Harpsichord

Клавесин

Audio: Harpsichord

The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument of the Baroque era, the piano's predecessor. The sound is produced by plucking the strings with a plectrum — crisp, silvery, brilliant, but without dynamic variation.

The harpsichord is the king of Baroque keyboards. Its famous limitation (no way to play louder or softer on a single keyboard) pushed composers toward other means of expression: virtuoso ornaments, dense polyphony, and contrast between manuals.

Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Rameau, and Couperin all wrote for the harpsichord. In the 20th century the harpsichord experienced a renaissance thanks to the authentic-performance movement: performers Wanda Landowska, Gustav Leonhardt, and Scott Ross returned it to the major stage. Ukraine's historically informed scene is actively developing in Kyiv, Lviv and other cities — the festivals Kyiv Baroque Fest, Music in Old Lviv and the international Bach-fest in Sumy give early music its natural voice.

Cultural Versus

Harpsichord

Sub-category:: keyboards

52%similarity

Bayan

Sub-category:: free-reed

The bayan is a button-keyboard variant of the accordion with button systems on both sides. The main concert instrument of the Ukrainian-Slavic tradition, capable of performing the most complex academic music.