The Harpsichord

An early ancestor of the piano, the harpsichord is a plucked keyboard instrument known for its distinctive and crisp guitar-like timbre. Often beautifully decorated, harpsichords were designed to be seen as well as heard. In its early days, dynamic variations were mechanically impossible, so harpsichordists didn’t have much control over volume. However, the passage of time has brought about many improvements in overcoming the instrument’s limitations. Silent for the entire 19th century, when the piano dominated, the harpsichord had a modest renaissance in the 20th when composers like Manuel de Falla, Bohuslav Martinů and, later, György Ligeti wrote for it again. With the revival of interest in the music of the Baroque, the harpsichord thrives again in concert halls and opera houses all over the world.