The Diapason an International Monthly Devoted to the Organ, the Harpsichord and Church Music
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THE DIAPASON AN INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY DEVOTED TO THE ORGAN, THE HARPSICHORD AND CHURCH MUSIC Sixl,,·Niutl, rear, No, 8. Whole ,No. 824 A SO"anlon Gillelle Publitatiolt JULY, 19;8 Harpsichord Registration by David Fuller There is nn extraordinary disparity produ<:e "more than a dOlen excellent between the possibilities (or h:npsi \·ariation.o; of play," but as ntankeoburg chord registration in early music anti admits, there \\' 015 no solo music that the e\'idence of its usc. From the J;ut required such variely and one was quarter of the 16th century at the compelled to improvisc it (Huhbard, latest to the demise of the instrument pp. 239·40). Probably the real goal about J 800, harpsichords rarely 11:'Id of such flexibility was to adapt the fewer than three colors (two stops instl'Ument for ensemble playing; this which could be used separately or to \\ as clearly the purpose of Hayward's gether), 1t.lcrscnnc (l-larmoll;c univcr· "pedall." selle, IG36--7) wrote of harpsichords The so called "contrasting" (Ripi") with "seven or eight kinds of stops or "cxpressive" (Hubbard ) double and h\o or three keyboards" which (i.e .• a harpsichord with two manuals were "aried and combined like those at lhe same pitch, or at the octa\'e, of the organ. l'ractorius claimed to playing different registers) probably ha\'e secn olle with four' choirs of originated early in the 17th century strings, and :Macc ( 1676 ) dcscribed ill France or the Low Countries, a harpsichord by John Hayward which whence it spread to England nod Ger hc c" lIed " "pcdall" "hose registers many. The most imponnnt determi· were controlled by the feet and gave nants of registrational flexibility on (with the "id of a hand operated harp such nn instrument are the means used stop) 24 1I \'arietics" (Russell, pr. 71- to make the upper manual register(s ) 3 ). None of these exotic instrument!' play"ble from the lower. and the hots survived, but "ny late 17th or 18th damping arrangements. The dogleg, century harpsichord with two manuals as used by English and Flemish mak· and three choirs (C\'en one lacking ers throughout the 17th and 18th cen stich accessories as a buff stop and turies, plays from both manuals if it restricted by a dogleg arrangement) is on; it cannot be engaged on one W<lS capable of at least ten distinct manu,,1 and disconnected from the rcgistr.uions. Documcnts of every kind, other. In both countries there was panicularly ad\'crtisements nnd inven often a second register on the upper tors' proposals, extol "ariel)' of color manual consisting of a ro\\' of jacks let and ease in obtaining it ;lS desirable into the wrestplank and plucking near features of harpsichords. And yet, in the nut to ~h' e a thin, intcnse, almost an age when rules govcrned so many disembodied sound (the English called aspects of music, no com'entions of it a "lute" and the Flemings " "spin harpsichord registration developed, ett," neither of which instrumenlS it c\'en in countries where the instrumcnt resembles ). The usc of this register was relati\'ely standardized. In 18th depended upon which choir of strings century Paris, for cxample, where a it plucked and which registers were pro t\\ a-manual harpsichord nearly ,,1\\ ays vided with dampers, since onc register had I: 8', 4'; II : 8'i coupler, com cannot play a choir of strings that is posers who wrotc for both instruments damped by another unless they are on and gm'e detailed instructions for or the snme keyboard or othcn\'ise con gan registration iu their prefaces and nected. Large l8th-century Flemish in the titles of their pieces were silent or English harpsichords with two mnn on the subject of harpsichord registra Anna.d·Louis Couperh.: S".pholt'. de da.... c:'n •• bevinnhul of 2nd mo ... ement, ht harp.,. u"ls, three choirs of strings, four rows c:hord part, lIIudrot'n, the revidraHonal Indlc:otlons bulle Ireg'sfre de bume., an the tion. Michel Correnc, in the prcface lower manual) and P. cia .... 'petff c:lo ... ler, or upper manual). Reproduced courtesy BlbU .. of jacks and a buff stop had far fewer to his NouL'eau livre de 1wEIs ( 1753-4 ) .heque Natlonale. 