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75-405: In the earliest violin sonatas a bass instrument and the harpsichord played a simple bass line (continuo) with the harpsichord doubling the bass line and fixed chords while the violin played independently. The music was contrapuntal with no fixed format. Georg Philipp Telemann wrote many such sonatas as did Johann Sebastian Bach . Bach also wrote sonatas with harpsichord obbligato , which freed

150-403: A hitchpin that secures it to the case. While many harpsichords have one string per note, more elaborate harpsichords can have two or more strings for each note. When there are multiple strings for each note, these additional strings are called "choirs" of strings. This provides two advantages: the ability to vary volume and ability to vary tonal quality. Volume is increased when the mechanism of

225-421: A keyboard . This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic. The strings are under tension on a soundboard , which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. Like a pipe organ , a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard manual , and even

300-438: A pedal board . Harpsichords may also have stop buttons which add or remove additional octaves. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute . The term denotes the whole family of similar plucked-keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals , muselar , and spinet . The harpsichord

375-570: A 5-octave instrument is F 1 –F 6 (FF–f‴). Tuning pitch is often taken to be A 4  = 415 Hz, roughly a semitone lower than the modern standard concert pitch of A 4  = 440 Hz. An accepted exception is for French baroque repertoire, which is often performed with a = 392 Hz, approximately a semitone lower again. See Jean-Philippe Rameau 's Treatise on Harmony (1722) [Dover Publications], Book One, chapter five, for insight into French baroque tuning; "Since most of these semitones are absolutely necessary in

450-467: A clavicytherium, the jacks move horizontally without the assistance of gravity, so that clavicytherium actions are more complex than those of other harpsichords. Ottavini are small spinets or virginals at four-foot pitch . Harpsichords at octave pitch were more common in the early Renaissance, but lessened in popularity later on. However, the ottavino remained very popular as a domestic instrument in Italy until

525-595: A combined simulacrum of the Zombies' album Odessey and Oracle (1968), McCartney's contributions to The Beatles (1968), Honeybus ' single " I Can't Let Maggie Go " (1968), Scott Walker 's chamber pop, and Crosby, Stills & Nash vocal harmonies. English baroque survived into the early 1970s, as record labels sought to capitalize on the singer-songwriter phenomenon by offering lavish string arrangements to unknowns. Among these artists were Nick Drake and individual members of Honeybus. The quaintness of baroque pop and

600-450: A harpsichord with lowest key E is tuned to match the keyboard layout. When scholars specify the pitch range of instruments with this kind of short octave, they write "C/E", meaning that the lowest note is a C, played on a key that normally would sound E. In another arrangement , known as "G/B', the apparent lowest key B is tuned to G, and apparent C-sharp and D-sharp are tuned to A and B respectively. The wooden case holds in position all of

675-434: A lid that can be raised, a cover for the keyboard, and a music stand for holding sheet music and scores. Harpsichords have been decorated in a great many different ways: with plain buff paint (e.g. some Flemish instruments), with paper printed with patterns, with leather or velvet coverings, with chinoiserie , or occasionally with highly elaborate painted artwork. The virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular form of

750-418: A majestic, orchestral sound. Its prominent characteristics are the use of contrapuntal melodies and functional harmony patterns. It was intended to be a more serious and mature outgrowth of rock music. Journalist Bob Stanley uses the term "English baroque" to describe a subset that existed between 1968 and 1973, after the genre's more widespread presence in rock and pop. "Baroque rock" may be invoked as

825-462: A mechanism (the "coupler") that couples manuals together, so that a single manual plays both sets of strings. The most flexible system is the French "shove coupler", in which the lower manual slides forward and backward. In the backward position, "dogs" attached to the upper surface of the lower manual engage the lower surface of the upper manual's keys. Depending on choice of keyboard and coupler position,

