Harp

Harp, a stringed musical instrument, which has been in use from a very early period. The ancient Egyptians and the various branches of the Keltic race were especially noted for their skill as harpists. The Egyptian harps, which were sometimes seven feet high and had eighteen strings, were richly adorned with carvings and gems. The large Welsh harp was a "triple" instrument - i.e. it had three separate rows of strings. Out of the Irish harp is said to have grown the variety used in Italy and elsewhere during the Middle Ages. Compared with the perfected harp of modern times, these and other forms were but clumsy instruments, lacking in compass, sonority, and precision of pitch. The Oriental harps seldom had a pillar, and the mediaeval kinds were always tuned in the same key, chromatic alterations being possible only by stopping the strings with the fingers. To remedy this defect, pedals were introduced; they first came into use in Germany early in the 18th century. Pedal harps are either "single action" or "double action"; in the latter kind, invented by Erard, of Paris, in 1810, each pedal produces two chromatic changes. The modern orchestral harp has nearly fifty strings of catgut, strung on a wooden frame, which somewhat resembles a triangle, the three sides being; formed by the back, the neck, and the pillar. The frame rests on a pedestal containing the pedals, which are connected with the mechanism in the neck by pedal-rods in the pillar. The strings are attached to the neck by wrest-pins, and have their lower ends inserted in the sounding-board at the back. The pedal harp has a compass from contra F to D of the sixth octave above.