Keyboard During The Baroque And Renaissance

Keyboard during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The Keyboard essentially refers to three main instruments during the Baroque and Renaissance periods, being the Organ, Clavichord and Harpsichord, plus the many variations and hybrids of these. Now the term "Keyboard" includes these instruments plus the Piano Forte, Forte Piano, Electronic Keyboard and more variations.

The bulk of Renaissance and Baroque Keyboard music was composed for the Clavichord, Harpsichord and Organ. The organ is undoubtedly the oldest of these, appearing in the 3rd century BC, although this early instrument called a "hydraulis" did not use a keyboard in the modern sense.

From its invention until the 14th century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Most of the time, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, instead, buttons and large levers which were operated by a whole hand. Almost every keyboard until the 15th century had 7 naturals to each octave.

The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century, the clavichord probably being the earliest. During their development, a B-flat key was added to the keyboard in order to remedy the tritone between F and B, and the other semitones were added later.

The Organ originally had no keyboard or manual on it, and it was not until around the 14th century that a manual came to be common place. There was usually a Pedal Board.

Sound is produced when the key or button/lever in older instruments is depressed/pulled activating a lever called a "backfall" which in turn activates a rod called a "tracker" which activates the Wind Chest.

On top of the wind chest are a set of pipes graduated in size (and hence as to pitch). A current of air then flows through to the pipe assigned to the key that was originally pressed - creating sound.

In a nut shell, this is the basic idea of the Organ. The overall construction of the Organ is much more complicated. Along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex man-made creations before the Industrial Revolution.

In contrast to most other keyboard instruments, the organ's sound output is continuous and constant for as long as a key is depressed. Unlike the clavichord, the volume of the sound does not depend on how hard the key is struck, though some modern instruments are touch-sensitive. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the Western musical tradition, with a rich history connected with Christian liturgy and civic ceremony.

The pipe organ is the grandest musical instrument in size and scope, and has been around in its current form since the 14th century. The Organ's range in size from a single short keyboard to huge instruments which can have over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four manuals with five octaves (61 notes) each, with a two-and-a-half octave (32-note) pedalboard.

The earliest surviving organ compositions are from Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, which shared a common style due to musicians traveling among the three countries.

In France, baroque organ music (referred to as French classical music, despite being from the Baroque period) was almost exclusively liturgical in nature and composed and performed in a very systemized manner. In addition, the organs were built along standardized lines. The compositions were smaller scale compared with those in other countries. Some of the forms (the Plein jeu, the Rйcit de Cromorne, and the Tierce en Taille, for example) utilized almost no counterpoint, while others (the Duo, the Trio, and the Fugue) were contrapuntal in nature (though the counterpoint was never as sophisticated or complex as in Germany and Austria).

In Germany and Austria, baroque organ music utilized increasing amounts of counterpoint. The primary musical forms for organ music in the baroque period were the Prelude and the Chorale Prelude. The prelude began as a simple piece in a relatively free form, but over time it evolved into the sophisticated form seen in the works of Dieterich Buxtehude, Johann Pachelbel, Georg Bцhm, and Nikolaus Bruhns. Preludes in this form consisted of alternating sections of free material and fugal material. The chorale prelude was a smaller-scale piece based on a chorale melody. Some chorale-based pieces were of a much larger scale, and these were called Chorale Fantasias. Baroque organ music reached its height in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach wrote a few preludes after the manner of Buxtehude and Pachelbel, but the majority of his free works consisted of two parts: a prelude and a fugue. He also wrote many chorale preludes.

The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard. The name is derived from the Latin word 'clavis', meaning "key" and 'chordis' meaning string.

The clavichord was invented in the early fourteenth century. It was popular in the 16th-18th centuries, but mainly flourished in German-speaking lands. It fell out of use in the 1840s.

Much of the music written for harpsichord, piano, and organ from the period circa 1400-1800 can be played on the clavichord; however, it does not have enough unamplified volume to participate in chamber music, with the possible exception of providing accompaniment to a soft baroque flute, recorder, or single singer. J. S. Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a great proponent of the instrument.

The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard. The name is derived from the Latin word 'clavis', meaning "key" and 'chordis' meaning string.

The clavichord was invented in the early fourteenth century. It was popular in the 16th-18th centuries, but mainly flourished in German-speaking lands. It fell out of use in the 1840s.

"Harpsichord" is really an umbrella term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the