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clavichord
clavichord. Small kbd. instr. developed in 14th cent. from the monochord and sometimes called clarichord or manichord or chekker. The early clavichord used the same str. to produce 2, 3, or 4 notes by stopping the str. at different points along its length. There was a bridge for each note which was brought into contact with the str. from pressure on a key on the kbd. The bridge also sounded the str., producing a very soft attack. Because of this process of stopping the str., the early clavichord was known as gebunden, or fretted. (gebunden means ‘bound’, and the frets on some early instr. were cords bound round the fingerboard.) Because some notes employed the same str. they could not be played simultaneously, but by the 17th cent. the proportion of str. to keys increased until in the early 18th cent. some clavichords were unfretted (bundfrei). Essentially an instr. for private practice, being too soft in tone for concert use, and is used in this way by orgs. In 20th cent. Howells has composed for it.
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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-clavichord.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-clavichord.html |
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clavichord
clavichord , keyboard musical instrument invented in the Middle Ages. It consists of a small rectangular wooden box, placed upon a table or on legs, containing a sounding board and a set of strings. Keys cause the strings to be struck with small wedges of metal called tangents, which not only set the string into vibration but determine its vibrating length by means of a sort of fretting. Thus one string suffices for about four keys. Early in the 18th cent., clavichords were built with a string for each key; such instruments were more expensive and harder to tune, but gradually supplanted the older ones. The clavichord was musically important from the 16th until the end of the 18th cent. when the pianoforte replaced it. The most notable composer to write expressly for it was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
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"clavichord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "clavichord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-clavicho.html "clavichord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-clavicho.html |
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clavichord
clav·i·chord / ˈklavəˌkôrd/ • n. a small, rectangular keyboard instrument, popular from the early 15th to early 19th centuries. ORIGIN: late Middle English: from medieval Latin clavichordium, from Latin clavis ‘key’ + chorda ‘string.’ |
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"clavichord." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "clavichord." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-clavichord.html "clavichord." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-clavichord.html |
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clavichord
clavichord Earliest stringed musical instrument with mechanical action controlled by a keyboard. Possibly originating in the 13th century, it was used extensively from the 16th to 18th centuries. The clavichord has a delicate, expressive tone; it was superseded by the harpsichord and then by the piano.
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"clavichord." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "clavichord." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-clavichord.html "clavichord." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-clavichord.html |
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clavichord
clavichord string-and-key instrument. XV. — medL. clāvichordium, f. L. clāvis key + chorda string, CHORD.
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T. F. HOAD. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-clavichord.html T. F. HOAD. "clavichord." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-clavichord.html |
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clavichord
clavichord
•record • telerecord • needlecord
•ripcord, whipcord
•discord • tape-record • misericord
•harpsichord • clavichord
•concord, Concorde
•drawcord • monochord • pentachord
•landlord • warlord • slumlord
•overlord • broadsword • greensward
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"clavichord." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "clavichord." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-clavichord.html "clavichord." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-clavichord.html |
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