virginal, musical instrument: see spinet spinet, musical instrument of the harpsichord family. Although the terms virginal and spinet, interchangeable until the end of the 17th cent., were sometimes used indiscriminately to designate any harpsichord, they usually referred to small instruments
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Small rectangular harpsichord with a single set of strings and a single manual. The derivation of its name is uncertain. The virginal's strings run parallel to the keyboard, which occupies only a portion of the longer side. Combination virginals include a smaller portable virginal that can be placed on top of the larger keyboard to create a two-manual instrument. The virginal was particularly popular in 16th–17th-century England, where much music was written for it by William Byrd, Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes, and others.
virginal
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virginal
or virginals)
English virginal (with jack rail removed) made by Robert Hatley, London, 1664; in the …
(credit: From the Benton-Fletcher Collection at the National Trust Property, Fenton House, Hampstead, London)
virginal
a smaller version of the harpsichord, but oblong in shape, having one manual and no pedals
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