Word: harpsichord
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Written by John Eccles, the piece itself is an archetypal example of Baroque opera. Each character sings recitatives (narratives that serve the purpose of advancing the story) and arias (songs that do not move the plot forward). Characters are accompanied by a small pit orchestra of strings and a harpsichord. Eccles’ “Semele” is a more sexually graphic version than the better-known Handel opera of the same name. Because the Early Music Society shifts the setting of the story, however, the raunchy nature of the opera does not seem as out-of-place...
...Dunster House Library, it is without question the finest House library on campus. Tucked away on the second floor of B entryway, it is the only House library that regularly plays host to chamber music concerts. And while most libraries have just a grand piano, it boasts of a harpsichord. Yeah, that's right. A harpsichord. Suck it, Adams. Moreover, while the most exotic literature at some House libraries hails from France, Dunster’s library has the best selection of texts on campus, claiming Chinese literature in the original and even...
...Eliot’s House library is comparable in beauty and can also boast of more space and much more reasonable hours. (The curator is often generous enough to keep it open till 1 AM on Saturday night.) The grand piano at the center is less useful than the harpsichord and grand piano in Dunster’s library, where there are actually concerts—so the piano just kind of sits there. I’m not entirely sure if any drunk people have wandered from C entryway into the library on a Saturday night to play each...
...HEMS had a twofold task: Putting on a production about a 5th-century Briton while maintaining the 17th-century context in which it was originally created, by composer Henry Purcell and poet John Dryden. This balancing act was reflected in exaggeratedly graceful gestures, the use of the harpsichord and the theorbo (a string instrument more commonly used in the Baroque period), and the costumes, designed by Elisa M. Olivieri ’08. The 17th-century English audience expected actors to be dressed in the latest fashions. The cast of “King Arthur” was decked...
...embellish the written music.”Of course, the way that the music is written is not the only thing that has changed. As always, the Harvard Early Music Society’s production will feature an entire spectrum of unusual instruments, ranging from the relatively common harpsichord (they have two, actually) to the improbable-seeming overgrown lute known as the theorbo. Baroque trumpets, baroque oboes (or “haut-boys”), and baroque bows for string instruments are also present in the ensemble.“There’s this whole sound vocabulary that?...