Scan 137
The American History and Encyclopedia of Music, 1908
45 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1clavichord
2The strings of finely drawn brass wire stretched almost parallel to the direction of the case, but slanted toward the back. They were fastened to the right of the player on tuning pins inserted in the sounding-board which was strengthened on the under side by a strip of oak. At the back and partly along the left side they were attached to hitching pins of thicker wire. On the right hand the strings rested on a curved bridge which carried their vibrations to the sounding-board beneath them. In clavichords made before the Eighteenth Century there were two or three unison strings to a note, beginning with the bass which had one string continuing with two and after middle C three, and even four strings for the highest note of the four octave compass. The lowest key was probably E and was made to sound C, while F sharp sounded D. In some clavichords, called gebunden, a set of strings served for two sets of notes, by the use of extra tangents. About the end of the Seventeenth Century the clavichord was enlarged and its compass extended and fretted clavichords were made with only two tangents to a pair of strings but with A and D always unfretted or bundfrei. In all clavichords except those of Italy and the Netherlands the natural keys were black and the chromatic keys white. Abbr. clav.
4clavicitherium
5The harp with keys. This was originally designed to be played upon a table and was similar to a spinet; later it was provided with standards and its sounding-board was placed on end. It had a triangular case and instead of tangents such as those of the clavichord, it had wooden bars called jacks, which had small quills at the upper end by means of which it set the strings in vibration. Each key sounded a separate string.
7clavicylinder
8A keyboard instrument invented by Chladni about 1800 and exhibited in Paris in 1806. It consisted of a glass cylinder or series of cylinders made to revolve by a treadle. By means of keys, steel rods were pressed against the cylinder and thus made to sound the notes of the scale. This instrument had a compass of four and a half octaves.
9Another instrument of the same name consisted of glass plates of different lengths struck by hammers operated by a keyboard.
11clavier (klāv-yā) Fr. n.
12clavier (klāv-vā') Fr. n.
13Clavier (klä-fēr') Ger. n.
141. The keyboard of such instruments as the piano or the organ.
152. A name formerly used for the clavichord.
163. The modern German name for the piano, in fact, for all keyboard instruments except the organ.
17clavier de récit (klāv-yā' dé rā-sē') Fr.
18Literally, the recitative manual or keyboard: the swell organ or swell keyboard by which the sustained tones of the organ are increased or diminished in volume.
19clavier, Virgil practice
20See Virgil practice-clavier.
21Clavierauszug (klä-fēr'-ows'-tsoog) Ger. n.
22An arrangement of a full score to be played on piano.
23Clavierdrath (klä-fēr'-drät) Ger. n.
24Music wire: wire used in pianos and similar instruments.
25Clavierlehrer (klä-fēr'-la'-rēr) Ger. n.
26A teacher of piano playing.
27Clavierschule (klä-fēr'-shoo'-lē) Ger. n.
28Progressive exercises for the piano.
29Clavierspieler (klä-fēr'-shpēl'-ēr) Ger. n.
30A piano-player.
31Clavierstimmer (klä-fēr'-shtēm'-mēr) Ger. n.
32Piano-tuner.
33Clavierübung (klä-fēr'-ü'-boongk) Ger. n.
34Exercise for the piano.
35Clavierunterricht (klä-fēr'-oon'-tēr-rīkht) Ger. n.
36Lessons on the piano.
37claviglissando (klä-vī-lēs-sān'-drō) It. n.
38A keyboard instrument invented by C. W. Le Jeune. It consisted of a mechanism which combined the effects of the harmonium in imitating the sounds of various instruments, and of the violin in its portamento or slide.
39clavis (klā'-vīs) Eng. n. from Lat.
40A bellows handle. A key, a note, a clef, the character at the beginning of a stave of music which shows the pitch of the notes thereon.
41clé (klē) Fr. n.
42Clef.
43clear flute
44An organ stop sounding an octave higher than its nominal pitch and having a clear, flute-like quality of tone.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.