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900-592: A number of pop hits since the 1940s, some record producers in the 1960s increasingly placed the instrument in the foreground of their arrangements. Inspired partly by the Beatles ' song " In My Life " (1965), various groups were incorporating baroque and classical instrumentation by early 1966. The term "baroque rock" was coined in promotional material for the Left Banke , who used harpsichords and violins in their arrangements and whose 1966 song " Walk Away Renée " exemplified

975-413: A pedal harpsichord, most pedal harpsichords were built based on the designs of extant pedal pianos from the 19th century, in which the instrument is as wide as the pedalboard. While these were mostly intended as practice instruments for organists, a few pieces are believed to have been written specifically for the pedal harpsichord. However, the set of pedals can augment the sound from any piece performed on

1050-422: A string adjacent to the gap. The English diarist Samuel Pepys mentions his "tryangle" several times. This was not the percussion instrument that we call triangle today; rather, it was a name for octave-pitched spinets, which were triangular in shape. A clavicytherium is a harpsichord with the soundboard and strings mounted vertically facing the player, the same space-saving principle as an upright piano . In

1125-477: A synonym of "baroque pop" or as its own distinct term. The Boston Globe ' s Matthew Guerrieri credits the origins of baroque pop to American pop musicians and record producers like Phil Spector and the Beach Boys ' Brian Wilson placing the harpsichord in the foreground of their arrangements. Harpsichords were widely available in recording studios, and had been used in popular music since as early as

1200-559: A table. Such tables were often quite high – until the late 18th century people usually played standing up. Eventually, harpsichords came to be built with just a single case, though an intermediate stage also existed: the false inner–outer , which for purely aesthetic reasons was built to look as if the outer case contained an inner one, in the old style. Even after harpsichords became self-encased objects, they often were supported by separate stands, and some modern harpsichords have separate legs for improved portability. Many harpsichords have

1275-557: A third fast movement in various formats. Several of his violin sonatas feature a movement in theme and variation format. Beethoven wrote ten violin sonatas throughout his composing career. His sonatas matured in both style and complexity; the Kreutzer Sonata is a work of extreme contrast. A rendition typically lasts forty minutes and is very demanding on both players. Brahms , Franck , Fauré , Debussy , Ravel , Prokofiev and Shostakovich amongst other later composers added to

1350-616: A tuning other than equal temperament is used, the instrument requires retuning once the keyboard is shifted. Throughout the historical period, the harpsichord was characteristically decorated; for extensive discussion and illustration see Kottick (2003). Cases were painted in bright colors (especially in 18th century France), or covered with elaborate wood veneer (18th century England), or adorned with sculptural moldings and knobs (Italy). Soundboards bore paintings, either of individual items such as flowers and animals (Flanders, also France), or even (in expensive instruments), full-scale paintings of

1425-497: Is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropriation of Baroque compositional styles ( contrapuntal melodies and functional harmony patterns) and dramatic or melancholic gestures. Harpsichords figure prominently, while oboes , French horns , and string quartets are also common. Although harpsichords had been deployed for

1500-460: Is his series of 555 harpsichord sonatas . Perhaps the most celebrated composers who wrote for the harpsichord were Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759), who composed numerous suites for harpsichord, and especially J. S. Bach (1685–1750), whose solo works (for instance, The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations ), continue to be performed very widely, often on the piano. Bach

1575-414: Is made of hardwood and is normally attached to the wrestplank. The section of the string beyond the nut forms its vibrating length , which is plucked and creates sound. At the other end of its vibrating length, the string passes over the bridge , another sharp edge made of hardwood . As with the nut, the horizontal position of the string along the bridge is determined by a vertical metal pin inserted into

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1650-488: Is obtained when the strings plucked simultaneously are an octave apart. This is normally heard by the ear not as two pitches but as one: the sound of the higher string is blended with that of the lower one, and the ear hears the lower pitch, enriched in tonal quality by the additional strength in the upper harmonics of the note sounded by the higher string. When describing a harpsichord it is customary to specify its choirs of strings, often called its disposition . To describe

