Contemporary harpsichord

The Pleyel "Grand Modèle de Concert", favored by Wanda Landowska.

The harpsichord was largely obsolete, and seldom played, during a period lasting from the late 18th century to the early 20th.[1] The instrument was successfully revived during the 20th century, first in an ahistorical form strongly influenced by the piano, then with historically more faithful instruments. The revival was the joint work of performers, builders, and composers who wrote new harpsichord pieces.

Composers

Significant composers wrote for the harpsichord in the 20th century including Manuel de Falla, Francis Poulenc (Concert champêtre), Jean Françaix, Frank Martin, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen, Theo Bruins, Elliott Carter, and Iannis Xenakis. György Ligeti's composition Continuum in 1968 was a groundbreaking piece in terms of a new technique of playing,[2] and remains one of the most frequently performed pieces of contemporary harpsichord literature.[3]

Performers

Among the performers who propelled the revival of the harpsichord have been the following (listed by date of birth):

Landowska and also Elisabeth Chojnacka (1939- ) achieved particular reputations for the performance of new music for the harpsichord.

Instruments

In the earlier stages, 20th century harpsichords were heavily influenced by the technology of the modern piano, and usually included metal framing (which was entirely absent in historical instruments). It was felt that such construction would increase the stability of tuning. Since heavy framing tends to stifle harpsichord sound, instruments were bolstered by other means, notably the addition of a 16' stop (an additional set of strings that played an octave below normal pitch); such stops were somewhat unusual in the historical period but became widespread in the first half of the 20th century. An example was the harpsichord produced by the Pleyel et Cie company at the request of Landowska.[4]

Starting in the mid 20th century, instruments were introduced whose construction followed historical principles, with thinner cases, historical dispositions (arrangements of choirs of strings) and no metal framing. With time, such instruments came to dominate the scene, and the older heavy-frame instruments are no longer manufactured. They retain historical value, however, since they were the instruments that early-to-mid 20th century composers had in mind when they wrote their works.[5]

In popular music

The revival of the harpsichord spilled over into popular music. Its first appearance in jazz music happened around 1940, when pianist Johnny Guarnieri was asked to play a harpsichord in Artie Shaw's quintet "Gramercy Five".[6] The band recorded eight tracks between 1940 and 1945, which were reissued in 1990 (The Complete Gramercy Sessions).

In the 1960s and 1970s, the harpsichord was used by groups including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Kinks, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, The Mamas & the Papas, and Simon & Garfunkel. A great number of other artists since these decades to have used harpsichord in their work.

Film and television

The harpsichord appeared on the television show The Addams Family, played by Lurch. It appeared in the 1960s Miss Marple films featuring Margaret Rutherford and the cult show The Prisoner. In the hit 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory the harpsichord could be heard in accompaniment to the Oompa-Loompas.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Harpsichord History". Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  2. ↑ Bauer, Amy (2004). "'Tone-Color, Movement, Changing Harmonic Planes': Cognition, Constraints and Conceptual Blends", The Pleasure of Modernist Music. University of Rochester Press. ISBN 1-58046-143-3, pp. 22-23.
  3. ↑ [gradworks.umi.com/3420131.pdf Joyce Zankel Lindorff, Contemporary Harpsichord Music: Issues for Composers and Performers], MA Thesis, Juilliard School, p. 17.
  4. ↑ Richard, J.A. (1979). "The Pleyel Harpsichord". The British Harpsichord Society. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  5. ↑ For discussion in more detail, see History of the harpsichord, Hubbard (1965), and Kottick (2003).
  6. ↑ Berindei, Mihai (1976). Jazz Dictionary, Scientific and Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, p. 115

References

External links