The harp is the oldest stringed plucked musical instrument. It has a triangular shape in the form of a bow with stretched strings, which when played produce a harmonious melody. According to legend, the harp owes its appearance to a hunting bow. When primitive man drew the string it produced a sort of sound, pulling on another string it was possible to play a little melody. The first images of harp similar to a bow were found in the cave drawings of ancient Egypt, dated 2800-2300 BC in the tombs of pharaohs. Such a harp, made almost four millennia ago, was found during the excavations of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. This instrument was popular among Greeks, Romans, Georgians, Azerbaijanis and other nations.History of the harpLira, the sister of the harp, became popular in Greece. In the paintings and sculptures of those times, you can see that the lyre, in the history of the Mediterranean was beloved by many poets and singers. The lyre, a companion of almost all the ethnic groups of the world, was smaller and lighter.
In Europe harps appeared in the VIII century, but became most widespread in the XV-XVII centuries. Ancient harps were arched or angular and differed in size. History of the harpSmall hand harps were especially popular and loved by the Celts. Five octaves – this was the sound range of the instrument, the strings were arranged so that only diatonic scale sounds could be produced.
In 1660 in Austria a mechanical device in the form of adjustable keys was invented, which made it possible to change the tone of the sound, tightening or lowering the strings. Now it was not necessary to use fingers to shorten the strings, near each of them there were hooks, which helped to increase the tone. True, this mechanism was not convenient, and in 1720 the German master Jacob Hochbrücker invented a pedal mechanism for playing the harp. Seven pedals, later increased to 14, acted on the conductors, allowing the hooks to be closer to the strings and increasing the tone on the canvas.
Later in 1810, French craftsman Sebastien Érard modernized the Hochbrucker mechanism, and patented the harp with two pedals, which is still in use today. History of the harpThe mechanism perfected by Érard provided a sound scale of nearly seven octaves. G. Lyon in Paris in 1897 invented the harp’s non-bedal version. It consisted of cross strings whose number doubled due to the elimination of pedals. The second set of strings gave a new sound. Due to this the instrument became famous, but soon it was used less and less often.
In the twentieth century the harp plays a special role in the music of solo or group performances. It is hard to find a composer today who does not include it in his or her work.