Lemont, PA 16851
(814) 234-4407
dmaple@adelphia.net
For those persons who would like more information about the various styles of instruments that are available, I offer this condensed summary of the national schools. I am always happy to discuss the characteristics of the different models, and to help customers select the appropriate instrument.
Italian harpsichords
Instruments from the Italian peninsula are marvels of engineering. Very thin cases of cypress (or sometimes maple or other woods), usually 4 to 5 mm (3/16 inch) thick, are buttressed by a series of triangular "knees" that transmit the stress to the bottom. The upper and lower edges of the case are decorated with elegant moldings. The system is exceptionally strong, and very stable, but amazingly light. Small four-octave instruments often weigh around 20 Kg (40 lbs). The relatively delicate instruments were kept in a separate outer case, which was usually painted. Keyboards normally featured boxwood naturals, with black-stained accidentals, but instruments made for wealthy customers sometimes used ivory, ebony and other exotic materials. Soundboards were left undecorated except for a Gothic-style rose fashioned out of parchment and veneer, located in the soundhole.
Towards the end of the 17th century an alternate style of construction came into being, which used a thicker case of poplar or other similar wood, but still with a veneer of cypress around the rim above the soundboard to give the impression of inner and outer cases. Finally, in the 18th century, some instruments did away entirely with any illusion of an inner case.
Today most Italian harpsichords are disposed with two 8' choirs, and strung with brass wire, which was the norm in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Before about 1630, however, the most frequent disposition featured one 8' and one 4', and some instruments were designed for iron wire. Instruments with only a single 8' choir also existed. These early instruments were almost always altered to have two 8' choirs later in their lives, frequently with changes to the pitch level and keyboard compass.
Double-manual Italian instruments are extremely rare, and even the normal single-manual instruments seem to have been used with only one basic unison sound. Many examples in fact have no means of turning the registers on or off other than by reaching under the jack rail.
Italian harpsichords are often thought of as being continuo instruments -- a role they serve very well -- but anyone who has heard one in a stirring performance of a Frescobaldi toccata will attest that they are legitimate solo instruments in their own right. They are usually described as having a rather pronounced pluck followed by a rapid decay, but the rate of decay varies a lot, depending on the style of soundboard ribbing. Some examples actually sustain rather nicely. Generally speaking, the sound is very clear, and the different parts of the compass balance one another well, allowing inner voices to be heard. The strong-plucking sound of these instruments makes them ideal for music of a rhythmic nature, stretching from the dances of the Renaissance to the outbursts of Domenico Scarlatti. They are definitely not restricted to playing only Italian music; we know that they were exported to and used in many regions of Europe over a period of several centuries.
Flemish Harpsichords
The second major style of harpsichord was that built in Flanders, principally in the city of Antwerp in present-day Belgium, but also in cities further north in what is now the Netherlands. Flemish instruments are generally synonymous in most people's minds with the products of the Ruckers and Couchet families, who flourished in Antwerp from around 1580 until the end of the 17th century. Cases were of poplar, about 14 mm (9/16 inch) thick. The exteriors were painted in various fashions, often in imitation of marble, with block-printed papers on interior surfaces. Soundboards were decorated with paintings of birds, insects and flowers. Keyboards featured bone naturals and black oak accidentals. The strings were of iron wire, with brass used only in the bass.
Players today often have their Flemish instruments disposed with two 8' choirs, but like the Italian instruments, they normally had one 8' and one 4' until the middle of the 17th century. The 8' register was placed in front of the 4' in the gap; the resulting sound is bright and somewhat nasal. In contrast to the Italian instruments, the Flemish have a less pronounced pluck , and the tone takes longer to die away.
In spite of the fact that there were relatively few composers of the first rank in Flanders -- Sweelink is the obvious exception -- the Flemish type of harpsichord is often regarded as the most important because of the influence it had on harpsichord making all over northern Europe. Flemish instruments were regularly exported to most areas of Europe, and were even taken as far away as Peru by the Spanish. They were especially favored in 18th-century France, where they were enlarged and given new keyboards in the French style, along with a second set of 8' strings. It is these enlarged models that many people think of today as Flemish, but their sound is somewhat different from what it was originally, and really should be described as Franco-Flemish.
Flemish makers also produced large numbers of rectangular virginals, which were available in two different models. In the type known as a spinett, the keyboard is to the left, and the strings are plucked relatively close to their ends, producing a somewhat nasal sound. In the other type, known as the muselar, the keyboard is to the right, and the strings are plucked very close to their middle, producing an exotic tone that is round and rather flute-like.
French Harpsichords
French harpsichords fall into two basic categories: the native French products of the 17th century, and the 18th-century products that were either reconstructed from old Flemish instruments or built new in that style.
The 17th-century examples were often built of thin walnut, 7 to 10 mm (3/8 inch) thick, and either painted or left natural. Construction and design details vary considerably. Some instruments have a double-curved bentside; others have a mitered tail. Some are Italianate, and were probably strung with brass strings; others are more Flemish inspired, and were probably strung with iron. The quality of the sound varies as well, but it generally tends to be leaner and clearer than in the Flemish instruments. Keyboards featured ebony naturals, and sometimes had solid ivory accidentals. Soundboards were decorated with paintings of flowers, and elaborate parchment roses often graced the soundboard hole.
