Clavicymbalum Explained

The clavicymbalum (or clavisymbalum, clavisimbalum, etc.) is an early keyboard instrument and ancestor of the harpsichord. The instrument is described as a psaltery to which keys, but no dampers, have been attached, allowing the keys rather than the fingers to pluck the strings, which then ring until their sound fades out. ^[1]

One of its earliest attestations is a 1323 work by Johannes de Muris, where it describes a monochordium as an instrument "with a keyboard of two octaves, of triangular form, with one of the three sides curved."

The work of Henri-Arnault de Zwolle (between 1438 and 1446) describes the clavicymbalum as one of the "three types" of keyboard instruments, along with the dulce melos (an early piano) and the clavicordium (clavichord).^[2]

Further reading

• G. Le Cerf et E.R. Labande, Les traités d'Henri-Arnault de Zwolle et de divers anonymes, Paris, 1932
• Martin-K. Kaufmann, "Le clavier à balancier du clavisimbalum XVe: un moment exceptionnel de l'évolution des instruments à clavier", in La Facture de clavecin du XVe au XVIIIe, Actes du colloque international de Louvain, 1976, Musicologica neolovaniensia. Studia 1, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1980, pp. 9-57.
• The Clavisimbalum of Henri Arnaut de Zwolle. Carl Rennoldson, Harpsi.com
• Book: Thomas Steiner. Instruments À Claviers, Expressivité Et Flexibilité Sonore: Actes Des Rencontres Internationales Harmoniques. 2004. Peter Lang. 978-3-03910-244-0. 89–.
• Book: Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr

. . Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr . Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr . 1730 . Historische Nachricht von den nürnbergischen Mathematicis und Künstlern . Nürnberg . Peter Conrad Monath . 341 . (Original from: the University of Michigan; Digitized: 6 Mar 2012; Length: 314 pages)

Notes and References

1. Book: Edward L. Kottick. A History of the Harpsichord. 2003. Indiana University Press. 0-253-34166-3. 20–.
2. Book: Roland Jackson. Performance Practice: A Dictionary-Guide for Musicians: A Dictionary-Guide for Musicians. 23 October 2013. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-136-76769-2. 94–.