieces for (harpsichords and clavichords). I often dislike how Bach pieces sound on the modern piano and absolutely can’t stand when I have to play Bach on the piano.

Don’t get me wrong – I love some good Bach – the pieces of his that are often played on the piano these days were written for claviers (which, at his time, were harpsichords and clavichords rather than fortepianos or modern pianos). The claviers of Bach’s time were very different from modern pianos (despite being forerunners to the modern piano), which may explain why it always feels so wrong and difficult every time I have to play Bach on the piano.

To a much lesser extent my desire to have Bach played on the instruments he composed for rather than the piano applies to Mozart too, because he composed for the fortepiano rather than the modern piano. However, I’ll let slide the fact that Mozart’s piano pieces are most often played on the modern piano rather than the fortepiano. After all, I feel that Mozart’s piano pieces are actually pretty good on the modern piano, whether played or listened to. (Besides, Mozart’s fortepianos are closer to modern pianos than Bach’s claviers.)

Originally posted April 6, 2019 on WordPress

[amadea-nachtmusik]

[une-barque-sur-l-ocean]

some musical moments from Rijskmuseum 🎶

[woundedwizard]

The princess glanced at her watch and, seeing that she was five minutes late in starting her practice on the clavichord, went into the sitting room with a look of alarm. Between twelve and two o’clock, as the day was mapped out, the prince rested and the princess played the clavichord.

A clavichord:

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

David Schrader from BaroqueBand providing a detailed history of the development of the piano throughout music history.