can be readily inferred; we can approximately describe 

 the lengths of two-thirds to three-fourths of the strings 

 of either of the above instruments by giving the 

 length of one string. It has become customar\- to 

 use c " for this purpose, and to refer to it in such cases 

 as pitch C. 



In examining a number of Italian harpsichords and 

 virginals dating from 1540 to 1694, lengths for pitch 

 C ranging from 8" to 13%" have been found. 

 This seems to be a great discrepancy for instruments 

 that are otherwise so standardized. Since a uniform 

 standard of pitch did not yet exist in the 16th and 17th 

 centuries, we would expect the string lengths employed 

 to be varied somewhat in order to accommodate the 

 instruments to higher or lower tunings. Also, a 

 preference for the sound of thinner, longer wires or 

 shorter, thicker ones may have caused some builders 

 to increase or decrease the string lengths on their 

 instruments in proportion to the string diameters 

 chosen. We have no precise evidence concerning the 

 original wire gauges of the strings of Italian harpsi- 

 chords and virginals. Although the variety of pitch 

 C lengths encountered on the instruments studied can 

 partially be accounted for h\ these two factors, a 

 third and more important cause existed. 



Among the S.i instruments about which information 

 has been secured, a correlation is discernible between 

 the apparent manual compass and the pitch C string 

 lengths. .Sixteen of the instruments ascend to/' ' '. 

 For these, the length of the pitch C string varies from 

 IOJ4" to 13%". The remaining instruments, with 

 either a ' ' or c ' ' ' as the highest notes, have pitch 

 C strings ranging from 8" to 11/s" in length. If the 

 average tension and wire diameter of the two groups 

 are assumed to have been about equal, the difference 

 in string lengths would suggest a corresponding differ- 

 ence in pitch, the instruments having the compass 

 extended to/ ' ' ' soimding somewhat lower than the 

 others. 



There is some historical evidence that this actually 

 was the case. In his Theatrum Instrumentorum Michael 

 Praetorius ' pictures a polygonal virginal, w hich ap- 

 pears to be \ery much like the many Italian examples 

 that survive today, and a rectangular virginal that 

 seems to be Flemish. He specifies that both are so 

 rechl Chor-Thon (at regular choir pitch). Praetorius 

 also shows a harpsichord" that looks like a tvp- 



' Michael Praetorius, Tlualnwi Iiislriimenlorum, Wolfenbiittel, 

 1620, pi. 14. 

 -■ «»/.. pi. 6. 



Figure 11.— Action of h.^rpsichord. a, bottom; b, belly rail; c, soundboard; D, wrest plank; 1;, key frame; F, rack; G, key; n, 



jack; I, jack rail. .Scale, 1:2. 



PAPER 15: ITALIAN HARPSICHORD-BUILDING IN THE 1 OTH AND 1 7TH CENTURIES 



103 



