Re: GG...and that harpsichord (claviorgan)

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

Bradley must have been dreading anyone discovering this instrument and
bringing it up on the list, but here I am doing it.  Follow the link a the
bottow of this email to discover what seems to me a strange instrument the
harpsichord organ otherwise known as the claviorgan.

That text of that page, concerning a specific instrument, is as follows:

"This claviorgan, already mentioned in the Ambras inventory of 1596, is the
oldest still in existence. It is a combination of a positive organ, a regal
and a spinet and is a masterful example of southern German organmaking.
Through the flue pipes, the reed pipes, and the plucked strings - through
these and other possibilities, all the different sounds of the complete
instrumental ensemble of the Renaissance could be realized. The built-in "
joke-stops", like "frog-dance" and "birdsong" provided special effects. The
bellows and the case of this instrument are decorated with grotesquery to
match the Spanish Hall of Ambras Castle (where it comes from). "






http://www.khm.at/khm/staticE/page200.html







I think GG should have used this instrument for both of his art of fugue and
Handel cds.  :)


Jim