The harp is probably the oldest string instrument. (There are
images of bow harps in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs!) Renaissance era harps
were diatonic (like the white keys of the piano), tuned in a particular key
or mode, and could not play accidentals (sharps or flats -- the black notes
of the piano). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, harps with two,
and later three, rows of strings were used. Originating in Spain and Italy,
these double- and triple-rank harps allowed more chromatic music to be played.
The Spanish developed the cross-strung double harp, in which the chromatic
strings (the accidental notes) intersected or passed between the diatonic
strings, forming an X, so that all chromatic and diatonic strings could be
played by both hands. The Italians aligned the strings in rows or ranks.
The three-rank Italian harp of the late Renaissance and early Baroque period
had twenty-six chromatic strings in the central row, with twenty-four treble
strings on the right, and twenty-five bass strings on the left. The accidentals
(the center row of strings) could be played by either hand.
The Golden Age of the Harp was from 1730-1830. John Parry, Mozart. Handel,
Rosetti, Louis Spohr, and Johann Ladislaus Dussek are but a few of the
composers who wrote music for the harp. Regency misses who wanted to play
the harp had a variety of instruments from which to choose, including hook
harps, lever harps, cross harps, triple harps, and pedal harps. Most harps
had one rank of strings, some had two ranks, while Welsh harps had three
ranks of strings.
Single-action pedal harps were developed in 1720 by Jacob Hochbrucker
of Donauworth and Johann Vetter of Nuremberg and had only a single set of
strings, tuned diatonically; the pedals (initially five, later increased
to seven) raised the tone of the strings by a half-step. Lever harps used
sharping levers, which raise the pitch of a string by a half-step, to play
accidentals. Cross harps and triple harps are chromatic and do not require
pedals or sharping levers to play accidentals. Triple harps have three rows
of strings, the outer two tuned diatonically in unison with each other, the
middle row, which is offset horizontally by half the distance between the
adjacent strings, is tuned a half-step higher. In Europe, the triple harp
was superceded by the pedal harp, but the triple harp lived on in Wales, where
it was extremely popular (as well as cheaper and lighter than the newer
pedal harps).
The pedal harp was improved in 1750 when the early pedal-operated hooks
that caught and pulled the strings were replaced with metal plates that gripped
the strings while leaving them in the same plane. In 1792, rotating disks
were substituted for the metal plates. Jean-Henri Naderman and his sons,
François-Joseph and Henri-Pascal, were the most well-known Parisian
single-action pedal harp makers of the Georgian and Regency eras.
The drawback to the single-action pedal harp was that it could not play
in every key. In 1782, Georges Cousineau and his son, Jacques-Georges, developed
the double-action pedal harp, which allowed the strings to be raised or
lowered a half-step.
Sébastian Érard founded a workshop for piano and harp building
in Paris in 1780. His brother soon joined him. In 1788, Sébastian
fled the revolutionary turmoil of France and went to England, where he founded
a branch of his firm. His factory became the greatest producer of pianos
and harps in western Europe. In 1810 in London, Sébastian Érard
patented his now standard double-action harp. The double-action harp was
similar to the single-action harp in that it had seven pedals and used the
motion of a pedal to rotate discs or forks which raised that string a half-step.
The first movement of the pedal produced the first half-tone; the second
movement produced a second half-tone. The pedals did not have to be continually
held down, but could be fixed into a notch and released when needed. These
seven pedals, all of which could be tuned one or two half-steps higher,
enabled the harp to play in all keys.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, triple harps were found mostly
in Wales. The most famous triple harp maker of the Georgian era was John
Richards of Llanrwst (1711-1789). In the nineteenth century, Basset Jones
of Cardiff (1807-1869) was the most famous triple harp maker. The neck of
the triple harp was carved from a single piece of wood, usually walnut or
sycamore, strengthened with an iron band. Few Georgian and Regency era triple
harps are still playable today because the neck was subjected to three times
more force (due to the pull of the strings) than the neck of a pedal harp,
and the resulting torque cause the neck to twist out of line. Triple harps
have a range of five octaves. The triple harp is held against the left shoulder,
with the left hand playing treble notes and the right hand playing the
bass. The middle (accidental) strings are usually played with the left
hand.
Welsh harp technique damps each melody note as the next one is sounded,
instead of letting them ring over one another. The various methods to damp
the strings are called "stoppings." In addition to stoppings, Celtic harp
music was based on combinations of phrases or motifs, which are divided into
two types, one providing tension, the other resolution. Ancient Welsh harping
technique has twenty-four of these patterns, which are known as “measures,”
many of which sound like ornamentation. Welsh harp music has a rippling,
shimmering sound similar to that of the lute and harpsichord.
If you've ever wondered about the different colored strings on a harp,
C strings are red, and the F strings are blue or black.
Copyright © 2004 by Susan A. Lantz.
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