The Function Of Louis Couperin Prelude From Suite In C Major

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I chose Louis Couperin- Prelude from Suite in C Major. After listening to the music, it almost sounds like he’s warming up before he goes into virtuosic piece. A prelude is a brief keyboard piece that is either an independent composition or it’s an introduction to another piece. They almost sound like an improvisation piece. (Ferris, pp. 127-128, 2014)
The harpsichord was very detrimental to the Baroque era. The harpsichord is a piano like instrument that is plucked instead of hit with a hammer and it has a distinctive sound. When a harpsichord key is depressed, a small piece called a plectrum plucks a string above the soundboard which produces a distinctive sound. As soon as the key is released, a very tiny piece of felt falls to stop the vibration which causes the sound to stop. The tones of the harpsichord cannot last for more than a brief moment, unlike that of a piano or organ. The sound from a harpsichord is associated with the baroque era. (Ferris, pp. 36, 2014)
The earliest references date back to about 1400 and the oldest harpsichords date back from the 1500’s and it was during that time that the mechanism had been perfected. (http://www.philharmonia.org/learn-and-listen/baroque-instruments/harpsichord/)
It became very popular throughout Europe, Italy, Flander, France, Germany and England. There were different configurations for keyboards, foot pedals, and hand stops. The cases that housed the mechanisms were often exquisite work which featured inlays, paintings and other decorations. (http://www.philharmonia.org/learn-and-listen/baroque-instruments/harpsichord/)
The demand for the harpsichord was steady until the 18th century when it was replaced by the fortepiano. The transition was complete by the ear...

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...and a heavier case and also a very slender and responsive spruce soundboard. The Italian makers made only single-manual instruments that were very light in construction and very little string tension. (http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/harpsichord-history)
Sometime around the middle of the 16th century is when the first music was written specifically for a solo harpsichordist. There were a lot of harpsichord composers during the Baroque era in Italy, Germany and France. The most favorite genres for harpsichord compositions were the dance suite, the fantasia and the fugue. The harpsichord was widely used in the basso continuo style which is a function that was maintained in opera well into the 19th century. In the 18th century the harpsichord was considered to have advantages and disadvantages with respect to the piano. (http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/harpsichord-history)

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