Explaining The Lesser Known Musical Instruments Featured During

Vox Renaissance Consort Performances

The Harpsichord is a forerunner of the modern piano and like the piano it is played by means of a keyboard.  The piano produces sound when the player's fingers depress any of the 88 keys on its one keyboard to activate padded "hammers" which "strike" tuned strings.  The smaller harpsichord usually has between 56 to 60 keys, but may have one or two keyboards.  "Flemish" harpsichords have one keyboard; their "French" cousins have two.  In comparison to the piano, the harpsichord produces a delicate, distinctive tinkling sound when a "quill" attached to the key mechanism "plucks" a string when the key is pressed.  The harpsichord was widely used in late Renaissance and Baroque music, and even into the time of Mozart (ca. the late 1700s).  However, during the late 18^th century it gradually disappeared from the musical scene with the rise of the louder, stronger and more expressive piano.  The enhanced keyboard mechanism of the piano permitted the performer to play a wide range of dynamics-from soft (piano) to loud (forte).  The mechanics of the harpsichord did not offer this dynamic flexibility.  In the 20^th century the harpsichord experienced a renaissance of its own and was employed in historically informed performances of older music, in new classical compositions and in popular music, such as in Beatles songs!

A member of the "lute" family and predecessor of the guitar, the Theorbo is a string instrument that is plucked or strummed by the player's fingers.  Throughout Europe it was also known as the chitarrone (Italian for large guitar).  Visually, it is distinguished by its very long neck and 14 to 18 strings.  Theorobos were developed during the late 1500s in response to a demand by composers for an instru-ment that had a deeper bass range than was generally available.  This was especially useful in the "pit orchestras" (to use a modern term) that accompanied the "new" art form of "opera."  The long neck of the therobo, and the long strings on it, created the lower notes composers craved...such as its lowest "G" that was used as a sustained note called a "drone."

The Recorder is a hollow woodwind instrument of the flute family and was popular at least since the Middle Ages.  Unlike the recorder's well known descendant, the transverse flute (the flute we see in bands and orchestras), the mouthpiece of the recorder is placed into the performer's mouth, similar to playing a clarinet.  Next the player blows air into the recorder.  The air goes down the hollowed-out wooden shaft of the recorder and out its open bottom.  To play the different notes of a melody the player places her/his fingers over a combination of seven holes that are drilled through the wood.  During the 18^th century, the soft and sweet sound produced by the recorder declined in popularity for use as an orchestral instrument.