Basso continuo

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Basso continuo is a harmonic musical structure, almost universal in the Baroque era, that generally consisted of a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the

A harpsichordist and a bassist play continuo for a small group of singers (the solo ensemble of the Kreuznacher Diakonie Choir [de]).

Harpsichord

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A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that makes its sound by plucking a set of strings. In a harpsichord, depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn lifts one or more

Basso continuo

…the conductor), and practice varied enormously within the Baroque period. At least one instrument capable of playing chords must be included, such as a harpsichord, organ, lute, theorbo, guitar, regal, or harp. In addition, any number of instruments that play in the bass register may be included, such as cello…

This harpsichord is the work of two celebrated makers: originally constructed by Andreas Ruckers in Antwerp (1646), it was later remodeled and expanded in a process called grand ravalement by Pascal Taskin in Paris (1780).

An early diagram of a vertical harpsichord (clavicytherium) by Arnault de Zwolle, c. 1430

Harpsichord by Christian Zell, at Museu de la Música de Barcelona. From upper left to lower right: a bridge (supporting the far ends of the strings), the jack rail with the action (jacks) underneath, two nuts (supporting the closer ends of the strings), interleaved with two rows of tuning pins, and finally the keyboard. As with all harpsichords, the action itself is mostly hidden by the jack rail when the instrument is being played; only by removing the jack rail (or indeed, by extracting a jack) can the details of the action be observed.

Sound board of a harpsichord with Chladni patterns