Those people who are at least a little connected with music have heard of such an instrument as the harpsichord. It's not that popular at the moment, but its sound can really captivate the listener. Still, we will try to consider the question of what a harpsichord is. What history does he have?
Musical instrument harpsichord
Those who attended the lessons of musical history and literature can say with confidence that the harpsichord is an ancient instrument that appeared back in the 15th-16th centuries.
The mechanism of its work is quite complicated, and the sound is peculiar. In order to understand this, you need to listen to several songs while playing such an instrument.
For the most part, such an instrument can now be found in specialized places, namely in conservatories and musical institutions. All of these instruments are considered rare and are played very carefully, with care and caution, as old plucked mechanisms can break.
Harpsichord music today
Few people at the moment can boast that they prefer to listen to music played on the harpsichord. It takes a little effort to find this kind of audio.
Maybethis is because the instrument sounds strange to us.
History of the harpsichord
In order to understand what a harpsichord is, it is worth delving a little into its history. This will let you know how it was made.
The musical instrument harpsichord has a rather interesting and dynamic sound. It was created back in the 15th century. This instrument was structurally very different from the clavichord, since each wooden key in it was attached to a string. It was due to this new approach that the harpsichord played quite loudly, which at that time could surprise people very much.
It took a lot of time to create such an instrument, since the mechanism, which required a separate string for each key, had to be made with high quality.
Types of such a tool can also be different. It could be reduced, like, for example, a piano, and expanded, like a piano. It could also be harpsichords, which had several rows of keys, but these are hard to see anywhere today.
This was done in order to change the strength of the sound depending on which piece was to be played.
Next, consider how the harpsichord has changed since the 15th century. The instrument was constantly improved for a harmonious sound. This means that with its original design, the sound range is only three octaves, then four. After that, more complex forms of the instrument were created, in which there were two and even three tiers of keys.
The switches allowed you to constantly change the registers of the sound of the instrument, you could evenuse multiple registers at the same time. In this case, the harpsichord could act as an independent instrument. One register was used when accompanying singing with ensembles and choirs.
How is this type of instrument different?
The first distinguishing feature of such an instrument is the harpsichord keyboard. Each of us knows what a piano keyboard looks like. It also looked like a harpsichord, only without enameling. They were simple wooden planks.
It is also worth noting that the same type of keyboard and mechanism was used by the creators of the instrument, which is now called the piano. We can say that this is its original version, which has been improved. For a long time, adjustments were made to the design of the instrument, the mechanism for attaching a string to a key was changed.
Harpsichord in modern times: where you can hear
Powerful sound and unusual appearance make the harpsichord interesting.
As you can see, today the harpsichord is not so popular instrument, but it is still used by some musicians in order to achieve the original sound and impress the audience. He appears even in modern films and TV shows. Many watched the series "Hannibal". It stars Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Caroline Dhavernas. Viewers may note that the hero, who was in the role of Hannibal Lecter, mastered suchunusual art, like playing the harpsichord. He noted that the sounds of the harpsichord had more power. This tool allows you to give your music a new sound.
"When the harpsichord plays" is a film of Soviet cinema. It was released on screens in 1966. It also has a storyline that is related to such a tool.
Harpsichord sound
The sound of the harpsichord is completely different from the music played on other types of instruments. This is determined by the design features of the harpsichord. He has a special sound for each string.
People who have a good ear and education know that the piano can play chords that require permission. These can be dominant chords, as well as terzquarts, which should come to the tonic (consonant and resolved sound).
On the piano, these chords sound very intense. On an instrument like the harpsichord, they will be even more dissonant. Again, this depends on the fact that each key produces a completely unique sound, but it corresponds to the scale we are used to.
Harpsichord: photo. Disassembled and assembled musical instrument
We have almost figured out this topic. In order to better understand what a harpsichord is and how it looks, you should look at the photo. So you can examine the tool in detail and find out what features it has. In this case, it is important to understand that the harpsichord can be quite simple in appearance, but its sound is absolutely unique. Exactlythis instrument has a beautiful tone that can be used in many styles of classical music.
Let's see what a musical instrument like a harpsichord looks like from the inside. Photos show what is under his cover. It can be seen that the harpsichord is also quite complex structurally. It contains many strings that were plucked into vibration. To do this, they used a bird's feather or natural leather, fixed on a special rod. Interestingly, each key and string has a different tone.
As you can see, the harpsichord is quite unremarkable in appearance. But at the moment when it was first created, it captured the imagination of the public.
The harpsichord was also popular in the 20th century. Musicians played classical works by various composers on it.
Result
At the moment, the harpsichord is not very popular, and some people do not even know about its existence as a musical instrument. But it is worth saying that the specific sound characteristic of this instrument is very interesting. It is thanks to him that the music played on the harpsichord sounds so bewitching. It is worth finding recordings of musical works performed on this instrument and listening to them.
Alas, the harpsichord is practically not used today as an accompaniment in musical accompaniment. Today, other instruments are in great demand - those that sound more melodic andordinary.
We hope that by reading this article you have learned what a harpsichord is and what it looks like.
