HARPS
Yuuki Yamaguchi

Introduction
I’m a harpist, so I love to play the harp. Some of you might have heard the beautiful tone of a harp at least once, however, it isn’t all that familiar an instrument. Therefore, I’d like to give you some information and convey how wonderful harps are. I’d like you to have an interest in harps.

History of harps

According to the Yamaha Corporation, harps have been played by people since antiquity because they are simply made. A harp was excavated as a relic of the Mesopotamian civilization from 2500BC.
There are many kinds of harps, so I’ll introduce the most popular ones, a grand harp and an Irish harp, to you. The feature of a grand harp is the pedals. In 1697, Hoch Brücker devised a harp with pedals for the first time. It was called “Single-action harp”. We can elevate a halftone with one step. After that, because Marie-Antoinette had her own harp and played for people, harps became a necessary part of musical performance for aristocrats. In 1811, Sebastian Erard in France made a prototype of the present grand harp. (http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/1964/ERARD.html) Most of the present day harp is called “Double-action harps”. These harps have seven pedals which can pedal two steps. When you visit this site and see the handwritten picture, you can understand the structure of the pedal.
http://bassoonist.m78.com/orch/instruments/harp.html
Irish harps were popular from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth century. With the decline of Irish lords in the nineteenth century however, the harp culture died out in Ireland. During the twentieth century, Irish identity was revived again, and Irish harps also were made again.
There are many theories about the history of harps. These sites give us more information about the history of the harp, so please refer to these.
http://e-gakkiten.com/seminar/history/history.html (Japanese only)
http://www.harp.gr.jp/irishharp.htm (Japanese only)
http://www.harp4joy.com/history.html
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~harpist/history.htm
http://www.alisonvardy.com/harp/early-harp-history.htm

Harp music
There have been some composers who have written for harps like Dussek Jan Ladislav, Marcel Lucien Tournier, Marcel Grandjany, and Henriette Renie. Most of them were harpists and composed for chamber music. Many harpists prefer to play “Au Matin” by Tournier still now. It is one of the masterpieces for the harp.
Harps are also played in orchestras. The harp sound is not so big, but it takes an active part because it supports main instruments like the violins. Now I’d like to talk about the features of harp sound and playing.
1 tone….........The harp sound is comfortable and lingering
2 touch ……..It’s easy for everyone to play the harp. Plucking by your fingers is a good cure.
3 oscillation…When you play or listen to the harp, the harp sound pulsates you.
Thus, you can enjoy the harp by both playing and listening!
There are some harp sounds on this web site. http://www.harp4joy.com/listen.html

Harp music therapy
Musical instruments heal our tiredness, sorrow, pain, and stress. Harps are used for music therapy. I mentioned three features of harp sound above, and those are the elements of harp therapy.
If you want to know more about harp music therapy, please visit this web site. The author Elsie Tysseland, gives information about harp therapy.
http://www.harp4joy.com/therapy.html

Conclusion
Now, I hope that harps are convivial for you. Harps are historical and universal instruments, so you will have a chance to meet them in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Of course, harps are not cheap, but we can borrow them from many music companies cheaply. If you play or listen to the harp, you’ll understand it more. Harp music will give you pleasure and ease.


I recommend these web pages to you.
http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~lyre/harp.htm
---The author, Hiroko Matsuura explains about the structure of a grand harp and Irish harp. Sorry, Japanese only.

http://www.harpspectrum.org/index.shtml
---You can find out all about harps by looking at this page.

http://www.minehara.com/mechnics/harpmech1.htm
---This page gives information about the parts and structure of harps.