The 17th-century models have never enjoyed the popularity with modern players that they deserve, largely because of confusion about the pitch and stringing materials that they employed. Study of the French archives shows, however, that it was this type of instrument, and not the Flemish model, that was most commonly owned by French musicians throughout most of the century. It is my belief that when properly strung and disposed, they provide an interesting and welcome alternative to the Flemish sound.
After about 1700 the Flemish type of instrument became preferred in France, and most makers shifted to the new style. Because of the great reputation that the Ruckers harpsichords enjoyed, French makers could and did sell reworked Flemish instruments -- or completely new fakes in the style -- for much more money than they could get for instruments with their own name. The decor of these instruments was usually changed to the French style of solid colors, with gold bands on the interior and exterior surfaces. Elaborately decorated instruments were often done in imitation of oriental lacquer work. The new keyboards were in the French style, with ebony naturals and bone-topped accidentals.
Some of the best French makers like Blanchet, Taskin, and Hemsch were able to sell instruments with their own name, however, and these instruments are well known to modern listeners through various recordings. The Flemish heritage of these examples is obvious, but they are slightly larger and heavier than their predecessors. The sound is also somewhat different, tending to be richer and more colorful, with less bite to each note, and with a pronounced booming bass. These instruments are regarded by many as the epitome of harpsichord making, and they certainly are magnificent instruments worthy of reproduction. It should be noted, however, that most of them post-date the important harpsichord music that was written in France.
German Harpsichords
Very few German harpsichords from before 1700 have survived, so little is known about them. Over the last decade, however, German instruments of the 18th century, especially those from Hamburg, Hanover, and Berlin, have finally been recognized as legitimate models worthy of being copied. These examples tend to be somewhat eclectic, including elements of design from 17th-century French instruments like the Desruisseaux, along with Italian influence, and sometimes Flemish traits as well. Some are suited for brass stringing, others for iron. Each maker seems to have had his own ideas on the proper mix of these elements, hence the sounds vary somewhat. Generally, they tend to have a well-balanced tone that can be quite powerful, although with less boom in the bass than a French instrument. Their clean, somewhat dry texture lends itself well to the polyphonic writing of J. S. Bach, and also works well for continuo use.
The cases typically have a double-curved bentside, and are of walnut or other medium-density hardwood about 8 to 10 mm thick (3/8 inch). (Some also use a hard pine for the straight case walls.) Painted finishes were common, but natural finishes were also used. Keyboards were often in the French style with ebony naturals and bone-capped accidentals, but exotic materials like ivory and tortoiseshell were sometimes used. The instruments are relatively light, and easily moved, making them a good choice for players who concertize a lot.
English Harpsichords
Unfortunately, very few English harpsichords from before the middle of the 18th century have survived. Most of the extant instruments are either rectangular virginals or bentside spinets. The few harpsichords that do exist seem to share many design elements with the 17th-century French and German instruments, and are often lumped together with them into a rather loosely defined "International School" of harpsichord making.
As in France, this earlier style of making was replaced during the 18th century by a new style derived from the Flemish models. Two German-speaking immigrants, Kirkman and Shudi, settled in England, and dominated the harpsichord market with their instruments. Like their 18th-century Flemish counterparts, these instruments used a dogleg system rather than a shove coupler, and usually included a nasal lute register. The English seem often to have preferred natural wood finishes for their instruments, and these late instruments of Kirkman and Shudi were sumptuously veneered with burl and crotch panels of walnut or mahogany surrounded by banding and stringing. Sonically, they have a big, splendid tone, but since no composers of consequence wrote for them, they are not often duplicated today.
Clavichords
Clavichords are made in two fashions: fretted or unfretted. In the former, several adjacent keys actually play on the same unison pair of strings by contacting them in different places, effectively changing the sounding length. The same process works on guitars, lutes, and other fretted instruments, hence the application of the name to the keyboard instrument. In the bass the distance that would be necessary between the striking points if the notes were fretted becomes impractical. The lowest notes therefore have their own unison pairs of strings. The sharing of strings for adjacent notes in the middle and treble ranges results in a reduction of the total number of strings necessary, lowering the amount of tension on the case and soundboard, and making tuning a relatively easy matter.
Earlier fretted instruments usually had three notes per pair of strings, and are known as triple-fretted. An alternate arrangement, where only chromatic pairs of notes like c and c# share the same strings co-existed, and this system became preferred during the 18th century. These double-fretted instruments have fewer conflicts occurring from the need to play two adjacent notes simultaneously, and they allow a greater variety of articulation than is possible with the triple-fretted instruments.
In order to provide total freedom of articulation, makers eventually turned during the 18th century to unfretted instruments where every key has its own pair of strings. Instruments of this type are essential to the idiomatic clavichord repertoire of composers like C. P. E. Bach. These five-octave instruments can be quite large, and are no longer easily portable like the fretted examples. They feature a sophisticated, velvety sound, but because of the increased pressure on the bridge from the greater number of strings, they often have less presence than their unfretted relatives.
The double-fretted clavichord was never entirely replaced by the unfretted type, however, and they continued to be made throughout the 18th century. A number of fine larger examples with compasses of four and a half or five octaves can be found, and many clavichord aficionados regard these as the ultimate instruments. Even larger fretted instruments with six octaves were made, probably as inexpensive substitutes for the square piano during the early 19th century.