On harpsichord the strings are plugged by quill-made plectrums, no hammers.Thanks for the recommendation! I am listening to the first track, Aria, as we speak. Not often we get to listen to a harpsichord. Pretty amazing because you can practically hear the hammer hitting the strings and the wavering of the physical strings.
Good stuff so far.
Here are some details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord
What’s to point out is the fact, that like on a pipe organ you can select “registers” that combine several octaves, so hitting one key plugs multiple strings.
Harpsichord can not play dynamically (aside from registration), no matter how soft or hard hard the key is hit, the sound is always the same loudness.
Therefore tempo partly is used to simulate dynamics, which nowadays sometimes might sound strange, as we are used to a more steady rhythmical performance.
The limitations of the harpsichord led to the development of the hammer-clavier until finally the piano-forte as we know it.
Bach’s compositions are indeed for harpsichord or organ. Pianoforte was invented later.
That all for helping you getting the right imagination when listening on Immanis.
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