harpsichord
HARP-si-kord
[English]
An early stringed keyboard instrument that produced tones by means of plucking strings with quills rather than by striking them with hammers, as in the modern piano. The range of the harpsichord is generally about four octaves; it was most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in the classical era it was eclipsed by the piano.
Example
Harpsichord (image by Vital Julian Frey)
George Frideric Handel: Keyboard Suite No. 5 in E major, Air and Variations (Harmonious Blacksmith)
François Couperin: Second livre de clavecin, "Les barricades misterieuses"
See Also
[French] clavecin (m)[French] claveçin (m)
[French] clavessin (m)
[German] Kielflügel (m)
[German] Clavicimbel (n)
[Italian] Cembalo (n)
[Italian] clavicembalo (m)
[Italian] cimbalo (m)
[Spanish] clavicémbalo (m)
[Spanish] clavecín (m)
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Last Updated: 2016-06-01 15:46:29