The sole remaining mystery of the virginals is its name – and its singular plurality. A virginals ? Nor need there be two instruments to speak of a ‘pair’ of virginals. This was common parlance in Tudor times. Origins of the Virginals As to the singular or plural form, both are acceptable these days – but why ‘virginal’ in the ...
waterwheel. Such instruments were often found in the more affluent gardens of Italy and Austria. Other organs were propelled by weight-driven clockwork. European Developments In Tudor England there were barrel-operated virginals, and 1687 saw a combined organ-and-spinet with 16 pipes and 16 strings, all within a single clock. In 1736, George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) wrote and arranged numerous ...
could be used as self-contained solo instruments. The organ, which had existed since Greek and Roman times, was becoming much more versatile, incorporating many more stops. The virginals, the precursor to the harpsichord, was becoming popular domestically, and clavichords were steadily developing. The lute was a very popular solo instrument and also accompanied solo singing ...
, the volume (and its tonal character) will vary according to the number of strings activated at any particular moment. The harpsichord proper (as opposed to its simpler siblings the virginals and the spinet) has two keyboards, or manuals, controlling two different sets of strings, and several ‘stops’, on the model of the organ, by which various ...
, the harpsichord was particularly effective and important in ensemble work, providing the continuo for voices or other instruments (usually improvised from an annotated bass line). Organ Way before virginals, clavichords and spinets were dreamt of, the organ was already in its mature stage of development. Simple versions existed before the Christian era, and by the tenth ...
piano was now fully fledged. Piano Types No survey of this instrument would be complete, however, without recognizing that the piano, like the harpsichord, clavichord and virginals before it, has always lived a double life – as a musical instrument on the one hand, and as an item of furniture on the other. Among the ...
plays itself. Origins of the Player Piano Though almost exclusively associated with the early-twentieth century, the idea of a self-playing piano had been around for centuries. Henry VIII’s self-playing virginals and Clementi’s studded-cylinder piano of 1825 were part of the same dream. The key to its fulfilment was forged with the invention of the automatic loom in 1804. In this ...
to refer to instruments with transverse strings – running at right angles to the keys. The longest (therefore deepest-sounding) strings were placed at the front, enabling makers to build virginals in a wide variety of shapes – rectangular, pentagonal and polygonal. These were desk-top instruments, and tended not to be made with a set of built-in legs as ...
piano. The most confusing is the use of the word to describe a square piano, and a more ancient confusion arises from its use as a synonym for the virginals or, indeed, any small harpsichord. Spinet Construction The word itself derives from the Latin spina (‘thorn’), which refers specifically to the use of quills to activate the strings. ...
, in that department anyway, was sounded with the advent of electronic instruments. Despite this, however, it seems that the piano is here to stay. Instruments | Virginals | Keyboards ...
Birthday, AD 1670. Court Employment At the age of 14, Purcell was appointed ‘keeper, mender, maker, repairer and tuner of the regals, organs, virginals, flutes and recorders and all other kinds of wind instruments whatsoever, in ordinary, without fee, to his Majesty and assistant to John Hingeston’. Hingeston (d. 1688) ...
were also surprisingly plentiful in the young colonies. Wealthy men imported ‘chests of viols’ – sets of basses, violas and violins. There were woodwinds, trombones, kettledrums, virginals, harps, lutes, hammered dulcimers, and – in 1711 – an organ. Music was played in taverns and private salon-like recitals, as well as sung in ...
The main opportunities for professional music-making in the Renaissance continued to be provided by the church and by royal and ducal courts, particularly those in Italy. They sponsored musical entertainment both on a large scale, such as the lavish Florentine intermedi, and on a more intimate level, in the form of the madrigal. The influence of humanism ...
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