1725-587: Is often able to control which choirs sound. This is usually done by having a set of jacks for each choir, and a mechanism for "turning off" each set, often by moving the upper register (through which the jacks slide) sideways a short distance, so that their plectra miss the strings. In simpler instruments this is done by manually moving the registers, but as the harpsichord evolved, builders invented levers, knee levers and pedal mechanisms to make it easier to change registration. Harpsichords with more than one keyboard (this usually means two keyboards, stacked one on top of

1800-410: Is wound around a tuning pin (also known as a wrest pin ) at the end nearest the player. When rotated with a wrench or tuning hammer, the tuning pin adjusts the tension so that the string sounds the correct pitch. Tuning pins are held tightly in holes drilled in the pinblock or wrestplank , an oblong hardwood plank. Proceeding from the tuning pin, a string next passes over the nut , a sharp edge that

1875-610: The Blanchet family and Pascal Taskin , are among the most widely admired of all harpsichords, and are frequently used as models for the construction of modern instruments. In England, the Kirkman and Shudi firms produced sophisticated harpsichords of great power and sonority. German builders such as Hieronymus Albrecht Hass extended the sound repertoire of the instrument by adding sixteen-foot and two-foot choirs; these instruments have recently served as models for modern builders. Around

1950-670: The 1940s, but the instrument did not gain prominence until the 1960s. One of the first pop rock hits to use a harpsichord was the Jamies ' "Summertime, Summertime" (1958). Later examples cited by Guerrieri range from the Beach Boys' " I Get Around " (1964) and " When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) " (1965) to the Righteous Brothers " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' " (1964) and the Mamas & the Papas ' " Monday, Monday " (1966). Guerrieri speculates that

2025-426: The 1965 album The Baroque Beatles Book , where their songs were reimagined in a tongue-in-cheek Baroque setting. A classically trained musician, Martin played what sounded like a baroque harpsichord solo on the Beatles' " In My Life ", released on their December 1965 album Rubber Soul . Author Joe Harrington comments that due to the Beatles' influence in all areas of pop music's development, "In My Life" led to

2100-409: The 19th century) the harpsichord gradually disappeared from the musical scene (except in opera, where it continued to be used to accompany recitative ). In the 20th century, it made a resurgence, being used in historically informed performances of older music, in new compositions, and, in rare cases, in certain styles of popular music (e.g., Baroque pop ). The harpsichord was most likely invented in

2175-563: The 19th century. In the Low Countries, an ottavino was commonly paired with an 8' virginals, encased in a small cubby under the soundboard of the larger instrument. The ottavino could be removed and placed on top of the virginal, making, in effect, a double manual instrument. These are sometimes called 'mother-and-child' or 'double' virginals. Occasionally, harpsichords were built which included another set or sets of strings underneath and played by foot-operated pedal keyboard which trigger

2250-539: The 19th century: an exception was its continued use in opera for accompanying recitative , but the piano sometimes displaced it even there. Twentieth-century efforts to revive the harpsichord began with instruments that used piano technology, with heavy strings and metal frames. Starting in the middle of the 20th century, ideas about harpsichord making underwent a major change, when builders such as Frank Hubbard , William Dowd , and Martin Skowroneck sought to re-establish

2325-447: The 21st century), which plucks the string. When the player releases the key, the far end returns to its rest position, and the jack falls back; the plectrum, mounted on a tongue mechanism that can swivel backwards away from the string, passes the string without plucking it again. As the key reaches its rest position, a felt damper atop the jack stops the string's vibrations. These basic principles are explained in detail below. Each string

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2400-424: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) has been advanced in later years as baroque pop, or even the first example of the genre, no contemporary press material referred to the album as "baroque", and instead commentators focused on the album's " progressive " traits. The album's baroque-pop aesthetics were limited to one track, " God Only Knows ", a song that The Record ' s Jim Beckerman deemed "baroque rock" in

