A clavicytherium is a harpsichord in which the soundboard and strings are mounted vertically [1] facing the player. The primary purpose of making a harpsichord vertical is the same as in the later upright piano, namely to save floor space. In a clavicytherium, the jacks move horizontally without the assistance of gravity, so that clavicytherium actions are more complex than those of other harpsichords.
In any harpsichord, the strings are plucked by small plectra, held by jacks, which are thin strips of wood. In a standard harpsichord, the strings are placed horizontally and the jacks are vertical. Thus to make the jack return to position (after it has been lifted by a key to pluck) is a simple matter of gravity; with proper adjustment the jack will simply fall back into its rest position (for details and diagrams see harpsichord ).
A clavicytherium sacrifices this simplicity and must find some other means to make the jacks return. In some instruments, this is accomplished with a spring. Another possibility is to couple the jack mechanically to other portions of the action (e.g. keys, levers) that do return by gravity, pulling the jacks back with them. [2] Inevitably, neither strategy is as simple as the direct vertical drop of the jacks in a standard harpsichord. Indeed, finding a good design for a clavicytherium action is not easy, and builders repeatedly sought better solutions. Van der Meer writes, "no standard was ever devised, and there are nearly as many variations of it as there are instruments in existence." [3] Many designs were rather unsuccessful: Ripin reports that clavicytheria often have "a fairly heavy touch and unresponsive action". [4] Describing the unusually fine clavicytheria of Delin (see below), Kottick observes "the action feels quite good to the fingers, which is not a statement one can always make about a clavicytherium." [5]
A special property of clavicytheria is that the player is seated directly in front of the soundboard, at close range. Kottick notes, "[in] all clavicytheria, close proximity to the soundboard provides the player with an overwhelming sense of sonic immersion." [6] Indeed, the modern builder William Horn suggests that it is this esthetic end, not space-saving, that is the primary justification for making clavicytheria. [7]
In shape, clavicytheria were normally like ordinary harpsichords, with the left side longer than the right to accommodate the long bass strings. Occasionally, symmetrical clavicytheria were made, with two bent sides and the peak in the middle; this is sometimes called a "pyramid" shape. The pyramidal design was a challenge to builders, as Ripin notes: "Difficulties arise, since the longer bass strings are in the middle and the treble strings are at the sides, and system of intermediate levels (rollerboard) is required to permit each key to play the correct string unless diagonal stringing is used." [8]
Except in the early period of their construction, clavicytheria were tall. William Horn warns potential buyers that they will need 280 cm. of room below their ceilings (nine feet two inches) to accommodate his Delin replica. [9] The Instrument Workshop, offering plans for a Delin-based instrument, actually reduces its height to 262 cm. (eight feet seven inches) in order to "adapt Delin’s design to modern interiors". [10]
The earliest harpsichord known, dating from about 1480, is a clavicytherium. German writing on the inside of the back indicates it may have been built in Ulm, [11] and currently resides in the musical instrument collection of the Royal College of Music in London. It is a fairly small instrument (about four feet eight inches tall [12] ) with a short compass, just 41 notes. The apex forms a sharp edge, as there is no tailpiece. Kottick observes that the RCM instrument closely resembles another (unpreserved) clavicytherium found as a diagram in the work of Henri Arnaut de Zwolle. [13]
Ripin describes its "unique and simple action" thus: "the key, a vertical lever and the forward-projecting jack are all assembled into a single rigid piece. When the key is depressed the entire assembly rocks forward so that the jack (moving along the path of an arc) is forced past its string; when the key is released, the assembly falls back again under its own weight, returning the jack to its original position." [14]
Kottick remarks that "the RCM clavicytherium is a refined and sophisticated instrument, which suggests that it represents a mature tradition". [15] Indeed, since the harpsichord was probably invented before 1400, [16] the RCM instrument probably reflects several decades of development.
Clavicytheria are mentioned in Sebastian Virdung's 1511 work Musica Getutscht, the first surviving reference work on music; Virdung calls the instrument clauiciterium. [17] They are also mentioned in the Syntagma Musicum (1614-1620) of Michael Praetorius, the Harmonie universelle (1637) of Marin Mersenne, and in the French Encyclopédie méthodique. [18] Bartolomeo Cristofori, who invented the piano, built clavicytheria, of which one may actually survive. [19]
In the 18th century particularly fine clavicytheria were made by Albert Delin (1712–1771), a Flemish builder who worked in Tournai. [20] Chung describes his work thus: "[he] succeeded in overcoming the difficulties of building an upright harpsichord better than any other builder. His three instruments, which are considered by many to be the finest of all surviving clavicytheria, have an amazingly fine touch that is achieved by a special action that upon the release of the keys allows the jacks to return without the need of springs or additional weights." [21]
The city of Dublin also apparently enjoyed a vogue in the 18th century for clavicytheria, and quality instruments were made by a number of builders. Instruments survive today built by Ferdinand Weber (1715-1784), Henry Rother (f. 1762-1774), and Robert Woffington (d. 1823). The instruments by Rother and Weber are pyramidal. [22]
The clavicytherium became temporarily extinct along with the horizontal harpsichord around the end of the 18th century. The 20th-century revival of the harpsichord has seen the construction of a small number of new instruments; Kottick, writing of the revival as of 1987, said "The clavicytherium does not seem to have caught on much at all", though a few modern builders, noted above, have constructed them. [23]
Keyboard instrument scholar A. J. Hipkins attributed the name "clavicytherium" to Virdung. It is a Latino-Greek compound, from Latin clavis 'key' and Greek cythara ; the latter denoted a variety of stringed instruments. [24]
In other languages the instrument is called clavecin vertical (French), Klaviziterium (German), cembalo verticale (Italian).
