A history of the harpsichord / Edward L. Kottick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kottick, Edward L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Harpsichord--History.

Harpsichord.

History.

Harpsichord music.

Physical Description:

xvi, 557 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.)

Place of Publication:

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2003]

Summary:

A History of the Harpsichord brings together for the first time more than 200 photographs, illustrations, and drawings of harpsichords in public museums and private collections throughout Europe the United States. Edward L. Kottick draws on his extensive technical knowledge and experience as a harpsichord builder to detail the changing design, structure, and acoustics of the instrument over seven centuries.

Based on painstaking research, the book considers the place of the instrument in society and vividly describes the market forces that brought about changes in its form, decoration, and cultural importance. An accompanying CD includes performances on several of the historical instruments described and illustrated in the volume, including a 1580 spinett virginal by Martin van der Biest and instruments built by Ruckers and Pleyel. The volume devotes attention to American harpsichord design as well as to present and future uses of the instrument.

Contents:

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. From psaltery and monochord to harpsichord and virginal

The sixteenth century. The emergence of the northern harpsichord ; Antwerp harpsichord building between Karest and Ruckers ; Early Italian style

The seventeenth century. The Ruckers-Couchet dynasty ; Later Italian style ; Seventeenth-century international style ; France ; Germany and Austria ; England

The eighteenth century. The decline of the Italian harpsichord ; The Iberian Peninsula ; Harpsichord building in France up to the revolution ; The Low Countries in the post-Ruckers era ; Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, and Switzerland ; Great Britain and America

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The harpsichord hibernates ; The harpsichord revival from the Paris Exposition to World War II ; The modern harpsichord ; Into the future.

Contents of compact disc: Why ask you / Giles Farnaby (Colin Tilney)

My Lady Nevill's ground / William Byrd (Chris Farr)

La volta / Byrd (Sharon Gould)

Toccata / Giovanni Picci [i.e. Picchi] (Byron Schenkman)

Tedesca dita la Proficia / Marco Facoli (Sharon Gould)

Les rozeaux / François Couperin (Sharon Gould)

Toccata nona / Girolamo Frescobaldi (Zsusza Petris)

Les buffons / John Bull (Peter Williams)

Andante con gran espressione : from Toccata in G / João de Sousa Carvalho (Susanne Skyrm)

La forqueray / Jacques Duphly (Arthur Hass)

Adagio : from First suite / Joseph Hector Fiocco (Ton Koopman)

Variation 16 : from Goldberg variations / Johann Sebastian Bach (Alan Curtis)

Almand in G / William Croft (Richard Burnett)

Sonata no. 7. Presto ; Andante ; Allegro / Thomas Arne (Richard Burnett)

Introduction to Zadok the priest / George Frideric Handel ; arr. by Kenneth Mobbs (Kenneth Mobbs)

Italian concerto. Allegro / J.S. Bach (Wanda Landowska)

Duetto in F / J.S. Bach (Zuzana Růžičková)

Sonatas 35, 36 / Domenico Scarlatti (Ralph Kirkpatrick)

Passacaille : from Suite in C / Louis Couperin (Katherine Roberts).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 475-540) and index.

The compact disc contains performances on various harpsichords built between the 16th and 20th centuries. Except for the performances by Sharon Gould, all works were previously released.

ISBN:

0253341663

OCLC:

49681161