The Cambridge Companion to the Harpsichord

Covers every aspect of the harpsichord and its music, including composers, genres, national styles, tuning, and the art of harpsichord building.

Mark Kroll (Edited by)

9781316609705, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 January 2019

406 pages, 14 b/w illus. 40 music examples
24.5 x 17.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.8 kg

'This book is a valuable addition to the existing literature on this subject, to be commended to every harpsichord student or aficionado.' Thérèse de Goede, Early Music

Written by fourteen leading experts in the field, this Companion covers almost every aspect of the harpsichord - the history of the instrument, tuning systems, the role of the harpsichord in ensemble, its use in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and includes separate chapters devoted to Domenico Scarlatti, J. S. Bach and Handel. Chapters featuring almost every national style are written by authors with close connections to the countries about which they are writing, including England, The Netherlands, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as the less extensive harpsichord traditions of Russia, the Nordic and Baltic countries, and colonial Spanish and Portuguese America. With musical examples, illustrations, a timeline of the harpsichord, and an appendix of composers, reliable editions and original sources, this book is for all who love the harpsichord, or want to learn more about it.

Introduction
1. History and construction of the harpsichord John Koster
2. The Virginalists Pieter Dirksen
3. England Andrew Woolley
4. The Netherlands and Northern Germany Ton Koopman
5. Southern Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 1750 Pieter Dirksen
6. France Mark Kroll
7. Italy Rebecca Cypess
8. Portugal João Pedro d'Alvarenga
9. Spain Águeda Pedrero-Encabo
10. Domenico Scarlatti in Portugal and Spain João Pedro d'Alvarenga and Águeda Pedrero-Encabo
11. Russia Marina Ritzarev
12. The Nordic and Baltic countries Anna Maria McElwain
13. The harpsichord in colonial Spanish and Portuguese America Pedro Persone
14. Bach, Handel and the harpsichord Robert L. Marshall
15. The harpsichord in ensemble Mark Kroll
16. Contemporary harpsichord music Larry Palmer
17. Tuning and temperament Paul Poletti.

Subject Areas: String instruments [AVRL], Musical instruments & instrumental ensembles [AVR], Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Western "classical" music [AVGC], Music [AV]