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Recommended: history of the piano
History of Harmony
In the words of British composer Thomas Beckman the harpsichord is, "The sound of harmony in composition." At onetime or another most everyone has heard the piano, not so with the harpsichord. In comparison with the piano hardly anyone has heard the harpsichord or could recognize it. A question begins to form—what role did the piano orchestrate in the curtain call of the once popular harpsichord?
To begin, a harpsichord is an early keyboard instrument that vaguely resembles a piano—the resemblance between the two ends there. Instead of having one keyboard like a piano the harpsichord has keys in rows called manuals. There can be one to three manuals; usage is dictated by the music. Smaller harpsichord variants, like virginals and spinets usually had one manual, while Flemish, German, French, and English harpsichords had two or more. It was only in Italy that many harpsichords had three manuals. This aberration may have had something to do with the composition and style of dance and opera.
The harpsichord dates back to the sixteenth century and the way it produces sound is even older. A harpsichord makes music by plucking a string; rather like a harp. Traditionally on the end of each key sat a crow, raven, or dove quill called a plectrum. In the end of this plectrum is a wooden stick, which sits on the end of the key. When the key is depressed the wooden stick, called a jack, pushes upward causing the plectrum to pluck the string. In this way it is almost like plucking a harp string or the guitarist's finger strumming. In marked contrast to the more percussive action of the piano. Music coming from the harpsichord is usually bright and sharp. The main disadvantage of the harpsichord that makes it so difficult to play is the inability to vary the sound or dynamic. There is a way to make it seem as thought the sound is varied. This hard-to-achieve skill requires the Harpsichordist to use multiple keyboards and different keys to give the illusion. It is not uncommon to have a hand on the first manual and the other on the second at a crisscross. In this way the harpsichord is more personal instrument. One literally needs to understand the personality of this instrument in order to link music and soul.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer, a musician, teacher, and organist who later became a specialist in construction of organs. Bach learnt to play the violin, the orchestra, and the organ from his father and his famous uncle and twin brother to the father, Johann Christoph at a young age. The organ was his chosen instrument. He also achieved success in the art of Fugue, choral polyphone, instrumental music and dance forms. In Eisenach he attended Old Latin Grammar School, the same school that Martin Luther had attended. He sang in the schools choir. His parents died before Bach was 10 years old. His mother died when Bach was nine years old, his father’s death followed nine months later (Sherrane, 2011). After the parents death Bach was taken in by his older brother Johann Christoph who had already established himself as an organist in Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph had a great influence in Bach’s success in music as he taught him and encouraged him to study music composition. At the same time Bach was attending the Gymnasium grammar school in Ohrdruf where he studied theology, Latin...
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
<td width="50%">Baroque OrchestrasClassical OrchestrasString section and basso continuo central to the orchestra. Other instruments are occasional additions.Standard group of four sections: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Different instruments treated individually.Fairly small; generally 10- 40 players.Larger than baroque; great variation to the numbers of players.Flexible use of timbres, e.g. Timpani and trumpets used generally just for festive music.Standardised sections. Most sections used regularly.Tone colour is distinctly secondary to other musical elements.Greater variety of tone colour and more rapid changes of colour. Timbre is unimportant and therefore a piece written for harpsichord could easily be rearranged for a string section.Each section of the classical orchestra has a special role. And each instrument is used distinctively.Wind instruments mainly used as solo instruments or as part of the basso continuo.The wind section had become a separate unit capable of contrast and distinct colour.The harpsichord generally plays an ostinato under the orchestra. Piano not invented.The piano introduces a third colour-tone to be contrasted with the orchestra
Interestingly enough, in one article, Bach is mentioned saying that at first he was not that fond of it. Not until after the Seven Years War was over did pianos become famous in Germany. A few instrument makers in the early 18th century were building on what Cristofori had invented. One of these makers was Zumpe who became famous for his “square” pianos around the 1720’s in Germany. Fransisco Mirabal is making pianos in Spain in 1745, while Thomas Culliford starts a piano making business in London just five years later. In the 1760’s Guib and Gulliford were making pianos for Longman & Broderip (famous music publishers). A few years later in 1772, Johann Stein developed pianos with what is called the Viennese action, which is allegedly the type of piano Mozart preferred. It was not until 1775 that the piano made its debut in America. Johann Behrent of Philadelphia created square
Another characteristically baroque feature of the Canon is the use of a Basso Continuo. During the Renaissance and earlier periods, the bass was used as a melodic device as the lowest voice, equal to the any other instrument. During the 17th century, the bass began the transition to becoming a harmonic device providing a ‘backbone’ for which it is now almost exclusively used. In Canon, the bass serves a double purpose as a Basso Ostinato or Ground Bass, a melodic device which entails the continuous repetition of the same two bar sequence for the duration of the piece.
