[1] The words _clavicorde_, _clavicordo_ and _clavicordio_,
respectively French, Italian and Spanish, were applied to a different
type of instrument, the spinet (q.v.).
[2] See Sebastian Virdung, _Musica getutscht und auszgezogen_ (Basel,
1511) (facsimile reprint Berlin, 1882, edited by R. Eitner); J.
Verschuere Reynvaan, _Musijkaal Kunst-Woordenboek_ (Amsterdam, 1795)
(a very scarce book, of which the British Museum does not possess a
copy); Jacob Adlung, _Musica Mechanica Organoedi_ (Berlin, 1768),
vol. ii. pp. 158-9; A.J. Hipkins, _The History of the Pianoforte_
(London, 1896), pp. 61 and 62.
CLAVICYTHERIUM, a name usually applied to an upright spinet (q.v.), the
soundboard and strings of which were vertical instead of horizontal,
being thus perpendicular to the keyboard; but it would seem that the
clavicytherium proper is distinct from the upright spinet in that its
strings are placed horizontally. In the early clavicytherium there was,
as in the spinet, only one string (of gut) to each key, set in vibration
by means of a small quill or leather plectrum mounted on a jack which
acted as in the spinet and harpsichord (q.v.). The clavicytherium or
keyed cythera or cetra, names which in the 14th and 15th centuries had
been applied somewhat indiscriminately to instruments having strings
stretched over a soundboard and plucked by fingers or plectrum, was
probably of Italian[1] or possibly of south German origin. Sebastian
Virdung,[2] writing early in the 16th century, describes the
clavicytherium as a new invention, having gut strings, and gives an
illustration of it. (See PIANOFORTE.) A certain amount of uncertainty
exists as to its exact construction, due to the extreme rarity of
unrestored specimens extant, and to the almost total absence of
trustworthy practical information.
In a unique specimen with two keyboards dating from the 16th or 17th
century, which is in the collection of Baron Alexandre Kraus,[3] what
appear to be vibrating strings stretched over a soundboard perpendicular
to the keyboard are in reality the wires forming part of the mechanism
of the action. The arrangement of this mechanism is the distinctive
feature of the clavicytherium, for the wires, unlike the strings of the
upright spinet, increase in length from _left to right_, so that the
upright harp-shaped back has its higher side over the treble of the
keyboard instead of over the bass. The vibrating strings of the
clavicytherium in the Kraus Museum are stretched horizontally over two
kinds of psalteries fixed one over the other. The first, serving for the
lower register, is of the well-known trapezoid shape and lies over the
keyboards; it has 30 wire strings in pairs of unisons corresponding to
the 15 lowest keys. The second psaltery resembles the kanoun of the
Arabs, and has 36 strings in courses of 3 unisons corresponding to the
next 12 keys, and 88 very thin strings in courses of 4, completing the
49 keys; the compass thus has a range of four octaves from C to C. The
quills of the jacks belonging to the two keyboards are of different
length and thickness. The jacks, which work as in the spinet, are
attached to the perpendicular wires, disposed in two parallel rows, one
for each keyboard.
There is a very fine specimen of the so-called clavicytherium (upright
spinet) in the Donaldson museum of the Royal College of Music, London,
acquired from the Correr collection at Venice in 1885.[4] The instrument
is undated, but A.J. Hipkins[5] placed it early in the 16th or even at
the end of the 15th century. There is German writing on the inside of
the back, referring to some agreement at Ulm. The case is of pine-wood,
and the natural keys of box-wood. The jacks have the early steel
springs, and in 1885 traces were found in the instrument of original
brass plectra, all of which point to a very early date.
A learned Italian, Nicolo Vicentino,[6] living in the 16th century,
describes an _archicembalo_ of his own invention, at which the performer
had to stand, having four rows of keys designed to obtain a complete
mesotonic pure third tuning. This was an attempt to reintroduce the
ancient Greek musical system. This instrument was probably an upright
harpsichord or clavicembalo.
For the history of the clavicytherium considered as a forerunner of
the pianoforte see PIANOFORTE. (K. S.)