D Scarlatti K 380

One of my favourite Scarlatti Sonatas that I used to play on the guitar and now I am starting to learn to play on the piano.

The Brightcecilia forum

Whilst researching clavichords, I discovered Ryan Layne Whitney had created a video playing Telemann Fantasias on an Epinette.


As I am trying to improve my keyboard sight reading, I am always on the look out for what I call sight reading fodder and the Fantasias looked ideal. So as is my way, I went on a search for them and lo and behold found that a wonderful person known as Philidor on the Brightcecilia forum had been painstakingly re-engraving an original 1923 Urtext publication. You can get the first 12 without joining the forum but if you want to get your grubby little mitts on the rest of them you will have to register.

The Clavichord

I was cruising around on the internet recently when I came across teafruitbat's youtube site. He has created a wonderful array of videos (258) of his playing many of which are on original keyboard instruments. It is the clavichord that particularly caught my interest as it has such a unique sound and is portable.
I would really like to have a non electrified keyboard instrument but a piano is too loud for my current living circumstances so a clavichord fits the bill beautifully as the 61 note version can play all of Mozart's work and Beethoven's up to 1801!
I am particularly fond of Renaissance and Baroque music and on the clavichord it sounds wonderful.

So I am thinking "One could probably build a clavichord so there have got to be plans/kits available?".

Amongst the many fascinating sites I found, my research discovered the Renaissance Workshop Company that sells kits for all manner of original instruments and another that shows step by step pictures of Kenneth Sparr constructing a clavichord at the now discontinued annual instrument building course in Marholmen in Sweden.

Do I have the patience?