The clavichord, forerunner of the piano, was one of the most important instruments in Western keyboard history until the first decades of the nineteenth century. Bernard Brauchli’s comprehensive history fills a major gap in the literature on this instrument. Beginning with the earliest-known references, he traces the clavichord’s evolution up to the mid-nineteenth century, ending with a study of performance technique. The clavichord’s structural developments (traced largely through an analysis of extant instruments), literary documentation (much of it presented here for the first time in English), treatises and iconographical sources are presented in chronological order. What emerges from this study of the various sources is an overview of the essential role this instrument played both socially and musically for more than four centuries, restoring the clavichord to the position it justly deserves in history. Awarded the Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize for 2001, honoring the best book-length organological study in the English language published in 1998/99.
• This is the only comprehensive book on the subject • Richly illustrated, with around 150 pictures, and has extensive literary documentation • Written by a leading performer and teacher of the clavichord
Contents
Foreword; Christopher Hogwood; List of plates; Acknowledgements; 1. Origins of the clavichord; 2. The early clavichord: 1400 to the beginning of the sixteenth century; 3. The clavichord in the sixteenth century; 4. The clavichord in the seventeenth century; 5. The clavichord in the eighteenth century; 6. The clavichord in the nineteenth century; 7. Aspects of clavichord performance practice; Conclusion; Appendices; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Reviews
‘… a warm welcome for this handsome, scholarly and approachable book … as an account of the clavichord’s evolution, this one is outstanding’. The Musical Times
‘I thought I knew a reasonable amount about the clavichord, but this book told otherwise … This is a superbly presented and very readable book which I can strongly recommend.’ Douglas Hollick, Choir and Organ
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