Virginal made by Marco Brighenti copy of the 1599 I. Ruckers Spinet-Virginal

Virginal made by Marco Brighenti - Parma - Italy
copy of the 1599 I. Ruckers Spinet-Virginal
(decoration: Giovanni Vezzani)
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Alessandro Trapasso plays
J. P. Sweelinck's version of
J. Dowland's Pavana Lachrimae
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Presa audio
Cristian Sgarella
Riprese e montaggio video
Giovanni Ronda
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[@fredsalter1915]

What an insanely beautiful recreation! Stunning. Sounds like a harpsichord.

[@nobodyplaylists]

So beautiful!

[@josepalomogomez9865]

Una maravilla. Gracias

[@Nicolas-zb9uw]

Everything give us satisfaction: voicing of the strings , piece, early fingerings , sincerity of the artist , visualy beautiful instrument . I would like to hear Goldberg Variations theme on such an instrument .

[@MarkFarago]

Wonderful!

[@Frances6889]

Wow! It's stunning inside and it sings a delicate voice. What an art work!

[@phileo_ss]

Beautiful instrument and sound.

[@manitasdeplata01]

I love the more delicate timber and smaller sound of these early keyboards that make us feel a more intimate listening experience.

[@clarefoskett9959]

I am in another time listening to and watching this. It's so beautiful. Thank you.

[@luismartinez-hd8rj]

Tremendamente hermoso

[@uigliam]

Il timbro è molto gradevole. Per niente secco o aspro, è cristallino, sostiene bene e canta. ...I brani eleganti prendono così naturalmente vita e risultano convincenti. Molto bello✨👍

[@philipbay1548]

Lovely instrument!

[@jacobbonner1306]

Very clear recording. Thanks.

[@blipblip88]

Breugel-a fine choice for cover lid art! Lovely playing!

[@wolkowy1]

What a beautiful sound! Well, the Ruckers were known for their beautiful instruments' sound. I wonder what was their special secret. In addition, this is a beautiful piece and performance (bravo for your special way of touching the keys which is authentic but also sensitive to the size of your hands/fingers in relation to the keys' size and response to touch). All together - excellent! Thanks for uploading.

[@abrahamenriquegarciabecerr2322]

❤

[@jimbo2629]

What a superb tone.

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

Thank you! I am happy you like it! :)

[@monicasardegna]

Bellissimo 😍

[@sifridbassoon]

WOW surprising volume.

[@innocenzobarrera1505]

Bellissimo !

[@mariajose-zf7pe]

Lindo. Nem imaginava que existisse um instrumento como esse.

[@DangerousPOSSE]

Gorgeous

[@ReformedCrusader]

I shall work hard to be able to afford one of these

[@orangezest5501]

More please.

[@OfficialWorldChampion]

it sounds really good, not too pinched like some virginals.

[@srinivasanp4930]

🌹👌👍🏆🏆🏆🏆

[@howardbent5437]

Sounds clean

[@aquaesulensis7332]

Very fine and beautiful instrument. Would it be possible to see and listen to the Keene & Brackley spinet copy please Thank you

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

Sorry, I see now your message. I have no videos of the Keene spinet copies. If I will make a video of that instrument, I will be happy to warn you about! :)

[@artsintheschool]

Hello. Thank you for the wonderful video. I am a university lecturer in Japan. I will be giving a presentation on my research on Vermeer's virginals at an academic conference next week, and I was wondering if I could use your video showing the structure of the Ruckers virginal.

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

Dear Sir, thank you for your message and sorry for the delay of my reply. I would be honoured you you will use my video for your conference. Please, if possible keep me informed about your research about Vermeer's virginals! My email is [e-mail]. Best wishes. MB

[@artsintheschool]

Dear Sir,Thank you for your reply.And thank you for giving me permission to use the video.I think that the video will help those attending the conference understand what Luckers' virginals were like. I particularly appreciate the video, as I thought it would be difficult to convey the spinet-type structure, its tone, and the fact that the body and case are integrated. I will email you later.Warm regards @@brighentiharpsichords7221

[@truetalk5211]

I'm here in 2021 because this was a question on the game show, The Chase (with Brooke Burns and Mark "The Beast" Labbert). Contestant actor Joe Morton didn't get the answer correct, as I am sure. many of us would also answer incorrectly. Virginal...a type of harpsichord. Who knew? The Beast knew.

[@mccmusicprof7290]

Flow my Tears by John Dowland

[@moogfooger]

Did the original have a full 4 octave compass? A beautiful instrument. Lacrimae is a wonderful piece to show off the sonority. Thank you. Cheers

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

The original has short octave in the bass.

[@moogfooger]

@@brighentiharpsichords7221 Yes I thought so, did you have to change the scaling to do the revalement?

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

@@moogfooger no, the scaling is the same as the original. I added only some cm to the lenght of the instrument, a piece of nut and of bridge. But, apart the added bass strings, all the compass has the same scaling as the original.

[@moogfooger]

@@brighentiharpsichords7221 Yes, thank you so much. I love the virginal (especially Muselar). This is the best sounding spinet version I have heard! Your lid painting is very lovely and wonderful to contemplate as you play Sweelinck! Cheers

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

@@moogfooger Thank you, I am very happy you like the instrument I made. But I'm not the player. The player is my dear friend Alessandro Trapasso.

[@jhonwask]

Beautiful instrument and wonderful sound. How's the touch?

[@alessandrotrapasso6470]

Lovely touch, it's a very refined and exquisite instrument! Light touch, but with high chances of control and balance, even with a short run!

[@danawinsor1380]

What is a "spinet virginal?" I'm familiar with spinets and virginals, so I'm wondering which features of both are included in this instrument.

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

"Spinet-virginal" is a conventional word for distinguishing it from the other type of virginal made by ancient flemish makers, the "muselar-virginal". They both have the same shape, but muselar has the keyboard on the right and spinet-virginal on the left. Great is the difference of the sound because spinet-virginal has the plucking points near the nut (as all the other instruments of the harpsichord family) and muselar has the plucking points near the half of the string.

[@herrcastor]

Is the almost total avoidance of using the thumb in scalar passages a technique specific to this instrument, or just a preference of the performer?

[@alessandrotrapasso6470]

Making a long story short: it is a technique specific for the music of this period. The so called "historical fingering" was based on examples found on treatises and manuscripts. From what we can tell nowdays, Sweelinck used a mix of the 2 main sources we usually refer to (which are Diruta and the english virginalists). The choices you see here are a syntesis based on my studies and the articulation I prefered for the passages. Very interesting question anyway, it would require a deep and detailed discussion. Thanks for noticing!

[@brighentiharpsichords7221]

It is a technique sfecific of this repertoire, not (only) of this instrument! ;)

[@chrissansum]

Good to see some historically-informed fingering close up - I have been playing some English renaissance music recently on my spinet and it is good to see close up how these kind of fingerings are used. It would be good to see someone do a video specifically on fingering and ornaments in English virginal music. Of course some of it is a guessing game but a few thoughts on ways to interpret the ornaments and scales would be really useful!

[@zoeann1144]

😢😢😢😢

[@julianaaraujo9088]

Beautiful! I have no words to express my emotion. Thank you

[@jacquesdurivage709]

Superbe instrument. Belle sonorité.