The harps played by the harpers of
the old Gaelic orders were an aristocratic instrument,
played in the courts of kings and before the chiefs
of clans. Harp music had an important role in Gaelic
culture, legend and folklore. About the 13th century,
when Feudalism reached its height, the Troubadours began
appearing. European harpers earned their living by moving
from town to town, using small harps for self-accompanied
singing, storytelling, news-telling and in instrumental
groupings. Harpers were second only to the chieftain
or king, often serving as advisors and leading armies
into battle. Unarmed, they were recognized and respected
by the enemy and were generally immune from harm.
The age of chivalry with its
troubadours and minstrels began a new renaissance in
harps. The Medieval harps during this time were small
enough to be held on the player's lap, and had between
7 to 25 strings and they had narrow sound boxes often
carved out of a solid log. Medieval harps were apparently
wire strung although gut, hair and plant materials were
used as well. By the 11th or 12th century, the upper
neck begins to assume the contours of what we call the
"harmonic curve" which attempted to more closely
match the string's length with its frequency or pitch.
Very little else is known about the instruments of this
period.
During the middle of
the 14th to 16th century, larger harps known as Gothic
harps appeared. This harp had around 24 gut strings,
a relatively tall instrument compared to earlier harps
and is the ancestor of the later Renaissance harp. The
Renaissance harp evolved into the Italian Double-Row
Harp, the Italian Arpa Doppia, the Spanish Renaissance
harp and the Chromatic harp. These versions of the Renaissance
harp eventually developed into the modern the folk harps
of Latin America, the "Orchestral, Pedal or Concert"
harp of Central Europe and possibly the modern "Irish"
or "Celtic" harp from the "Isles".
Still small and light by modern standards, the Gothic style
Harp was the standard harp throughout Europe into the late
Middle Ages and the Renaissance period in music history.
They were strung with gut strings at a much lower tension
than we are accustomed to today. Earlier models had 19 to
22 strings, later harps known as early Renaissance harps
were larger and had 26 to 30 strings. They were tuned diatonically
with the soundbox generally hollowed from a plank of hardwood,
giving the harp a distinctive plucked sound to complement
the lute, an instrument the gothic harp often played with
in consort.
The Wartburg Single-Row Gothic Harp (circa
1350-1450) was acquired during the middle of the 19th century
for the art collection of the Wartburg Museum, Eisenach,
Germany. It purportedly belonged to Oswald von Wolkenstein,
who lived in Tyrol from 1377-1445. It is beautifully inlayed
with Certosinia-workand has 26 gut strings and a full set
of brays at the string base to sharpen the strings by a
semi-tone. It is a 'carved-body' type and made of maple.
It stands at 109 cm high. (See Image below)
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By the late Renaissance a number of variations on
the Gothic / Renaissance harp theme were in use. The
single-course Renaissance harp remained only capable
of playing seven notes per octave or the diatonic
scale (the white notes on a piano). The major composers
of the 16th to 18th centuries demanded all 12 chromatic
notes of the scale (white and black notes on the piano).
One solution was a chromatic harp, a harp with 12
strings per octave . Chromatic harps were built in
Spain in the 16th and 17th century. A double harp
with two rows of strings was built in 1581. Soon afterwards,
the triple harp appeared where the player would reach
between two diatonic scaled rows of outer strings
to play the chromatic notes in between. The double
and triple harps continue today in the Welsh tradition.
The Italian Double-Row Renaissance Harp (circa 1675)
had 2 parallel rows or courses of strings and was
chromatic (having both the black notes and the white
notes like a piano). It had a carved soundboard of
maple and a five-staved back made of walnut with 52
chromatic notes with all gut strings. (See Image above)
"Bolognia Doppia"
with 2 rows of strings
Reproduction from the doppia in the
Museo Medival, Bolognia, 1600.
Eric Early Harps |
"Barberini" Italian Baroque Harp
with 3 rows of strings.
Reproduction from the original built for
Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Rome 1635.
Eric Early Harps
|
The Eric Harps website has some beautiful
contemporary
copies of medieval harps
made by a
German mastercraftsman.
English version coming soon. |
The Italian Arpa Doppia was a three-course harp of
the late Renaissance or early Baroque period had 26
chromatic strings in the central row, with 24 trebles
on the right, and 25 basses on the left. The soundbox
was constructed of hardwood staves, and the soundboard
is maple.
Early Spanish Harps were single-course or cross-strung
harps generally with 29 strings. The
single course- harp could be fretted against the neck
for semi-tones. The cross-strung harps had
chromatic strings (the black piano notes) intersecting,
or passing between the diatonic strings (the white
piano strings), forming an X. In this way, all chromatic
and diatonic strings were playable by both hands at
any point on the harp. The soundboard is very much
like the guitar with spruce and cross braced for reinforcement,
creating a wonderful sound.
Wire strung harps or ancient Irish harps may be the
predecessors of our current lever harps in folklore
but not in technical development. These instruments
were wire strung (brass, iron, silver, or gold) often
with the soundboxes carved from a single piece of
willow (bog wood). Technical innovations garnered
from many geographical centers of the late Renaissance
Europe plus the invention of the modern lever mechanism
in Japan in composite have eventuated in the modern
Celtic harp.
In the 1600s, the later Spanish or Renaissance harp
was taken to the new world by Jesuit missionaries
and developed in a completely different way. The indigenous
peoples were fascinated with the instrument, made
some changes to it and adopted it as part of their
own culture. There are many kinds of harps in Latin
America, including the Venezuelan harp, Mexican harp
and arpa llanera - harp of the plain. Almost all South
American Countries have their own versions of harps.
In construction and playing techniques, these harps
are quite different from the traditional European
harps. They were made of thin wood (cedar and pine)
and were much lighter than the European harp. The
strings were routed up the centre of the neck and
the instruments were bi-symmetrical resulting in few
structural stresses. Eventually tacitos were used
to sharpen notes to change key. The playing style
and techniques were vibrant and dynamic in contrast
to the softer European tone. Modern Paraguayan harps
usually have 36 nylon strings tuned to the diatonic
scale and are played with the fingernails. The sound
is bright with a shorter sustain period after the
plucking of each note.
