A History of Stringed Keyboard Instruments

This book explores the history of keyboard instruments from their fourteenth-century origins to the development of the modern piano. It reveals the principles of their design and describes structural and mechanical developments through the medieval and renaissance periods and eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries, as well as the early music revival. Stewart Pollens identifies and describes the types of keyboard instruments played by major composers and virtuosi through the ages and provides the reader with detailed instructions on their regulating, stringing, tuning and voicing drawn from historical sources.

• Copiously illustrated, and assists readers in understanding the complex structural and mechanical aspects of keyboard instrument design and construction
• Presents historical documents in their original languages and in translation
• Re-evaluates previous accounts and provides fresh insights into this rich and fascinating story