Harpsichord During The Baroque Era

The Baroque Harpsichord During the Baroque-era, the harpsichord was an extremely popular instrument. It was heard in many musical pieces throughout the 1600’s. Harpsichord is defined as “a keyboard instrument that produces sound by depressing a key that drives a lever upward and forces a pick to pluck the string” (Wright 462).
Harpsichords all work the same way, no matter the size. With each string connecting to a key, a piece of material is placed in a small and thin piece of wood called a “jack”. The small piece of material will pluck the string, creating the sound of a note. Harpsichords typically have two strings per key. They also have stops, which help the harpsichord create different volumes. A Harpsichord usually has two separate keyboards although some do only have one. Since most harpsichords have two keyboards, they can both …show more content…
For example, in “Harpsichord Concerto in C Minor” by Carl Heinrich Graun, the sound of the harpsichord contrasting with the bass and violins gives the piece a significant amount of texture. During the first movement the harpsichord seemed to be the main focus. It featured many runs, playing with scales and creating the mood for that movement, creating a different general color of the piece. The second movement was a slower tempo, once again creating a different overall color to the piece. It sounds like something that would be used in a dancing hall. The melody of this movement was played with the right hand while the left hand played a mixture of ascending to descending scales. The piece concludes with repeating the first movement (Heinrich Graun). Contrasting to this piece, “Toccata for Harpsichord in G Minor” by Alessandro Scarlatti is purely harpsichord on its own. Although it is a solo, there is still texture coming from each hand playing something different. This piece features many more runs than the last one, making it sound more impressive