Treatise on Harpsichord Tuning

by Jean Denis

Overview

The Treatise on Harpsichord Tuning was the first French document to discuss keyboard performance practice in any detail. Jean Denis was both a harpsichord builder of renown and the organist of a prominent Parisian church, and is thus an authority worthy of careful study. The treatise addresses numerous matters of interest to both scholars and performers, including temperament, ornamentation, fugue, and the use of the organ in liturgical practice. Also included in the treatise are a keyboard prelude designed to reveal errors in tuning, and two delightful anecdotes attesting to the power of music. The forthright character of Denis's writing lends a unique and distinctly enjoyable tone to the work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521314022
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/09/1987
Series:	Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.39(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Translator's introduction; 1. Jean Denis and the Traité de l'accord de l'espinette; 2. Jean Denis and meantone temperament; 3. The eight tons of the church; 4. Notes on the translation; The translation.