The Typical Italian Harpsichord
The instrument chosen to illustrate the stylistic features of the Italian harpsichord is also in the collection of the U.S. National Museum. This harpsichord, purchased for the Museum in 1892 by Dr. G. Brown Goode, was made in 1665 by Giacomo Ridolfi, who claimed Girolamo Zenti as his teacher. The inscription on the nameboard reads "Jacobus Rodolphus Hieronymi de Zentis Discipulus MDCLXV Facieba."
Like the virginal described above, this harpsichord is separable from its outer case. The outer case rests on a separate stand consisting of three gilt cupids and a floral garland. Since the painted decoration of this case is not original, another outer case, belonging to a harpsichord made by Horatius Albana in 1633, was selected for the illustration (fig. 1).
Two unison strings per key and two registers of jacks are provided. The apparent compass of the keyboard is from C/E to c´´´. The remains of pedal connections can be seen on the lowest eight keys.
The sides of the harpsichord are 5⁄32" thick; the bottom is 9⁄16" thick. The sides and lining are supported by knees that do not extend clear across the bottom of the instrument as they do in the virginal.
The knees are small triangular pieces, as shown in figure 8. Since the added tension of the second set of strings demands a somewhat more substantial framework than that employed in the virginal, a series of braces are attached to the floor. These are connected to the lining by several diagonal braces (fig. 9). This produces a remarkably strong but very light structure. The keys (not shown) are of more constant length than those of the virginal; therefore, the touch is much more uniform.
Figure 9.—Framework of harpsichord. a, wrest plank; b, belly rail; c, rib; d, bottom brace; e, diagonal brace; f, knee; g, lining. Scale, 1:8.
Figure 10.—Layout of harpsichord soundboard. Scale, 1:8.
The wrest plank is supported by two end blocks, against which the partition behind the action (called the belly rail) is also placed. The soundboard is glued to the top of the belly rail. The wrest plank is veneered with cypress, giving the appearance that the soundboard extends over it. The jack guides also rest on the end blocks in the space between the wrest plank and the belly rail. Figures 8 and 11 clarify the arrangement of these structural features.
Figure 10 shows the layout of ribs, bridges, and strings on the soundboard. The soundboard is about 1⁄8" thick. The bridge on the wrest plank tapers in height from 3⁄8" in the treble to 7⁄16" in the bass and in width from 5⁄16" to 7⁄16". The soundboard bridge measures about 3⁄8" by 1⁄4" and has virtually no taper. The soundboard does not have a rose, although that decorative device is fairly common on Italian harpsichords.
The jack guides are built up of spacer blocks held together by thin strips along the sides. There is now no provision for moving the guides, although plugged-up holes visible in the right end of each guide suggest that they originally could be disengaged. In Italian harpsichords generally, the jack guides were controlled by knobs projecting through the sides of the case. Sometimes these harpsichords had levers pivoted on the wrest plank and attached to the guides. The Ridolfi case has not been patched and there are no holes in the wrest plank where levers could have been attached; so, the guides probably were not intended to be movable.
The jacks are simple slips of walnut measuring about 3⁄16" by 7⁄16" by 3-1⁄8". The arrangement of the tongue, spring, plectrum, and damper are shown in figure 11. The dampers are small pieces of buckskin held in slots at the tops of the jacks. The plectra, perhaps not original, are of leather. Of course, there are no adjusting screws or capstans of any variety.
The direction in which the plectra of each row of jacks should be pointing is not known. Two clavicytheria having two registers of strings and a single row of double tongue jacks have been examined by the author. Each of these jacks has two plectra, one pointing to the right and one to the left. Turning these jacks around does not alter the order of direction. The plectra nearest the keyboard points the same way whether the jack is upside down or not. In the clavicytherium at the Smithsonian Institution the plectra nearest the keyboard points to the player's left. In a clavicytherium at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts the opposite is true. Probably both arrangements were used in harpsichords also.