The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-12-18
Harp Traditions
CharmingIy Told
Miss French Chats Upon the History
OF the Instrument.
1T is OF ANCIENT ORIGIN
Used by the Egyptians 1000 b. c., and
There Is No Proof That Adam Was Not
IIarpist-Gaining Ground Among
Cultured Musicians.


Cultured Musicians.
When one begins to look up the his
tory of the harp they have to go back,
and back, to the very earliest antedi-
luvian ages. Its origin cannot be as
certained, but it was known to the He
brews in the time of the earlier proph-
cts and to the Egyptians 1000 b. c. The
Egyptians attained great perfection In
the construction of the harp, which was
frequently richly ornamented and of
elegant formulating from four to.
twenty-one cords.
They held the instrument very sacred.
Only the high class were allowed to use
them. All through the Bible we read of
the harp, and it seems to have been
used on all grand and joyful occasions.
In Ireland and Wales harps of many
strings and of elegant form were in use
as early as the fifth and sixth centuries,
and in the former it was adopted as the
national emblem. In Wales it is still
cherished as the national instrument.
So far the harp was tuned in major
scale and it was impossible to change
the key only by returning the whole in
strument In the seventeenth century
a Tyrolese maker made use of a set of
hooks, which We're put in the comb of
the harp and could be screwed down
with the fingers, and so shorten the
strings which changed the intervals.
The introduction of pedals, whereby it
became possible to modulate into all
keys first gave the harp higher posi-
ton than that of an instrument of ac-
compartment, and the improvements of
Sebastian Erard have made it capable
of performing any music written for the
piano. In 1920, Hochbrucker, a Bavar-
ian, invented pedals that, acting through
the pedestal of the instrument, stopped
the strings by mechanism, and so left
the hands of the player free. This
harp was the same as the single-action
harp Of today. 1t was tuned in e fiat,
and had the seven pedals which, when
down, raised each string a half-tone,
making it possible to play in eight keys.
COnsineau, a Frenchman, improved
on Hochbrucker's plans and doubled the
number of pedals, and the tuning of the
instrument being changed from u fiat
to G fiat, it became possible to play in
fifteen keys. 1t is to Sebastian Erard
to whom we owe the perfecting of the
pedal harp, a triumph he gained in
Paris by unremitting studies begun in
1856 and ended in 1910, when he had at
tanned complete success and put his
first double-action harp before the pub
lie. Erard's double-action maintained
only the seven pedals, but each pedal
had two movements, the first serving
to shorten the strings of the same name
and to produce the first half-tone, and
the second movement raised the strings
still half-tone higher. Erard did not
rest when he had attained perfection
with the action but improved the comb,
sound-board and all parts of the instru-
ment. The Erard harps, like the Stra-
dwarf violins, have never been equaled.
Again Coming in Favor.
Notwithstanding these improvements
and the great beauty of tone that the
harp possesses, the use of it has for
y
cost of harp and the trouble of tuning
may have led to the supplanting of the
harp by the more convenient pianoforte.
| With this comes naturally a dimuni-
ton in the number of solo players. Were
it not for the increasing use of the harp
in the orchestra, we should perhaps
know little more of it than we do of the
dulcimer in spite of the efforts of dis
| tinguished Virtuosi whose devotion to
their instrument maintains its tech
nique on an equality with that of any
other, even the most in public favor.
During the last year or two the harp
seems to be coming back to favor as a
solo instrument. In Boston, Chicago,
New York and other cities, 1T is quite
the thing for afternoon receptions and
parlor concerts. This may be due to
the fact that during the last few years
several harpists have come over here
| from abroad and have shown us what
| fine music can be played on the harp.
The most noted of these are Edmund
and Heinrich Schuecker, two brothers,
who are the finest harpists who have
| CNOl bCCl III tiilS IJuIllullu, luc
elder, is harpist of Thomas Orchestra,
and Heinrich the solo harpist of the
Boston Symphony, and one Of the most
popular artists among the cultured
musicians i'm Boston.
If more people would take up the
harp and study it for a year or two they
would find that their services would be
in great demand If one can play only
fairly well on the harp people always
like it, when if one plays the piano
they have TO be able to do something
wonderful If they want any attention
Harps can be rented, and second hand
instruments bought for reasonable
prices, and the firm of Erard have an
agency in Boston where one can pur-
chase any style of an Erard harp.
The harp is gaining ground slowly
but sure, and it will soon be "the" in
strument among the fashionable and
cultured musicians.
Gertrude Holyoke French.
|