Contents of the book
- The Harpsichord Revival
- Historically-Informed or Authentic Performance
- The Harpsichord Family and History
- Harpsichord Actions and Keyboard Ranges
- Baroque Finger Mechanics
- Baroque Articulation
- Basics on Essential Ornaments
- Performing the Notes Inégales
- Inégales and Triplets in J.S. Bach and Rameau
- Tempi: Authenticity and Rubato
- Tempi in Masterpieces by Different Composers
- Performance of French Baroque Dances
- Harpsichord Stop Voicing
- Registration: Using the Stops in Different Harpsichord Models
- Registration in Important Baroque Harpsichord Works
- Repertoire Issues: Harpsichord vs Clavichord, Organ and Fortepiano
- A Complete Harpsichord Multilingual Dictionary
- Literature Cited
Some of the main features of the book
- The harpsichord: a concise history, main models and keyboard ranges (26 pages)
- An abridged discussion of modern approaches to Baroque keyboard interpretation (4 pages)
- A concise explanation of articulation in early keyboards; list of sources and implications (12 pages)
- Ornaments: presentation, full Table and discussion of on-the-beat vs pre-beat (22 pages)
- A detailed treatment of the performance of French notes inégales (23 pages)
- The relationship between inégales, triplets and overdotting in Rameau and J.S. Bach (10 pages)
- A new approach for the performance of préludes non mesurés; a general analysis of rubato (4 pages)
- A detailed analysis of Baroque French dances: rhythms, tempi and inégales (18 pages)
- Finding the authentic tempo, exemplified in pieces by J.S. Bach, D. Scarlatti and Daquin (18 pages)
- Harpsichord voicing: authentic balance between the different harpsichord stops (10 pages)
- A full treatment of harpsichord registration, backed by historical evidence, applied to the works of different Baroque composers (32 pages)
- Finding the ideal instrument (harpsichord, clavichord, organ, fortepiano) for the works of Frescobaldi, J.S. Bach, Haydn and others (20 pages)
- The most complete ever Multilingual Harpsichord Dictionary in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish (168 entries)