The disposition of a
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
is the set of choirs of strings it contains. This article describes various dispositions and gives the standard notation for describing them.
If a harpsichord contains just one set of strings at normal concert pitch, its disposition is called 1 x 8
'. Here, the 8' means
eight foot pitch
An organ pipe, or a harpsichord string, designated as eight-foot pitch (8′) is sounded at standard, ordinary pitch. For example, the A above middle C in eight-foot pitch would be sounded at 440 Hz (or at some similar value, depending on how ...
, which designates normal pitch.
Harpsichord makers sometimes produced ''ottavini'', which were little harpsichords that sounded one
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
above normal pitch. The disposition of an ottavino would be called 1 x 4
', meaning it has one set of strings at
four foot pitch.
More substantial harpsichords contain more than one choir of strings. Their dispositions are described as above, using digits to count each type of choir. Thus, for example, many historical Italian harpsichords had the disposition 2 x 8'. The harpsichords of the celebrated French makers of the 18th century, such as
Pascal Taskin
Pascal-Joseph Taskin (27 July 1723 – 9 February 1793) was a Belgium-born French harpsichord and piano maker.
Biography
Pascal Taskin, born in Theux near Liège, but worked in Paris for most of his life. Upon his arrival in Paris, he apprentice ...
, were more often 2 x 8', 1 x 4' (the 4' choir sounded simultaneously with one or both of the 8' choirs, combining to produce a sound with 8' pitch, but an edgier tone quality). German makers occasionally included a 16-foot choir (one octave lower), which combined auditorily with the 8-foot choirs to produce a deep, sonorous tone; thus an instrument built 1710 by the German builder
J. A. Hass had the disposition 1 x 16', 2 x 8', 1 x 4'.
[Hubbard 1967, Plate XXVII]
Notes
References
*Hubbard, Frank (1967) ''Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disposition (Harpsichord)
Harpsichord