How to Use harpsichord in a Sentence

harpsichord

noun
  • On one side was a harpsichord, of the kind that Bach might have played.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
  • Sheet music from the time shows notes too high or low to play on the harpsichord.
    — Richard Siken, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The group blends rock, gospel, and even a little harpsichord to create a five-minute journey.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2024
  • Instead, Mozart’s score will be played on harpsichord and piano.
    — Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Oct. 2021
  • Resting atop the harpsichord is a piece of sheet music known only from this painting.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 15 Nov. 2019
  • In the third scene, Keys plays the harpsichord in a flooding room while Miguel floats up from the ground.
    — Helen Murphy, PEOPLE.com, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Our manager showed up the next day with a harpsichord and this weed called Train Wreck.
    — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 13 May 2022
  • Your new album sounds like a classic country record, but with a lot of twists, including a harpsichord.
    — Dallas News, 23 Oct. 2020
  • Hana has a habit of picking up feathers to give to the village chief, who makes them into quills to pluck at the strings of a harpsichord.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2023
  • The harpsichord was also a victim of the orchestral era.
    — Tim Parks, New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Here near the borders of Brazil and Paraguay, harpsichords and lutes can be found in the smallest villages.
    — Nicholas Casey, New York Times, 8 May 2018
  • But the music, with strings and harpsichord over a clip-clop beat, defies classification even now.
    — Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2021
  • But this harpsichord rendition has, for some reason, never made the leap to digital.
    — Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2022
  • Another classic Paul bassline, this time over a shuffling beat with harpsichord and other twangy sounds.
    — Eliot Van Buskirk, WIRED, 19 Nov. 2008
  • The melody is underscored by a series of pulsing broken chords, and the sound of a harpsichord adds a stately flourish.
    — Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 11 Oct. 2024
  • When many people think of the harpsichord’s signature twinkly rattle, Baroque music is the first thing that comes to mind.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 22 Oct. 2019
  • In Rushefsky’s hands the tsimbl can resemble (or sound like) a harpsichord crossed with a vibraphone.
    — John Adamian, courant.com, 29 Sep. 2019
  • Its sound unifies acoustic principles of the lute and harp, producing a sound resembling that of a harpsichord.
    — Mary Jane Brewer, cleveland, 19 July 2022
  • In the single movement for harpsichord alone, in the middle of the sixth sonata, Prutsman’s rough edges brought an unwelcome harshness.
    — Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2019
  • Quite frankly his orchestration and the harpsichord opening was the thing that brought us to the attention of Billboard and the charts.
    — Nick Williams, Billboard, 18 Nov. 2019
  • At first, it was called a ‘harpsichord with soft and loud,’ thanks to players’ ability to control the volume of each note by varying the force of their finger strokes.
    — Alexandra Wolfe, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2018
  • The backward effects, including a guitar solo, and the swirling harpsichord sound over the cool relentless drone.
    — David Lindquist, Indianapolis Star, 25 June 2019
  • Stephenson will perform on a handmade replica of a 1720-era harpsichord like one Bach would have played.
    — Sheryl Devore, Lake County News-Sun, 21 Feb. 2018
  • Conductor Robert Tweten had planned to play harpsichord for the production all along, Meeker said.
    — Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Oct. 2021
  • Nichloson's words and melodies became more complex and layered with the help of Hirabayashi's orchestrations — and harpsichord.
    — Rob Hubbard, Star Tribune, 4 Feb. 2021
  • Kendrick Lamar rides the beat and spits fire; the Foo Fighters shred and melt faces; Bach plays the harpsichord in stockings and a powdered wig.
    — Zachary Przystup, Christian Science Monitor, 18 June 2025
  • Van Helden shed the song’s mournful harpsichord riff and transformed it into a four-on-the-floor rave-up -- and the response in nightclubs was immediate.
    — Mitchell Kuga, Billboard, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Ogg returned to join Cho at the harpsichord for a four-handed Mozart Sonata that was the most unabashedly fun adventure of the evening.
    — Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities, 2 Aug. 2019
  • If filling up on raw octopus to the tinkling of a harpsichord is not your idea of fun, Moscow offers high-concept dining in other flavors.
    — Alex Halberstadt, Town & Country, 9 Oct. 2015
  • At Houghton Hall, Dame Magdalene’s sculptures do not just sit on tabletops or in niches or atop a harpsichord.
    — Mitchell Owens, Architectural Digest, 2 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harpsichord.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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