The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, containing 4.5 million objects. In this museum of invaluable and interesting objects, is a spectacular collection of harpsichords, a claviorgan, a cabinet organ, spinets, virginals, and pianos that range from 1521 to 1903. These fantastic instruments can show us how the keyboard has developed, as well as what the keyboard represented long ago.
Claviorgan (1579) Made in London by Lodewyk Theewes
A virginal owned by Queen Elizabeth
"Each instrument has its own aura and beauty, fully exposed when played for an audience. It's amazing that beyond being viewed as works of art, some keyboards had practical aspects. One that I found most amusing was a cabinet organ from 1610 that had 28 separate drawers organized above the keys."
--Mike
"I loved the ornate artwork of the instruments! It really shows that these instruments were a form of artwork without even hearing them sound!"
-- Shawn
"Here we were able to see the virginal that is said to have been Queen Elizabeth's very own. Despite its moderate size it was covered in gold detail and had the royal emblem on it. The beauty of this virginal was being able to stand in front of it just as the Queen herself did. A Queen who had such a love for music..."
--Lauren
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