2475-438: The Beatles' international success, inspired New York musician Michael Brown to form the Left Banke . Stanley considers the band's " Walk Away Renée " (1966) to be the first recognizable baroque pop single. "Baroque rock" was the label devised by the Left Banke's publicists and the music press. According to music critic Richie Unterberger , "the sobriquet may have been ham-fisted, but certainly there were many Baroque elements in

2550-435: The Left Banke's pop—the stately arrangements, the brilliant use of keyboards and harpsichords, the soaring violins, and the beautiful group harmonies." The band's follow-up single, " Pretty Ballerina ", continued their absorption in the genre. Guitarist Rick Brand later described their lyrics as "rather self-consciously beautiful musical whimsy, as you find in the latter 18th-century Romantic music, pre- Beethoven ". Although

2625-652: The Lovin' Spoonful 's " Rain on the Roof " (1966, harpsichord-sounding guitars). Music journalist Steve Smith highlights the Moody Blues and Procol Harum as "major practitioners" of baroque pop. He recognizes " For No One ", " She's Leaving Home " and " Piggies " as other examples of the Beatles' forays in the genre, and " Ride On, Baby " and " Ruby Tuesday " as further examples of the Rolling Stones' baroque pop. According to Stanley,

2700-509: The Rolling Stones ' " Play with Fire " (February 1965) and Brian Wilson's work on The Beach Boys Today! (March 1965). In Jackson's view, baroque pop and chamber pop were one and the same. Slate ' s Forrest Wickman credits the Beatles ' producer, George Martin , along with Paul McCartney and Wilson, as some of the men "most responsible" for the move into baroque pop. Author Bernard Gendron says that, further to American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein 's public approval of

2775-537: The arrival of "baroque-rock". Producer Tommy LiPuma recalled that "Once the Beatles featured that harpsichord sound on 'In My Life,' pop producers began working it in." The genre originated in the United Kingdom and the United States. By early 1966, further to Rubber Soul , various groups began using baroque and classical instrumentation, described as a "baroque rock" movement by Gendron. Among these recordings

2850-537: The band's music, the Beatles were feted in the "art-music world" in the summer of 1965 through the arrival of " 'Beatles à la Baroque' or more generically 'baroque rock ' ". He also writes that since this phenomenon preceded the release of Beatles recordings such as " Yesterday " (which used a classical string quartet ), it is likely that the band did not instigate the link between their music and its classical components, but were in fact responding to classical and baroque readings of their work. These readings also included

2925-402: The bridge, against which the string rests. The bridge itself rests on a soundboard , a thin panel of wood usually made of spruce , fir or—in some Italian harpsichords— cypress . The soundboard efficiently transmits the vibrations of the strings into vibrations in the air; without a soundboard, the strings would produce only a very feeble sound. A string is attached at its far end by a loop to

3000-501: The building traditions of the Baroque period. Harpsichords of this type of historically informed building practice dominate the current scene. Harpsichords vary in size and shape, but all have the same basic mechanism. The player depresses a key that rocks over a pivot in the middle of its length. The other end of the key lifts a jack (a long strip of wood) that holds a small plectrum (a wedge-shaped piece of quill , often made of plastic in

3075-407: The first harpsichords with two keyboards, used for transposition . The Flemish instruments served as the model for 18th-century harpsichord construction in other nations. In France, the double keyboards were adapted to control different choirs of strings, making a more musically flexible instrument (so-called 'expressive doubles'). Instruments from the peak of the French tradition, by makers such as

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3150-496: The forefront of the instrument's renaissance. Concertos for the instrument were written by Francis Poulenc (the Concert champêtre , 1927–28), and Manuel de Falla . Elliott Carter 's Double Concerto is scored for harpsichord, piano and two chamber orchestras . For a detailed account of music composed for the revived harpsichord, see Contemporary harpsichord . Baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock )

