Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Harpsichord & Piano Performance. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 12 page research paper that contrasts and compares the performance practice of the Baroque harpsichord with the Classical piano. Topics addressed including fingering, ornamentation, improvisation and accompaniment. The writer particularly focuses on the differences between the two instruments and how this affects performance features. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Page Count:
12 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khpiahar.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
trills, master the art of fingering, read skillfully at sight regardless of the key and transpose extemporaneously without the slightest difficult; plan tenths even twelfths, or runs, cross hands in
every conceivable manner and excel in other related matters.1 The following examination of Baroque and Classical keyboard styles looks at a few of these skills and contrasts the manner
in which they were played on the two keyboard instruments that characterize each period, the harpsichord and the pianoforte. Harpsichord and Piano characteristics In discussing harpsichord performance during the
Baroque period, it is helpful to under precisely what a harpsichord is and how it produces its tones. As Ann Bond points out, it may seem a trifle "anachronistic"
to discuss the harpsichord by comparing it with a later instrument, the piano, but the familiarity of the piano makes a good frame of reference for most people.2 One of
the major differences between these two instruments is while the piano has hammers that strike the strings inside the instrument, the harpsichords string are plucked by a tiny quill referred
to as a "plectrum."3 Furthermore, the pianos strings are tightly stretched, while the harpsichords internal workings involve a lighter tension. Due to this, harpsichords can have lighter frames and thinner
strings. The piano has a heavy iron frame, thick strings (with some wrapped wire), pedals (including a sustain pedal), and one keyboard, usually with seven octaves. The harpsichord has no
sustaining pedal, although it may have other pedals, and sometimes as many as three keyboards, referred to as manuals.4 These keyboards are shorter than the pianos and generally have between
four and five octaves. The tone of a harpsichord is generally considered to be brighter in quality when compared to that of a piano. Because the harpsichord has no sustain
...