The harpishcord’s organological evolution is widely articulated throughout centuries. Its ancestor is the psaltary, an ancient oriental instrument with plucking cords, to which was added a keyboard to wich is attached a small plectrum which plucks the string. From the simple intrument with a single keyboard and just one register, from 15th to 18th century, the harpishcord’s sound skills are enlarged.

Harpishcords are made of two keyboards and sometimes even of three, and the extension of the keyboards themselves is changed, becoming, especially in french instruments, five octaves long. F.W. Marpurg (1718-1795) in his “Principes du Clavecin” says: Quand un clavier excède l’étendue de ces quatre Octaves, on se sert de terme Contre-ton ou de ravallement pour designer les sons ajoutés en haut, au.dessus de la quatrième Octave, que l’on commence à compter une cinquième Octave. Using different sections of jacks (which supports the plectrum) connected with different keylevers we are able to enlarge all the possible combinations of sound.

With the outcoming of the ‘fortepiano’, followed by the piano itself, the harpishcord’s production is stopped. We have to wait 1880 when an italian constructor, Luigi Tommasini, modifies a Taskin harpishcord and before the end of the century, with Erald and Pleyel, will begin the manifacturing of new harpishcords. In Germany Ammer, Merzdorf, Neupert, Sabathil and Sholz, Goble and Hodson in England and Chickering in the U.S. will do the same. During 1909 Pleyel starts the manifacturing of a concert harpishcord, on commission of Wanda Andowska, made up of a sixteen-foot register. Even Wittmayer, De Blaise, Lincoln, Dolmetsch, Dowd, Hubbard and many other manfacture serial harpishcords.

Until the seventies, harpishcord was used to be an industrial instrument, mostly different from the original one: its weight and dimensions are enlarged in order to be more similar to piano; materials are changed, keyboards are enlarged just as the strings and registers and new technical features are introducted. In particular pedals allow to act on the jacks without interrupting the execution. These are important changes which influence the manifacturing and the instrument technique.

Harpishcord is more similar to piano and organ than to the original psaltary: the 4, 8, 16-foot registers are so called due to organ and the manifacturing of keyboards, strings and the soundboard are strictly connected with the development of piano. Recently the philological research has brought to us a new way of manifacturing instruments which is more related to the origins, considering the using of materials and the construction techniques. We can so devide the harpishcord history into three parts: A, the origins; B the development and then the philological return to A.

Nowadays we can choose from a great variety of perfectly rebuilt copies of original instruments: a Taskin will be perfect for french music, a Grimald for italian one. But original characteristics are often modified and so different peculiarities may coexist. The harpishcord’s aesthetics is of course modernized (apart from the traditional copies) in order to make it simpler and essential, without the typical ancient decorations.

The large variety of intruments and the possibilities to modify them are aspects really important both for the composer and the player: the former has to think about the characteristics of the harpishcord on which his piece will be played and the latter has to understand composer’s will and find the right instrument to apply it. The accurate choice of the harpishcord made by the composer can even be a problem when the instrument is hard to find or out of production, as it is happening for harpishcord music written in the ‘60s-‘80s. We are running the risk of losing these important productions and the executors (Bernardi, De Robertis, Lanzillotta, Morini, Porta and others) who foster the secrets about the execution of that music, should help us not to ignore it.

Twentieth century’s composers, who wrote harpishcord music, focused their attention on an instrument which was considered out-of-date. Harpishcord has not got a strong voice, its sound depends both on the amount of notes played together and on the combination of registers used and, though it is ‘forte’ at the beginning, it vanishes very soon. The mechanical features are slighter than in the piano, so the execution can result really fast. Moreover, the variety of registers gives to the harpishcord the possibility to have a great choice of tones. These are all characteristics which make this instrument unique, not comparable to piano, just as organ and piano itself. Despite the fact that they are all played with a keyboard, and have a common ancestor, they show different features which make them uncomparable. We know that Claude Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799), after having heard an English piano, said to Taskin: “….jamais ce nouveau-venu detrônera le majestueux clavecin”.(3)

Voltaire, who loved harpishcord, wrote (8th december 1774) about piano: “…. Cet instrument a ses proprièté, comme le Violon a les siennes. Si le clavecin n’enfle point ses sons; si les bâtemens redoublés sur une même note ne lui conviennent pas extrèmement; jl a d’autres avantages, qui sont, La precision, La nèteté, Le brillant; Et L’étendue”.

Some composers chose the harpishcord just to evocate the past but there is a great amount of them who loved this intrument and all the possibilities it offers: the Italian production is primarly important compared to other countries, it just comes after the US.
Harpishcord is used both in orchestra and as a soloist: in chamber music we can often see it together with the flute, while many concerts have been written for this instrument, just as for piano.

Lots of Italian nineteenth century’s composers have written for harpishcord: F. Busoni (1866 -1924), the first, wrote “Die Brautwahl”, 1906, an Opera in which the harpishcord is introduced on the stage. He also wrote the “Sonatina ad usum infantis” which has some technical features typical of piano but can be played even on the harpishcord.

B. Bettinelli (1913 - 2004) dedicates to this intrument the “Fantasia per clavicembalo”, 1975, in which he indicates even the registration and the harpishcord model to play on: Neupert’s Bach. The ‘fantasia’ is characterized by a dramatic tension which is typical of Bettinelli even if it is written in a tradiotional style.

E. Morricone (1928), looking bacwards to applicate styles of the past, writes “Neumi”, 1988, and”Mordenti”, 1988, the former written without ‘tempo’ just as the “Préludes non mesurés”, the latter full of sequences of grace notes. D. Guaccero (1927 - 1984) in his “Improvvisazione”, 1962, improvises new techniques on the modern harpishcord. L. Berio (1925 - 2003), instead, makes the player execute the piece from the end to the beginning after having played it once, in his “Rounds for Harpsichord”, 1964.

F. Pennisi (1934 - 2000) is decorative, in his music grace notes and parts full of sound switch to moments in which the sound is rarefied. F. Donatoni (1927- 2000) wrote 28 compositions for harpishcord, from “Movimento”, 1959, to “Esa in cauda V”, 2000. In recent times the authors felt the influence of a variety of genres: from disco music (F. Caldini - 1959) to Jazz with P. and L. Minafra (1951 e 1982), folkloristic music with A. Nicoli (1950) and minimalism with F. Perocco (1972). The harpishcord, strong of his ancient origins, is easily able to fix different musical genres, often very far each other.