The Cambridge Companion to the Harpsichord Cambridge Companions to Music Series

Written by fourteen leading experts in the field, this Companion covers almost every aspect of the harpsichord - the history of the instrument, tuning systems, the role of the harpsichord in ensemble, its use in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and includes separate chapters devoted to Domenico Scarlatti, J. S. Bach and Handel. Chapters featuring almost every national style are written by authors with close connections to the countries about which they are writing, including England, The Netherlands, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as the less extensive harpsichord traditions of Russia, the Nordic and Baltic countries, and colonial Spanish and Portuguese America. With musical examples, illustrations, a timeline of the harpsichord, and an appendix of composers, reliable editions and original sources, this book is for all who love the harpsichord, or want to learn more about it.

Introduction; 1. History and construction of the harpsichord John Koster; 2. The Virginalists Pieter Dirksen; 3. England Andrew Woolley; 4. The Netherlands and Northern Germany Ton Koopman; 5. Southern Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 1750 Pieter Dirksen; 6. France Mark Kroll; 7. Italy Rebecca Cypess; 8. Portugal João Pedro d'Alvarenga; 9. Spain Águeda Pedrero-Encabo; 10. Domenico Scarlatti in Portugal and Spain João Pedro d'Alvarenga and Águeda Pedrero-Encabo; 11. Russia Marina Ritzarev; 12. The Nordic and Baltic countries Anna Maria McElwain; 13. The harpsichord in colonial Spanish and Portuguese America Pedro Persone; 14. Bach, Handel and the harpsichord Robert L. Marshall; 15. The harpsichord in ensemble Mark Kroll; 16. Contemporary harpsichord music Larry Palmer; 17. Tuning and temperament Paul Poletti.

Mark Kroll's distinguished career as a performer, scholar and educator spans a period of more than fifty years. He has appeared worldwide as a harpsichordist and fortepianist, published four books, made numerous recordings, and is Professor emeritus at Boston University, where he served for twenty-five years as Professor of Harpsichord and Chair of the Department of Historical Performance. He is currently recording the complete Pièces de clavecin of François Couperin.