3225-423: The harpsichord ). Some early harpsichords used a short octave for the lowest register. The rationale behind this system was that the low notes F ♯ and G ♯ are seldom needed in early music . Deep bass notes typically form the root of the chord, and F ♯ and G ♯ chords were seldom used at this time. In contrast, low C and D, both roots of very common chords, are sorely missed if

3300-475: The harpsichord having only one string per note; the strings run parallel to the keyboard, which is on the long side of the case. A spinet is a harpsichord with the strings set at an angle (usually about 30 degrees) to the keyboard. The strings are too close together for the jacks to fit between them. Instead, the strings are arranged in pairs, and the jacks are in the larger gaps between the pairs. The two jacks in each gap face in opposite directions, and each plucks

3375-456: The harpsichord its external appearance and protects the instrument. A large harpsichord is, in a sense, a piece of furniture, as it stands alone on legs and may be styled in the manner of other furniture of its place and period. Early Italian instruments, on the other hand, were so light in construction that they were treated rather like a violin: kept for storage in a protective outer case, and played after taking it out of its case and placing it on

3450-501: The harpsichord may have been desirable for its buzzing, stinging timbre , which suited "the treble-heavy pop soundscape" of the time. The 1964 single " She's Not There " by the English band the Zombies marked a starting point for baroque pop, according to Stanley. He writes that the song "didn't feature any oboes but stuck out rather dramatically in 1964, the year of ' You Really Got Me ' and ' Little Red Rooster ' ", that its arrangement

3525-443: The important structural members: pinblock, soundboard, hitchpins, keyboard, and the jack action. It usually includes a solid bottom, and also internal bracing to maintain its form without warping under the tension of the strings. Cases vary greatly in weight and sturdiness: Italian harpsichords are often of light construction; heavier construction is found in the later Flemish instruments and those derived from them. The case also gives

3600-399: The instrument is set up by the player (see below) so that the press of a single key plucks more than one string. Tonal quality can be varied in two ways. First, different choirs of strings can be designed to have distinct tonal qualities, usually by having one set of strings plucked closer to the nut, which emphasizes the higher harmonics , and produces a "nasal" sound quality. The mechanism of

3675-407: The instrument, as demonstrated on several albums by E. Power Biggs . The archicembalo , built in the 16th century, had an unusual keyboard layout, designed to accommodate variant tuning systems demanded by compositional practice and theoretical experimentation. More common were instruments with split sharps , also designed to accommodate the tuning systems of the time. The folding harpsichord

3750-404: The instrument, called "stops" (following the use of the term in pipe organs ) permits the player to select one choir or the other. Second, having one key pluck two strings at once changes not just volume but also tonal quality; for instance, when two strings tuned to the same pitch are plucked simultaneously, the note is not just louder but also richer and more complex. A particularly vivid effect

3825-460: The jacks labeled A and engages instead an alternative row of jacks called "lute stop" (not shown in the Figure). A lute stop is used to imitate the gentle sound of a plucked lute . The use of multiple manuals in a harpsichord was not originally provided for the flexibility in choosing which strings would sound, but rather for transposition of the instrument to play in different keys (see History of

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3900-468: The keyboard instrument from playing only a bass line accompaniment and allowed in to enhance the part of the soloist. He also wrote sonatas for solo violin without any kind of accompaniment. Mozart was instrumental in the development of the classical violin sonata of which at least 36 are known. Mozart wrote mostly two movement sonatas, generally a fast movement in sonata form and a second, slower movement in various formats. In his later sonatas he added

3975-420: The kind usually executed on canvas. Keyboards could have the same "white keys" and "black keys" that pianos have today, but builders frequently employed the opposite pattern, with white sharps and black naturals. The study of harpsichord decoration became an important scholarly field in the 20th century, notably with the work of Sheridan Germann (2002), whose knowledge extended to the point of being able to pin down

