Changing Keys : Keyboard Instruments for America 1700 - 1830

Watson, John R.

ISBN 10: 0810884852 / ISBN 13: 9780810884854

Published by Scarecrow Press / The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2013

About this Item

NEW BOOK - OVERSIZED HARDCOVER IN NEW DUSTJACKET. New book from our warehouse. Gift Quality. Published by Scarecrow Press / The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2013, with 133 pages, dozens of photographs, many in full color, quarto (4to). Very well-made book, bound in sturdy cloth-covered boards, embossed gilt lettering on the spine. Pages of high-grade, coated, glossy paper. The book is clean and stain-free, firm and tight in its binding, no pages are loose, missing, folded, wrinkled, or torn. The hinges are sound and undamaged, the corners are sharp and unbumped. Internally, all pages are clean and stain-free, bright and white, and all text and photos remain crisp and legible. There is no writing, underlining, highlighting, or any other such markings anywhere in the book. The dustjacket is flawless, clean, bright, and stain-free, complete and intact, has no wear, no tears, no wrinkles or creases, not price-clipped. Buy with confidence, five-star seller, professional booksellers for 35 years, selling books online since 1995. B15.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Changing Keys : Keyboard Instruments for America 1700 - 1830
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press / The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810884852
• ISBN 13: 9780810884854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Through the instruments that comprise the historical keyboard collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation—including six harpsichords, six spinets, three organs, and twenty three pianos—Changing Keys: Keyboard Instruments for America, 1700-1830 explores the keyboard culture of America in the colonial and Federal eras. Curator and historian John R. Watson illustrates new ways to learn from historic instruments, treating these cultural artifacts as primary documents, through which readers learn about their construction, their period of early use, and their passage through time.

The 38 featured instruments are illustrated with color photographs, including many top view and detail photos as well as drawn diagrams. Each instrument serves as a springboard for discussion on the evolution of musical resources, construction technologies, and case decoration. Watson draws on the physical evidence of their manufacture, maintenance, and preservation to illustrate how this breed of instrument altered over time. Other topics include the lives and contributions of individual keyboard makers, including their technological innovations, and patents.

The book’s visually engaging format and approachable style will appeal to casual as well as academic readers. Technical specifications and pictorial glossary are included in the back.

This work is published in conjunction with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

About the Author

John R. Watson is the curator of musical instruments at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. His training is in music and his career has included keyboard instrument making and conservation.