[1] It should be noted in passing that during the early stages of the growth of polyphonic music, roughly from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, composers had brought over into their vocal music a great deal of instrumental technique or style, which had been developed on the crude organs, and on the accompanying instruments of the troubadours. In the period which we are about to treat the reverse is very plainly the case. [2] At the head of Sebastian Bach’s _Musikalisches Opfer_ stands the Latin superscription: _Regis Iussu Cantio et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta_. The initial letters form the word ricercar. [3] _Cf._ Vol. VI, Chap. XV. [4] Suites were known in England as ‘lessons,’ in France as _ordres_, in Germany as _Partien_, and in Italy as _sonate da camera_. [5] There was a form of suite akin to the variation form. In this the same melody or theme served for the various dance movements, being treated in the style of the allemande, courante, or other dances chosen. _Cf._ Peurl’s Pavan, Intrada, Dantz, and Gaillarde (1611); and Schein’s Pavan, Gailliarde, Courante, Allemande, and Tripla (1617). This variation suite is rare in harpsichord music. Froberger’s suite on the old air, _Die Mayerin_, is a conspicuous exception. [6] ‛_Denn warum sollte man auf dem Clavier nicht eben wie auf anderen Instrumenten dergleichen Sachen tractieren können?_’ he writes in his preface to the ‘Seven New _Partien_,’ 1692. [7] So they were called in France, which until the time of Beethoven set the model for harpsichord style. In Germany they were called _Manieren_. [8] D’Anglebert published in 1689 a set of pieces, for the harpsichord, containing twenty variations on a melody known as _Folies d’Espagne_, later immortalized by Corelli. [9] Le Begue (1630-1702) published _Pièces de clavecin_ in 1677. [10] See J. S. Shedlock: ‘The Pianoforte Sonata,’ London, 1895. CHAPTER II THE GOLDEN AGE OF HARPSICHORD MUSIC The period and the masters of the ‘Golden Age’--Domenico Scarlatti; his virtuosity; Scarlatti’s ‘sonatas’; Scarlatti’s technical effects; his style and form; æsthetic value of his music; his contemporaries--François Couperin, _le Grand_; Couperin’s clavecin compositions; the ‘musical portraits’; ‘program music’--The quality and style of his music; his contemporaries, Daquin and Rameau--John Sebastian Bach; Bach as virtuoso; as teacher; his technical reform; his style--Bach’s fugues and their structure--The suites of Bach: the French suites, the English suites, the Partitas--The preludes, toccatas and fantasies; concertos; the ‘Goldberg Variations’--Bach’s importance; his contemporary Handel.