
Menu Home Page Bio Fortepiano Clavichord Harpsichord Program Options 2007-08 Programs © 2007, Carol lei Breckenridge	The Clavichord *The clavichord is a keyboard instrument dating back to the Middle Ages, having a brass tangent which strikes the string, and remains against it as long as the key is held down. This enables the player to control the sound throughout its duration, and even subtly to change the pitch and to produce a vibrato. Having a quiet, intimate tone, the clavichord was especially prized in 18th-century northern Germany by composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The clavichord's role in north German "Empfindsamkeit" ("Sensitivity") is made evident through a series of poems praising the instrument's unique qualities, such as seen in this excerpt from Weisse's poem: "Sweet-sounding clavichord, what joys you bring to me! In solitude I do not lack pleasure . . . . If I am merry, a playful song resounds from you to me; if however I feel sad, sorrowing you attune yourself to me; if I raise up pious songs, how sublime you then sound!" (Translation by Annette Richards) I travel with a small "fretted" clavichord, Zuckermann's "King of Sweden," built by Edward Kottick, as well as a large, 5-octave, "unfretted" clavichord built by Paul Irvin. A fretted clavichord generally has pairs of strings which are struck by the same tangent in different places to produce pitches a half-step apart, enabling fewer strings and a smaller box, as portable as a modern Casio! The larger unfretted clavichord has separate strings for each key, and became more common in the later 18th century, along with greater chromaticism in the musical style. Refresh mind and spirit with a program of poetry and music* Carol lei Breckenridge, Clavichord Michael Herrick, Poetic Reader Poems are read in the original German, with translations passed out, in programs such as: "C.P.E. Bach and 'An das Klavier' Poetry" "Poetry and Fantasias by the Three Bachs: W. F., C.P.E., and J.S." Or enjoy a program of clavichord and fortepiano music: "Poetry and C.P.E. Bach: Rondos and Fantasias"
*Carol lei Breckenridge* Music Department Central College Box 6100 Pella IA 50219 USA Phone: 641-628-5105 FAX: 641-628-5395 Email: breckenridgec@central.edu

The Clavichord

The clavichord is a keyboard instrument dating back to the Middle Ages, having a brass tangent which strikes the string, and remains against it as long as the key is held down. This enables the player to control the sound throughout its duration, and even subtly to change the pitch and to produce a vibrato. Having a quiet, intimate tone, the clavichord was especially prized in 18th-century northern Germany by composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

The clavichord's role in north German "Empfindsamkeit" ("Sensitivity") is made evident through a series of poems praising the instrument's unique qualities, such as seen in this excerpt from Weisse's poem: "Sweet-sounding clavichord, what joys you bring to me! In solitude I do not lack pleasure . . . . If I am merry, a playful song resounds from you to me; if however I feel sad, sorrowing you attune yourself to me; if I raise up pious songs, how sublime you then sound!" (Translation by Annette Richards)

I travel with a small "fretted" clavichord, Zuckermann's "King of Sweden," built by Edward Kottick, as well as a large, 5-octave, "unfretted" clavichord built by Paul Irvin. A fretted clavichord generally has pairs of strings which are struck by the same tangent in different places to produce pitches a half-step apart, enabling fewer strings and a smaller box, as portable as a modern Casio! The larger unfretted clavichord has separate strings for each key, and became more common in the later 18th century, along with greater chromaticism in the musical style.

Refresh mind and spirit with a program of poetry and music

Carol lei Breckenridge, Clavichord
Michael Herrick, Poetic Reader
Poems are read in the original German, with translations passed out,
in programs such as:
"C.P.E. Bach and 'An das Klavier' Poetry"
"Poetry and Fantasias by the Three Bachs: W. F., C.P.E., and J.S."

Or enjoy a program of clavichord and fortepiano music:

"Poetry and C.P.E. Bach: Rondos and Fantasias"

Carol lei Breckenridge
Music Department Central College Box 6100
Pella IA 50219 USA
Phone: 641-628-5105 FAX: 641-628-5395
Email: breckenridgec@central.edu

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The Clavichord