Clavicytherium

What it means

The clavicytherium is essentially a harpsichord turned on end: instead of running horizontally over a flat, floor-standing soundboard, the strings run vertically upward, and the soundboard faces the player almost upright. Tone production follows the usual harpsichord principle, with the strings plucked by quills moved from the keyboard through a mechanism.

The name combines Latin clavis (key) with Greek kithara (lyre, string instrument), pointing to its upright, lyre-like shape.

Musical use

The upright design greatly reduces the footprint compared with a standard harpsichord, which is why the clavicytherium was built mainly where space was limited. Surviving instruments date from the late 15th through the 18th century; they are considerably rarer than ordinary harpsichords, since the upright action is technically more demanding to build.

The clavicytherium should be distinguished from the standard, horizontal harpsichord, which it shares its tone production with, and from the clavichord, whose strings are struck by tangents rather than plucked. In everyday music-making the clavicytherium never played a role comparable to the standard harpsichord; it remained a rare special form.

Performance practice

If you encounter a clavicytherium in a collection or a historically informed performance, listen for how its sound compares with a standard harpsichord: the upright build can alter the way the tone projects, without changing the basic plucked-string mechanism. The playing technique itself follows the same principles as for the harpsichord.