4050-536: The late Middle Ages. By the 16th century, harpsichord makers in Italy were making lightweight instruments with low tension brass stringing. A different approach was taken in the Southern Netherlands starting in the late 16th century, notably by the Ruckers family. Their harpsichords used a heavier construction and produced a more powerful and distinctive tone with higher tension steel treble stringing. These included

4125-507: The most famous composers who wrote for the harpsichord were the members of English virginal school of the late Renaissance, notably William Byrd ( c. 1540–1623). In France, a great number of highly characteristic solo works were created and compiled into four books of ordres by François Couperin (1668–1733). Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) began his career in Italy but wrote most of his solo harpsichord works in Spain; his most famous work

4200-423: The other in a step-wise fashion, as with pipe organs) provide flexibility in selecting which strings play, since each manual can be set to control the plucking of a different set of strings. This means that a player can have, for instance, an 8' manual and a 4' manual ready for use, making it possible to switch between them to obtain higher (or lower) pitches or different tone. In addition, such harpsichords often have

4275-673: The particular anonymous artists who worked with particular builders. The great bulk of the standard repertoire for the harpsichord was written during its first historical flowering, the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The first music written specifically for solo harpsichord was published around the early 16th century. Composers who wrote solo harpsichord music were numerous during the whole Baroque era in European countries including Italy, Germany, England and France. Solo harpsichord compositions included dance suites , fantasias , and fugues . Among

4350-418: The period of sustained commercial success for pop and rock recordings with harpsichords and string quartets climaxed with the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , "which mixed everyday lyrics with music hall and Edwardiana to create lysergically enhanced parlour music ". Also in 1967, producer Mark Wirtz attempted to create a baroque pop concept album with A Teenage Opera , but

4425-464: The piano starting roughly in the late 1770s. Through the 19th century, the harpsichord was almost completely supplanted by the piano. In the 20th century, composers returned to the instrument, as they sought out variation in the sounds available to them. Under the influence of Arnold Dolmetsch , the harpsichordists Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (1872–1951) and in France, Wanda Landowska (1879–1959), were at

4500-403: The pitch of the choirs of strings, pipe organ terminology is used. Strings at eight-foot pitch (8') sound at the normal expected pitch, strings at four-foot pitch (4') sound an octave higher. Harpsichords occasionally include a sixteen-foot (16') choir (one octave lower than eight-foot) or a two-foot (2') choir (two octaves higher; quite rare). When there are multiple choirs of strings, the player

4575-522: The player can select any of the sets of jacks labeled in "figure 4" as A, or B and C, or all three. The English "dogleg" jack system (also used in Baroque Flanders) does not require a coupler. The jacks labeled A in Figure 5 have a "dogleg" shape that permits either keyboard to play A. If the player wishes to play the upper 8' from the upper manual only and not from the lower manual, a stop handle disengages

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4650-504: The plucking of the lowest-pitched keys of the harpsichord. Although there are no known extant pedal harpsichords from the 18th century or before, from Adlung (1758): the lower set of usually 8' strings "...is built like an ordinary harpsichord, but with an extent of two octaves only. The jacks are similar, but they will benefit from being arranged back to back, since the two [bass] octaves take as much space as four in an ordinary harpsichord Prior to 1980 when Keith Hill introduced his design for

4725-501: The project as a whole remained unfinished. However, the single " Excerpt from A Teenage Opera " reached #2 in the UK. At this time, the development in musical arrangements presented by baroque pop was challenged by the breakthrough of psychedelic rock bands from the San Francisco scene . In a climate equally informed by political radicalism in 1968, Stanley writes, "English baroque" continued as

4800-408: The repertoire pushing the form to its limits, or writing rules of their own. Schnittke (with his polystylistic technique), and Henze are noted modern composers of the violin sonata who have all brought about radical reformation of the classical sonata form as well as new technical demands on the performers. Harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of