'aris. registrational possibilities than arith· for harpsichord or organ. directed .md in Italr, Spain and Portugal umil and the Flemings also built two-man· IUctic would predict; most important, harpsichordists to ignore the regiS1T.3. replaced b)' pianos. Thus a vcrr large lIal instnunems, but these had their on nonc of these instmTllents was it tions provided for the organ and to proportion of the harpsichord reper manuals pitched a 4th apart for trans· possible to play the two normal 8's play always on thc same manual, ex tory, including all Italian and Iberian posing, making them useless for eHects independently on t\\ 0 manuals ott the cept for pieces in which the left hand music. would normally h.we been of contrast. same time, as one must in a piecit plays on thc upper manual and the played without the benefil of manual In none of these instruments were cro;StC (e.g. Couperin's Le ti c-to c~clro c right on the 10\\ cr. changes and with the minimum variety the rcgisters casily manipul:ucd by the and several of DOlch's Goldberg Varia Surviving cddence for 5pccific reg in color or d)'namics. pla)'er. Flemish builders carried the IlOrls ). A piece croisee in John Jones's istration practices is of three kinds : flemish harpsichords of about 1575· jack-slides through holes in the check· Len o"s lor til e Harpsichord ( 1761 ), ncgative c\·idence supplied by known 1625, which evidently influenced Eng piece so that one hnd to reach around \'01. 2, p. 28, hots the left hand playing limitations of the instMlments them lish and French designs of the period, outside the case to gct at them; the piano on the upper manual and the seh'es, negative evidence implied by resembled Italian instruments in dis enrly Italians seem commonl}' to ha\'e right playing the same thing fort c, a the wording of instructions that do position (though they were vcry dif· providcd no handles at all as if the sixt ccnth-note later, on the lowcr, pro exist, "nd isolated instances of registrn· ferent in construction and tone), but register.; were meant to be mo\'cd ducing a scries of accents off the beat. tions for particular pieces. their registrational possibilities were only for tuning, or else one moved the An andante on pp, 53·54 of the same "'here Italian harpsichords (or in considerably increased by t11e buff (or keyboard in or out to engage or dis- collection contrasts a similar registra struments modelled after them) pre harp) stop, which muted one of the engage the jacks from risers on the tion with fort e for both hands in al dominated, registration must have choirs of strings, giving a pizzicato or .nils of the keys. The Dutchman ternate sections of the movement. been of the simplest kind. The norm harp-like effect; this was particularly Quirinus van Blankenburg claimed in The manual coupler, as uscd by the was a single manual and two registers true if the buff was divided 50 that 1708 to have "brought the stops to French and sometimes the Germans, (8', 4' or 8', 8') which were occasion treble and bass could be muted i.nde thc front so as to be able to move or a dogleg which could be disengaged ally supplemented by accessories such pendently. Harpsichords with three them while playing with a motion of b}' drawing the keyboard away from it, as the buff stop or arpichordum (met. choirs (8', 8', 4') are known to have the hand;" the instrument, which had as found on Gennan instruments, al pins contacting the strings to pro been made in Flanders and England, four registers and t\\'o manuals, could eliminated all these problems; and al duce a harsh buzzing). Harpsichords though French harpsichords lacked of this kind (mostly without the ac This arlicle is a revised and expanded version of an articl, written for The the extreme color of the lute and did cessories) prevailed everywhere until Ne\\' Gro\'e Dictionary of Music and ?-.Iusicians, ediled b), Stanley Sadie, to be not always cven havc a buff stop, the the last quarter of the J 6th century, published ;rI 1979 by Alacmillan Publishers Ltd., London. It iJ printed here remaining stops could be combined in Germany through much of the 17th, by permusiorl o/Ilre editor arid publishers. (Continued. Nit 6) THE DIAPASON Here & There Established in 1909 A" hll~rtlatio"al Montllly Devoted to the Organ, tile Harpsichord arid Church Aiwic Ko!Iren McF&rllIno, director of Murtagh. Official Journal o/Ihe American Institute 0/ OrgmJbuilders McFarlane Artists Management, ho!ls en· nounced the relocation of her firm , ef fective July I. At tho!lt time • .,11 business JULY. 1978 Editor lIctivities will be moved to 127 Ftlirm ount ARTHUR LAWRENCE Ave., H.,denstld, NJ Olbal; the ph one FEATURE will be 201 -342-7507. The move does not lusines. Manager e ntoil cha nges in the age ncy opertltion, Harpsichord Re9istration DOROTHY ROSER by DClTld Fuller 1, 6-7 o!Ind the some organists will continue to A ••i.'an' Edi,or be ava ile ble unde r this ml!lnllgement. WESLEY VOS REVIEWS Robert Clark, orglln professor at the Contributing Editor. University of Michigan, has been on sab.