Full Description
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 six 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
List of Plates and IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries1. From Psaltery and Monochord to Harpsichord and VirginalThe Sixteenth Century2. The Emergence of the Northern Harpsichord3. Antwerp Harpsichord Building between Karest and Ruckers 4. Early Italian Style The Seventeenth Century 5. The Ruckers-Couchet Dynasty6. Later Italian Style7. Seventeenth-Century International Style8. France9. Germany and Austria10. EnglandThe Eighteenth Century 11. The Decline of the Italian Harpsichord12. The Iberian Peninsula 13. Harpsichord building in France to the Revolution14. The Low Countries in the Post-Ruckers Era15. Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, and Switzerland16. Great Britain and America The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries17. The Harpsichord Hibernates18. The Harpsichord Revival from the Paris Exposition to World War II 19. The Modern Harpsichord20. Into the futureGlossaryBibliography Appendix: Exploded views Index
