About Ravensong

The raven has long been companion to man in myth.  Harbinger of prophecy, symbol of wisdom, the keeper of ancestral memories and in many cultures, the messenger between the divine and mortal realms. A favourite of both the ancient Greek god Apollo and the Norse god Odin it flew between worlds, conspiring with the universe and all the magic it holds. 

In a more tangible sense, ravens have throughout the ages sacrificed parts of themselves for various uses, including harpsichord making. These instruments were, and in some cases still are, voiced by natural raven's quill employed to pluck the strings to produce the harpsichord’s distinctive sound. The image of the bird on a branch, depicted on many harpsichord soundboards, also serves as an allegory for the dead wood that receives new life through music.

Ravensong perpetuates the raven’s magic through the harpsichord, fortepiano and clavichord by showcasing leading exponents of historic keyboard instruments from around the globe. Through personal experiences in intimate settings audiences will come to a deeper understanding of the beauty of historic keyboards. Presenting this music in the social context of the salon is not only the original, but the ideal setting to hear these instruments and their repertoire.

And so the raven retains its role as messenger of history and myth as it now brings its song through divine music to modern mortals.

The Instruments

The Harpsicord

The harpsichord’s history stretches back to the thirteenth century when references to a “checker” in English documents are believed to refer to a type of plucked string keyboard instrument. No “checkers” survive, however, but by turn of the fifteenth century depictions of plucked string keyboard instruments appear in art. Manufacture was well established in Italy by the mid 1400s, and the status of oldest harpsichord is held by an Italian specimen by Vincentius inscribed 1515. Sound production is by means of a plectrum (traditionally made of bird quill; more recently leather and plastic) that plucks metal strings. The tonal characteristics of different styles of instrument manufacture has largely to do with the design of the resonating box below the strings, the scaling of the strings as they progress from high to low pitches, and the position of the pluck relative to the total length of the string. With a range of four and a half octaves, the largest harpsichords have a narrower compass than modern concert grand pianos, but harpsichords often come with two keyboards, and multiple ranks of strings and quills to expand their sonorous range. The harpsichord was in vogue during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and after about 1800 enjoyed less popularity, due in part to the rise in popularity of the piano. The harpsichord was revived by specialist players in the early part of the twentieth century, but it was the early music movement in the second half of the century that established it once again as the principal keyboard instrument of the baroque era.

The Clavichord

From the point of view of construction and mechanism, the clavichord is the simplest of strung keyboard instruments, but its simplicity does not indicate a lack of expressive potential. Drawing on an eminently simple premise and mechanism, the keys on the clavichord bring metal tangents into contact with the strings to both initiate the sound and stop the correct length of string for each note. Instruments of this type are described around the same time as the earliest depictions of harpsichords, but the earliest surviving instrument was made by Domenico de Pesaro in 1543, so some three decades after the oldest harpsichord. Early clavichords were fretted, meaning that one string was used for multiple notes, depending on the placement of the tangent. This permitted an economy of space in the instrument, and its compact size and modest dynamic level made the clavichord was the ideal domestic instrument. Later unfretted clavichords have wider compasses, and a string dedicated to each note. The clavichord’s expressivity is attributable to the direct contact between finger and string availed through the simplicity of its key-mechanism, and it is the only keyboard instrument on which the player can influence the pitch of the note once it is sounded. The so-called Bebung was used to imitate the singer’s vibrato that enlivened and added expression to the tone of special notes.

The Fortepiano

The early piano—often called fortepiano to distinguish it from the modern concert instrument—shared the clavichord’s mode of sound production, but instead of metal tangents that strike the strings, the keys engage wooden hammers covered in leather and/or felt to set the string in resonance. Sometimes called Hammerklavier to indicate the presence of hammers, or Hammerflügel (because of its wing-like shape) the fortepiano rose in popularity in the second half of the eighteenth century, appearing alongside the harpsichord, and only later supplanting it as a concert and domestic instrument. Although there are other claimants from the same time, Bartolomeo Cristofori is generally considered to have made the first pianos in Florence around 1700. Escapement mechanisms, developed early on and a necessary part of the way the instrument functions, allow the hammers to rebound thus allowing the full length of the string from bridge to tuning pin to vibrate freely. By controlling the speed and weight of the finger, the player can produce both louds and softs, a characteristic that earned the instrument the epithet “gravicembalo [i.e. harpsichord] col piano e forte.” The instrument of Mozart and Haydn, the fortepiano lagged somewhat behind the harpsichord in modern revival. This was due in part to its more complex mechanism, and in part to its similarities to the modern piano, but today there is a growing number of exceptional players who dedicate their careers to its unique repertoire.