The instrument chosen to illustrate the stylistic features of the
Italian harpsichord is also in the collection of the U.S. National
Museum. This harpsichord, purchased for the Museum in 1892 by Dr. G.
Brown Goode, was made in 1665 by Giacomo Ridolfi, who claimed Girolamo
Zenti as his teacher. The inscription on the nameboard reads "Jacobus
Rodolphus Hieronymi de Zentis Discipulus MDCLXV Facieba."
Like the virginal described above, this harpsichord is separable from
its outer case. The outer case rests on a separate stand consisting of
three gilt cupids and a floral garland. Since the painted decoration of
this case is not original, another outer case, belonging to a
harpsichord made by Horatius Albana in 1633, was selected for the
illustration (fig. 1).
Two unison strings per key and two registers of jacks are provided. The
apparent compass of the keyboard is from _C/E_ to _c´´´_. The remains of
pedal connections can be seen on the lowest eight keys.
The sides of the harpsichord are 5/32" thick; the bottom is 9/16" thick.
The sides and lining are supported by knees that do not extend clear
across the bottom of the instrument as they do in the virginal.
The knees are small triangular pieces, as shown in figure 8. Since the
added tension of the second set of strings demands a somewhat more
substantial framework than that employed in the virginal, a series of
braces are attached to the floor. These are connected to the lining by
several diagonal braces (fig. 9). This produces a remarkably strong but
very light structure. The keys (not shown) are of more constant length
than those of the virginal; therefore, the touch is much more uniform.
[Illustration: Figure 9.--FRAMEWORK OF HARPSICHORD. A, wrest plank; B,
belly rail; C, rib; D, bottom brace; E, diagonal brace; F, knee; G,
lining. Scale, 1:8.]
[Illustration: Figure 10.--LAYOUT OF HARPSICHORD SOUNDBOARD. Scale,
1:8.]
The wrest plank is supported by two end blocks, against which the
partition behind the action (called the belly rail) is also placed. The
soundboard is glued to the top of the belly rail. The wrest plank is
veneered with cypress, giving the appearance that the soundboard extends
over it. The jack guides also rest on the end blocks in the space
between the wrest plank and the belly rail. Figures 8 and 11 clarify the
arrangement of these structural features.
Figure 10 shows the layout of ribs, bridges, and strings on the
soundboard. The soundboard is about 1/8" thick. The bridge on the wrest
plank tapers in height from 3/8" in the treble to 7/16" in the bass and
in width from 5/16" to 7/16". The soundboard bridge measures about 3/8"
by 1/4" and has virtually no taper. The soundboard does not have a rose,
although that decorative device is fairly common on Italian
harpsichords.
The jack guides are built up of spacer blocks held together by thin
strips along the sides. There is now no provision for moving the guides,
although plugged-up holes visible in the right end of each guide suggest
that they originally could be disengaged. In Italian harpsichords
generally, the jack guides were controlled by knobs projecting through
the sides of the case. Sometimes these harpsichords had levers pivoted
on the wrest plank and attached to the guides. The Ridolfi case has not
been patched and there are no holes in the wrest plank where levers
could have been attached; so, the guides probably were not intended to
be movable.
The jacks are simple slips of walnut measuring about 3/16" by 7/16" by
3-1/8". The arrangement of the tongue, spring, plectrum, and damper are
shown in figure 11. The dampers are small pieces of buckskin held in
slots at the tops of the jacks. The plectra, perhaps not original, are
of leather. Of course, there are no adjusting screws or capstans of any
variety.
The direction in which the plectra of each row of jacks should be
pointing is not known. Two clavicytheria having two registers of strings
and a single row of double tongue jacks have been examined by the
author. Each of these jacks has two plectra, one pointing to the right
and one to the left. Turning these jacks around does not alter the order
of direction. The plectra nearest the keyboard points the same way
whether the jack is upside down or not. In the clavicytherium at the
Smithsonian Institution the plectra nearest the keyboard points to the
player's left. In a clavicytherium at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts the
opposite is true. Probably both arrangements were used in harpsichords
also.