Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 1.djvu/378

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366 CLAVICHORD.

CLASSICAL.

traditions; and in this sense the term was used as the opposite of 'romantic,' in the controversy between the musicians who wished to retain absolutely the old forms, and those, like Schumann, who wished music to be developed in forms which should be more the free inspiration of the composer, and less restricted in their systematic development. [See Romantic.]

[ C. H. H. P. ]

CLASSICAL HARMONISTS. See Choral Harmonists.

CLAUDINE VON VILLABELLA. Drama by Goethe, music by Schubert; composed in 1815 but not performed. The first Act alone survives, and is now in the library of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde at Vienna; the other Acts were burnt by accident, with those of the 'Teufels Lustschloss.' It is dated at beginning and end July 26 and Aug. 5. On Nov. 18 Schubert was at work on another opera.

[ G. ]

CLAUSS, Wilhelmine, one of the eminent pianists of our time, daughter of a merchant, born at Prague Dec. 13, 1834. She received her musical education at the Proksch Institute at Prague, and in 1849 made her first concert tour, exciting great attention both at Dresden and Leipsic (1850).Nevertheless, she lived almost unnoticed in Paris for nearly a year, although Berlioz interested himself much in her favour. She announced a concert, but it was postponed on account of her mother's death. Being now a total orphan, she was kindly received by the singer Mme. Ungher-Sabatier, and in the following year her claims were acknowledged in Paris. From thence her fame spread through Europe; she gave concerts in Paris, London, and Germany, receiving everywhere tributes of the warmest admiration. She was in London in 1852, and again in 1871. She married (1857) the author Friedrich Szarvady, and now lives in Paris, seldom appearing in public. Her répertoire mainly consists of the works of Scarlatti, Bach, and Beethoven, and it is upon her execution of these that her great reputation is founded. Her chief gift is the power of penetrating into the spirit of the work she executes; her conscientiousness is great, and she rejects all arbitrary interpretations, no matter how ingenious they may be. In this respect she worthily ranks with Madame Schumann. Still Madame Szarvady has a strong and romantic individuality, which used to be very charming.

[ A. M. ]

CLAVECIN. The French name for a harpsichord, derived from clavicymbalum. According to M. Viollet Le-Duc (Dictionnaire du Mobilier Français. 1872) the clavecin superseded the psaltery in France some time in the 16th century. [See Harpsichord and Psaltery.]

[ A. J. H. ]

CLAVICEMBALO. One of the Italian names for a harpsichord, and the most used. It is derived from clavis, a key, and cembalo, a dulcimer or psaltery. Other Italian names for this instrument are gravicembalo (a phonetic variation caused by the interchange of r with l) and harpicordo, from which comes our 'harpsichord.' [See Cembalo, and Harpsichord.]

[ A. J. H. ]

CLAVICHORD (Ger. Clavichord or Clavier, It. Clavicordo [App. p.593 "The Italian name is Manicordo, the name Clavicordo being the equivalent of the German Clavier in the sense of any keyboard instrument having strings."]), a stringed instrument with keys. In German the name has been limited to that keyed stringed instrument, the tones of which were produced by 'tangents'; while the once synonymous term Clavier became transferred to the successor of the clavichord, the square pianoforte. In Italian, clavicordo may formerly have meant any keyed instrument with strings, whether the tones were produced by tangents or 'jacks.' Existing specimens of Italian make have jack actions, and would be correctly designated in English as virginals. The French have done without this appellation altogether, and perhaps without the tangent instrument itself, unless it was included with the manichord or monochord. The Clavecin (It. Clavicembalo, Eng. Harpsichord) had a jack action, differing from the clavichord in the means by which it produced the sound, and in its musical effect. The French translation of the 'Wohltemperirte Clavier' or well-tuned clavichord, of J. S. Bach, by 'le Clavecin bien temperé,' is therefore inaccurate, inasmuch as it conveys rather the idea of the rigid harpsichord or spinet than that of the gentle and intimate clavichord. In England and Scotland during the Tudor period, frequent mention is found in contemporary records of the clavichord, clarichord, and monochord (see Rimbault's 'Pianoforte,' 1860); all three names seeming to be shared by one instrument, and that most probably the true clavichord—for the virginal also appears at that time. Writers on this subject have followed each other in assuming a gradual progress, and stating that either the clavichord or the clavicytherium was the first, in order of time, of a series of keyed instruments that included the virginal and spinet, and culminated in the clavicembalo or wing-shaped harpsichord. But on this we are quite in the dark, for the earliest dependable mention of the clavichord (Eberhard Cersne's 'Rules of the Minnesingers,' A.D. 1404) includes with it the monochord and the clavicembalo. No English clavichord, as distinct from a virginal, being in existence, unless in the lumber-room of some old country-house, we will confine our attention to the German clavichord, to avoid an endless confusion, from different names having been frequently given to one instrument, while one name has been as often attached to different instruments; even musical authorities having failed to observe the desirability of accurate definition.

In shape the clavichord has been followed by the square pianoforte, of which it was the prototype (Fig. 1). The case was oblong and was placed upon a stand or legs. The length, according to the compass and period of construction, was from four to five feet; the breadth less than two feet; the depth of case five to seven inches. The keys were in front, and extended beneath the sound-board to the back of the case, each being balanced upon a wire pin, and prevented from rattling against its neighbour by a small piece of whalebone projecting from the key and sheathed in a groove behind (Fig. 2). The lower