4875-557: The same "retro instrumentation and elegant harmonies" vein as the Beatles' " Eleanor Rigby " (1966) and Procol Harum 's " A Whiter Shade of Pale " (1967). Gendron's "baroque rock" examples include "Walk Away Renée" with Spanky and Our Gang 's " Sunday Will Never Be the Same " (1967), and the Stone Poneys ' " Different Drum " (1967) – all of which used harpsichord and strings – and the Rolling Stones' "Lady Jane" (harpsichord and dulcimer ) and

4950-420: The style. Baroque pop's mainstream popularity faded by the 1970s, partially because punk rock , disco and hard rock took over; nonetheless, music was still produced within the genre's tradition. Philadelphia soul in the 1970s and chamber pop in the 1990s both reflected the spirit of baroque pop, while the latter incorporated much of the period's low fidelity musical aesthetic. In classical music,

5025-607: The term " Baroque " is used to describe the art music of Europe approximately between the years 1600 and 1750, with some of its most prominent composers including J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi . Much of the instrumentation of baroque pop is akin to that of the late Baroque period or the early Classical period , chronologically defined as the period of European music from 1690 to 1760 and stylistically defined by balanced phrases, clarity and beauty. Baroque pop, stylistically, fuses elements of rock with classical music, often incorporating layered harmonies, strings, and horns to achieve

5100-461: The tuning of organs and other similar instruments, the following chromatic system has been drawn up." Tuning an instrument nowadays usually starts with setting an A; historically it would commence from a C or an F. The harpsichord uses the bass clef (F clef). Some modern instruments are built with keyboards that can shift sideways, allowing the player to align the mechanism with strings at either A = 415 Hz or A = 440 Hz. If

5175-420: The use of violins and classical guitar became the target of parody at the end of the psychedelic era . In the 1990s, chamber pop derived from the spirit of baroque pop, characterized by an infusion of orchestral arrangements or classical style composition. It originated as a response to the lo-fi production that dominated in the 1990s. Between the 1990s and 2010s, baroque pop enjoyed a revival with bands like

5250-410: The year 1700 the first fortepiano was built by Bartolomeo Cristofori . The early fortepiano uses percussion, the strings being struck with leathered paper hammers instead of being plucked. Unlike the harpsichord, the fortepiano is capable of changes in dynamic volume, giving it its name. By the late 18th century the harpsichord was supplanted by the piano and almost disappeared from view for most of

5325-461: Was also a pioneer of the harpsichord concerto, both in works designated as such, and in the harpsichord part of his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto . Two of the most prominent composers of the Classical era , Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), wrote harpsichord music. For both, the instrument featured in the earlier period of their careers, and was largely supplanted by

5400-444: Was an instrument that could be folded up to make it more compact, thus facilitating travelling with it. On the whole, earlier harpsichords have smaller ranges than later ones, although there are many exceptions. The largest harpsichords have a range of just over five octaves , and the smallest have under four. Usually, the shortest keyboards were given extended range in the bass with a " short octave ". The traditional pitch range for

5475-489: Was comparably "restrained" and "almost medieval", and that its refined qualities were emphasised by singer Colin Blunstone having an enunciation that was "pure St Albans grammar ". Along with Burt Bacharach , Spector melded pop music with classical elements before they were combined with rock. Music historian Andrew Grant Jackson states that "the era of baroque pop", in which "rock melded with classical elements", began with

5550-426: Was the Rolling Stones' " Lady Jane ". The popularity of harpsichords in pop, rock and soul arrangements at this time reflected a desire for unusual sounds and, in the case of many American producers, a sought-for association with the retrospective focus that informed London's fashion scene and the psychedelic music scene there. The Zombies' "She's Not There", together with a predilection for all things British through

5625-408: Was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque music , both as an accompaniment instrument and as a soloing instrument. During the Baroque era, the harpsichord was a standard part of the continuo group . The basso continuo part acted as the foundation for many musical pieces in this era. During the late 18th century, with the development of the fortepiano (and then the increasing use of the piano in

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