Before the pianoforte was brought into existence, the keyboard instrument of the orchestra was the harpsichord. The timbre of the harpsichord was much different than that of the pianoforte, this being primarily because of the harpsichord’s strings being plucked, whereas the piano’s strings
over some of the duties of harpsichordist, and early in 1705 he presided over the
From the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance, there was a movement from vocal music to a combination of vocal and instrumental music (Brown, 1976). There are seven categories of instrumental music: 1) vocal music played by instruments, 2) settings of pre-existing melodies, 3) variation sets, 4) ricercars, fantasias, and canzonas, 5) preludes, preambles, and toccatas for solo instruments, 6) dance music, and 7) songs composed specifically for lute and solo voice (Brown, 1976). Italy dominated the stage for instrumental music at this time, and it was not until the last decades of the sixteenth century that English instrumental music became popular (Brow...
Being that the both the harpsichord and the clavichord were popular keyboard instruments, instrument makers were looking for ways to improve their designs. One such instrument maker was Bartolomeo Cristofori. Cristofori was an Italian harpsichord creator that ended up inventing the piano, or the Gravicembalo col piano e
Music is an important aspect of every society. Music can tell stories, release emotions, build bridges and break down barriers, but above all music is entertaining. There are various forms of music but not many have as rich a history as gospel music. The importance of gospel music has been relevant in American music for more than a century and its importance to society is still relevant to this day (See Appendix A). Gospel music helped slaves escape to freedom and paved the way for other styles of music. It promotes a spirit of hope and provided an outlet to worship God. So how exactly has Gospel music impacted today’s society?
Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of musicians. It was only natural for him to pick up an instrument and excel in it. His father taught him how to play the violin and harpsichord at a very young age. All of Bach’s uncles were professional musicians, one of them; Johann Christoph Bach introduced him to the organ. Bach hit a turning point in his life when both of his parents died at the age of ten years old. Bach’s older brother Johann Christoph Bach took him in and immediately expanded his knowledge in the world of music. He taught him how to play the clavichord and exposed him to great composers at the time. At the age of fourteen, Bach and his good friend George Erdmann were awarded a choral scholarship to the prestigious musical school St. Michael’s in Luneburg. From then on, Bach began to build his career in the music industry. His first two years at the school he sang in the school’s a cappella choir. Historical evidence has shown that Bach at a young age would visit Johanniskirche and would listen to the works of organ player Jasper Johannsen. This was thought to have been the inspiration to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Studying at the prestigious musical school has help Bach network his way around and become acquaintances’ with some of the best organ players at the time such as Georg Böhm, and Johann Adam Reincken. Through his acquaintance with Böhm and Reincken Bach had access to some of the greatest and finest instruments.
To create their music, Baroque musicians utilized many common instruments of the time. Four main categories of instruments exist; the brass section, keyboards, strings and winds. Although some of these instruments may now be familiar, others are not. Belonging in the brass section is the trumpet, horn, and sackbut. Preceding the modern day trombone, the sackbut was used from the mid 15th century to the 18th century. The harpsichord and organ are the two instruments in the keyboard section. Similar to a piano, the strings of a harpsichord are plucked to produce sound with no tonal variation. The harpsichord was utilized from the beginning of the Baroque period until the 19th century. With more instruments than any other category, the string section includes the violin, viola, violoncello, viol, contrabass, harp, and lute, these are very similar to the orchestral instruments we have today, except the lute which is similar to a guitar. Finally, included in the winds were the flute, oboe, bas...
Examining Mozart as a keyboardist would also require an exploration into his role as an organist and if his early encounter and training in this instrument influenced his decision to add a pedalboard to his piano. When discussing Mozart as a keyboardist, little attention has been devoted to how influential his training and interest was as an organist. I argue that Mozart’s keyboard style was very much influenced by the organ’s characteristics. Analyzing his compositions may reveal his continued reference to organ literature. Although the originality of Mozart’s piano is under debate since it has been altered in many ways since his death, the now missing pedalboard is well documented. This fact questions the originality of the damper-raising knee levers in Mozart’s piano. Simply, if the feet are busy playing the pedals, is it still possible to raise the damper rail with the knee? An answer may be offered by the hand stops in Mozart’s piano for operating the dampers. To support my argument, Variation IV of Mozart’s “alla Turca” Sonata K. 331 reveal three textural layers that can be conveniently played on the pedal piano using the feet for the bass and the hands for the treble. Further, a hand will be free to reactivate the hand stops and lift the damper rail, thus allowing the pianist to re-orient the listener from the preceding minor variation to the current variation in
Over the past several years, some amateur musicians have developed specific ideas about 'correct' performance practice of Baroque music. In an essay concerning the issues of Baroque music performance, Michael Sartorius notes that:
The term Baroque means an irregularly shaped complex form. It came from the irregularly shaped pearl meaning unnatural and strange. This is completely different, from a description of the music of the time. Musical styles greatly different from artistic styles of the time making it virtually impossible to draw parallels between the two. Instead, one needs to draw independent conclusions about Baroque music.