For all Piano Officianados

[Kirbstone]

A direct ancestor of my MM's, Baron Joseph von Rhynagl, later anglicised to Rynagale was an Austrian who came to England with the Duke of Cumberland in the 1750s, introduced brass instruments into British military bands, (which up to then were just fife & drum) and introduced the pianoforte to Scotland, where in Edinburgh Castle he gave them their very first recital on that instrument. (He was a pal of Joseph Hadyn's at that time).

I've never set eyes on a double virginal, or a single one for that matter. Listening to recordings it's difficult to differentiate between all these early string/box instruments unless one is told what it is.

T.

[crfriend]

A direct ancestor of my MM's, [...] introduced brass instruments into British military bands, (which up to then were just fife & drum) and introduced the pianoforte to Scotland, where in Edinburgh Castle he gave them their very first recital on that instrument. (He was a pal of Joseph Hadyn's at that time).

Sounds like an interesting character. Being half German, I am very glad that brass made it into British (and by proxy) American military bands. Guys like John Philip Sousa would have been lost (or at least severely emasculated) without brass.

I've never set eyes on a double virginal, or a single one for that matter. Listening to recordings it's difficult to differentiate between all these early string/box instruments unless one is told what it is.

My recollection, from going on a quarter-century ago, was that of a long and slightly deepish rectangle that unfolded in interesting ways. (I was several dozen feet from it, mind, and couldn't really get a proper 3D all-'round view much less get hands on it.)

Too, many of the recordings we're likely to hear today on the 'Net tend to be dumbed-down MP3s and whatnot that do not do justice to the original sound. I am no spring chicken, and I gave my ears plenty of abuse during my teenage years, but I can still not only tell the difference between a pristine recording and an MP3, but can also discern the difference between various MP3 encoders -- at least with good playback equipment. "In person", a virginal and a harpsichord sound very different from one another, although the difference can be subtle. It all comes down to "tech" and what the engineering of the day was capable of. Modern ones sound very different from proper antiques or true-to-history replicas -- and period music played on proper replicas of the period can be both very enjoyable and quite instructive indeed.