The English Harpsichord

The English Harpsichord developed only in the 18th century . Independently.

Before the English school of architecture was heavily influenced by the continent.

The great English masters such as Kirckman , Shudi and Hitchcock perfected in particular the technical aspects of the instrument.

The gaming device of English harpsichords reminiscent of the French instruments (two keyboards , three registers 8-8-4 ) , but with the addition of a new register : the lute.

 Two-manual harpsichord, 1740, Burkat Shudi (1702-73),

Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

But unlike the French and Flemish instruments where the strings were muffled by felt or leather , it is here a real register that plucks the strings very close to the reed block web .

The later instruments ( built in the time of the new , already famous fortepiano ) have a work called . Swell , which theoretically allows the dynamics .

The housing of the English harpsichord of natural wood , varnished with shellac, and very often decorated with inlay .