The Cambridge companion to the harpsichord

Description

Written by fourteen leading experts in the field, this Companion covers almost every aspect of the harpsichord - the history of the instrument, tuning systems, the role of the harpsichord in ensemble, its use in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and includes separate chapters devoted to Domenico Scarlatti, J. S. Bach and Handel. Chapters featuring almost every national style are written by authors with close connections to the countries about which they are writing, including England, The Netherlands, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as the less extensive harpsichord traditions of Russia, the Nordic and Baltic countries, and colonial Spanish and Portuguese America. With musical examples, illustrations, a timeline of the harpsichord, and an appendix of composers, reliable editions and original sources, this book is for all who love the harpsichord, or want to learn more about it. Introduction 1. History and construction of the harpsichord John Koster 2. The Virginalists Pieter Dirksen 3. England Andrew Woolley 4. The Netherlands and Northern Germany Ton Koopman 5. Southern Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 1750 Pieter Dirksen 6. France Mark Kroll 7. Italy Rebecca Cypess 8. Portugal Joao Pedro d'Alvarenga 9. Spain Agueda Pedrero-Encabo 10. Domenico Scarlatti in Portugal and Spain Joao Pedro d'Alvarenga and Agueda Pedrero-Encabo 11. Russia Marina Ritzarev 12. The Nordic and Baltic countries Anna Maria McElwain 13. The harpsichord in colonial Spanish and Portuguese America Pedro Persone 14. Bach, Handel and the harpsichord Robert L. Marshall 15. The harpsichord in ensemble Mark Kroll 16. Contemporary harpsichord music Larry Palmer 17. Tuning and temperament Paul Poletti.