Harpsichord vs Virginal

[Avery]

Personally, after doing a little research, there seems to be quite a 
bit of difference between the two!

Avery

Doesn't look like any 'harpsichord' we have! :-)

Avery Todd

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The virginal uses the same plucking action as the harpsichord, but it 
is oblong rather than wing shaped and the keyboard is in the long 
side. In this regard, it resembles the clavichord in shape. The 
virginal has one string per note running parallel to the keyboard and 
its range is approximately four octaves.   The name virginal 
supposedly comes from the fact that young ladies usually played this 
instrument and possibly due to a reflection on Queen Elizabeth I, the 
Virgin Queen, who reigned at the time. It is more popular than the 
harpsichord in northern Europe.

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The early English instruments were mostly virginals, and a great many 
survive. The virginal is similar to the harpsichord, but smaller, and 
with the keyboard arrangement on the side instead of the end. The are 
generally disposed 1x8', and have a range of C/E-c''. Important also 
in the Italian and Flemish schools, the virginal in England was the 
instrument of royalty as well as burgher, and it has a considerable 
literature designated for it. The keyboard can be placed to the left, 
the center, or the right, the last of which is called a muselar and 
has a distinctive flutey sound.

[]








Virginal

Plucked stringed keyboard instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries, 
often called 'virginals' or 'a pair of virginals' in England, where 
the term was applied to any quilled keyboard instrument well into the 
17th century. The virginal is rectangular or polygonal in shape and 
is distinguished from the 
<http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0016355.html>harpsichord 
and 
<http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0018173.html>spinet 
by its strings being set at right angles to the keys, rather than 
parallel with them.

The most likely explanation of the name is that the instrument was 
often played by girls. There are several manuscript collections of 
virginal music by English composers, including The Fitzwilliam 
Virginal Book, My Ladye Nevells Booke, Will Forster's Book, Benjamin 
Cosyn's Book, and Elizabeth Rogers's Book.


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