Harps Through the Ages
- A Brief History

The harp existed in nearly all ancient musical traditions, from the banks of the Nile, the Euphrates, the Indus, and Yangtze rivers. Stunning remains of these early instruments were found in the royal cemetery of Ur (Mesopotamia, c. 2500 BC) and in Babylonia. The Egyptians, who regarded musical instruments as gifts from the gods, developed the bow harp. Pharisaic paintings of more than 4000 years ago depict many bow harps, some played standing up, others played in a sitting position. Later Egyptian dynastic tombs show the angle harp, probably imported from the Assyrians.

The harp is prominently mentioned in the Bible, which reveals that plucked string instruments were used for healing, inspiration and prophecy as well as for public ceremonies. King David reportedly composed many of his psalms on the harp, known as the nevel, although some scholars believe the lyre or kinnor was his instrument of choice.

The Greeks considered the art of playing the harp and companion instruments as a foundation of learning. In the 5th and 6th centuries, they used the lyre harp to develop musical scales. Among the different models of harps in classical Greece, the angular model was played by women. This harp became popular in imperial Rome and was played during processions and ceremonies of the Isis cult and to accompany lyric poems.

Chinese harps existed in the Shan period (1766-122 B.C.). In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), Persian merchants of the Silk Road introduced the konghou or vertical frame harp to China. The konghou nearly vanished in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as zithers came into fashion. It was reinvented in the late 20th century fusing the European pedal harp with elements of earlier Chinese harps. Arched harps also migrated to Japan, Korea, and Burma. The classical Saung-Gauk dating to the 7th century became the national instrument of Burma.

The early Indian harp, called the yazh, was a Dravidian instrument which had a boat-shaped resonator and up to 21 strings attached directly to a curved arm. It was displaced by the veena or lute in the early middle ages. A Sanskrit text says: "Listening to the playful melody of the yazh puts one in a state of such spiritual joy that one forgets the pains of the world."

The harp migrated from Egypt along trade routes to Africa, where it inhabits a wide belt, largely north of the equator, from Lake Chad to Uganda, with a western presence in Mauritania. More than 50 tribes and regions have their own versions of the bow or angle harp, including the adunga, tangoli, ennanga, tangoli, ardin, kinde, ngombi, zamataba, and kondu. Harpists are central actors in religious ceremonies. Many serve as genealogists or historians for their communities.

Ancient images of small, triangular harps and their harpers date back to at least the 9th century in Pictish stone carvings found in the east coast of Scotland. In Gaelic society, the harp was an instrument of great power that could, in Allison Kinnaird's words, "cast a spell of love or evil intent, or soothe troubled minds to sleep." The term "harpe," derived from Nordic or Teutonic roots, referred to a gut-strung instrument that was plucked with the fingers. The later term clarsach used in Scotland and Ireland referred to a wire-strung harp played with the fingernails. A millennium ago, Irish musicians had harps of hardwood strung with solid brass, silver and gold. They and the highland harpists of Scotland sang for kings and chieftans, for celebrations, laments and battles.

As Norman and English invaders occupied their land, harpers lost their patrons. Seen as powerful, rebellious voices, these bards were banned by various English governments. They began embarking on a lifetime of travel. One of the best known early harpers was Rory Dall Morrison (1660-1730), known as "the blind harper," who served Chief MacLeod of Dunwegan on the Isle of Skye. Turlough Carolan (1670-1738), blinded by smallpox at age 16, studied harp and began composing songs after his patron, Mrs. McDermott Roe, gave him a horse, purse and guide. His 220 surviving songs enjoyed a revival in the late 20th century with the renaissance of the Irish harp and other modes of traditional music.

Wales has an unbroken tradition of nine centuries of harp playing. Its bardic schools licensed musicians and poets and governed their pay scale while performing on the road. Early harps were strung with twisted horse hair and always played on the left shoulder. The Robert ap Huw manuscript (c. 1580-1665) is the oldest extant harp music collection in the world. Triple harps migrated from Italy to Wales in the 1600s and became the Welsh national instrument in the 19th century. This tradition, kept alive by Nansi Richards and Telymores Maldwyn, has been continued by harpers such as Robin Huw Bowen.

During the early medieval period, the invention of the forepillar or column, which forms a triangle with the soundbox and neck, fortified the harp and made it more resonant and easily tunable. Earlier, the Utrecht Psalter (816-35) depicted several harps with possible forepillars. By the 12th century, frame harps were the prevalent model in continental Europe. The early Renaissance German invention of the hook lever allowed harpists to adjust the pitch a half-tone.

Harpists accompanied Gregorian chant in Northern Europe. They recited Anglo-Saxon poems and songs like Beowulf. The age of chivalry beginning in the 1200s saw a resurgence in harping and harp-making as troubadours and minstrels became the court poets, spot reporters and mass entertainers of their time. Christian, Muslim and Jewish musicians exchanged songs and notated hundreds of cantigas playing harp and lute in the court of Alfonso El Sabio in Seville. During Spain's golden age, the harp and guitar were the leading instruments in church, theatrical and popular music.

The harp migrated from Spain to Mexico and South America with the conquistadores and missionaries. The Jesuits and other religious orders established music schools and promoted musical literacy, blending elements of the Spanish and Italian baroque musical styles with native elements. Indigenous peoples developed their own folk harps with unique designs and sounds using thin wood, light stringing, narrow spacing, and deep, wide soundboxes that taper to the top. Today, the harp is the national instrument in Paraguay. In parts of the Andean cordillera, highland harps are still used in religious ceremonies and local festivities. Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and various regions of Mexico have evolved distinct styles of playing.

The seal of the old Council of New England, which granted the pilgrims their first land in the U.S., bore a harp. Although the guitar was to predominate in the New World, the harp remained an iconic symbol and was treasured as a parlor instrument by many Americans. Louisa Adams, the wife of John Quincy Adams, played the harp. Benjamin Franklin owned a Welsh harp. James Monroe's daughter Eliza studied the harp in France. Harps figured prominently in the first music academy in the U.S. Various immigrant streams - Scotch-Irish, African, Moravian, French, Italian, Jewish and Latin American - brought their harp lore and techniques to U.S. and Canadian shores.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lyon and Healy of Chicago and Melville Clark of New York helped promote a mass base for the instrument. Today there are hundreds of lever harp makers and thousands of aficionados in the U.S. alone. From the 1960s on, North American and Celtic musicians played a leading role in the international folk harp revival spurred in part by Brittany harper Alan Stivell and Derek Bell of the Chieftans. Victor Salvi, whose family emigrated from the harp-making region of Viggiano, became an acclaimed classical harpist as did his brother. In 1955 he returned to Italy to start Salvi harps in Genoa. He acquired Lyon and Healy in the 1980s and in 2005 launched Museo Dell'Arpa, the first museum exclusively dedicated to harps.