Figure 12.— Typical decorative device, known as rose, that appeared in soundboards of virginals and harpsichords 



(Smithsonian photo 4679.5.) 



century. Each of these has a shorter pitch C string 

 than any of the seven earlier instruments. These 

 three harpsichords, dated 1654, 1658, and 1666, are 

 accordingly considered nontransposing instruments, 

 with the extra treble keys representing an actual 

 extension of the upward range. The six undated 

 instruments with / ' ' ' in the treble are classified as 

 transposing instruments because of their pitch C 

 lengths and are accordingly believed to have been 

 made before about 1635. 



The 33 instruments on which this study is based are 

 classified in the list on page 107. They are grouped 

 according to whether the highest key is/ ' ' ' or < ' ' ', 

 with the exceptions of the three harpsichords men- 

 tioned in the preceding paragraph and three instru- 

 ments that go only to a ' '. That the three instruments 

 ending on a ' ' belong with the nontransposing group 

 is indicated by their string lenghts. 



The listing gives additional information about each 

 example. String lengths of instruments having two 

 registers are for the shorter of the two pitch C strings. 



Information has been secured on t\\o Italian \ir- 

 ginals which were not included in the tabulation. 

 Their measurements are completely at variance with 

 the pattern consistently set by the other 33 examples 

 studied. One, made by Giovanni Domenico in 1556, 

 is in the Skinner collection; it has a pitch C string 

 HJ'is'' in length and an apparent compass of C/E to 

 (■ ' ' '. The other, with the same apparent compass 

 and a 7%" pitch C string, is at Yale University. 

 Whether these instruments are exceptional in terms 

 of the pitch to which they were tuned, the tension 

 which was applied to the strings, or the thickness and 

 weight of the strings themselves, has not been 

 determined. 



The average of the pitch C lengths of the transpos- 

 ing instruments in the list is 12.78"; that of the 

 nontransposing group is 10.45". This suggests a 

 separation between the two groups of about a major 

 third since the first average is roughly % of the 

 second. However, the fact that the separation of the 

 two averages is not great enough to positively indicate 



P.-VPER 15: ITALIAN HARPSICHORD-BUILDING IN THE 16TH AND I71H CENTURIES 



105 