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic. The strings are under tension on a soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. Like a pipe organ, a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard manual, and even a pedal board. Harpsichords may also have stop buttons which add or remove additional octaves. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute.
The piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, through engagement of an action whose hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temperament. A musician who specializes in piano is called a pianist.
A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the jack mechanism.
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano.
A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.
The short octave was a method of assigning notes to keys in early keyboard instruments, for the purpose of giving the instrument an extended range in the bass range. The rationale behind this system was that the low notes F♯ and G♯ are seldom needed in early music. Deep bass notes typically form the root of the chord, and F♯ and G♯ chords were seldom used at this time. In contrast, low C and D, both roots of very common chords, are sorely missed if a harpsichord with lowest key E is tuned to match the keyboard layout. A closely related system, the broken octave, added more notes by using split keys: the front part and the back part of the (visible) key controlled separate levers and hence separate notes.
The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to refer to the mid-18th to early-19th century instruments, for which composers of the Classical era, such as Haydn, Mozart, and the younger Beethoven, wrote their piano music.
The Ruckers family were harpsichord and virginal makers from the Southern Netherlands based in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th century. Their influence stretched well into the 18th century, and to the harpsichord revival of the 20th.
The piano action mechanism of a piano or other musical keyboard is the mechanical assembly which translates the depression of the keys into rapid motion of a hammer, which creates sound by striking the strings. Action can refer to that of a piano or other musical keyboards, including the electronic or digital stage piano and synthesizer, on which some models have "weighted keys", which simulate the touch and feel of an acoustic piano. The design of the key action mechanism determines the "weight" of the keys, i.e., the force required to sound a note; that is, the feeling of the heaviness of the touch of the keys. "A professional pianist is likely to care most about the piano's action, because that is what controls its responsiveness and relative lightness--or heaviness--of touch. Roughly speaking, a piano's action is light when its keys fall easily under the fingers, and heavy when a noticeable downward thrust is required. The action, in short, is what makes a piano playable or not to an individual musician."
Pascal-Joseph Taskin was a Holy Roman Empire-born French harpsichord and piano maker.
The oval spinet is a type of harpsichord invented in the late 17th century by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the Italian instrument maker who later achieved fame for inventing the piano. The oval spinet was unusual for its shape, the arrangement of its strings, and for its mechanism for changing registration.
Hieronymus Albrecht Hass was a German harpsichord and clavichord maker. He was the father of Johann Adolph Hass, who also made harpsichords and clavichords.
The harpsichord was an important keyboard instrument in Europe from the 15th through the 18th centuries, and as revived in the 20th, is widely played today.
Americus Backers, sometimes described as the father of the English grand pianoforte style, brought the hammer striking action for keyboard instruments from his master Gottfried Silbermann's workshop in Freiburg to England in the mid-18th century. Unlike the eleven other ex-apprentices of Silbermann who followed him to England and built square pianos with his action, Backers developed Silbermann's action into a reliable, powerful and responsive form that he built into a grand harpsichord case and added two tonal effects – una corda and damper lift – activated by pedals built into the dedicated trestle stand, again his original innovation. This new instrument altered the landscape of English music, causing composers and musicians to consign the plucked string harpsichord and its music to history. It is upon Americus's design that the modern grand pianoforte we know today is based.
The spinettone was a kind of harpsichord invented in the late 17th century by Bartolomeo Cristofori, who was later the inventor of the piano. Other names for this instrument were spinettone da teatro, spinetta traversa.
The folding harpsichord was a kind of harpsichord meant for travel. Since it could be folded up into a fairly compact space, it was more easily transported than a conventional harpsichord. The folding took place on hinges and was in the longitudinal dimension, preserving the tension on the strings. The folded instrument formed a package about the size of a large suitcase.
Ioes Karest, also known as Joos Karest, was a Flemish harpsichord builder.
Leopoldo Franciolini (1844–1920) was an Italian antique dealer who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is remembered as a fraudster who sold faked and altered historical musical instruments. To this day his work is a barrier to the scholarly study of instruments of the past.
Albert Delin was a harpsichord maker in the Austrian Netherlands.
