A rare or archaic keyboard stringed instrument designed by combining the keyboard action of the clavichord with the string arrangement and sound principles of the cithara or cittern.
From Latin 'clavis' (key) + 'cithara' (lyre-type stringed instrument from Greek). A compound Renaissance instrument name indicating hybrid design.
The clavicytherium represents a fascinating failure of instrument design history—craftsmen spent energy creating elaborate hybrid instruments when the eventual solution (the pianoforte) turned out to be relatively simple, showing how engineering elegance often triumphs over complex combinations.
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