[1] Musical intervals are reckoned numerically upwards along the
degrees of the diatonic scales (described below). Intervals greater
than an octave are called compound, and are referred to their simple
forms, e.g. the 12th is a compound 5th.
[2] It is at least probable that this is one of the several rather
obscure reasons for the peculiar instability of the 4th in modern
harmony, which is not yet satisfactorily explained.
[3] The perfect concords are the octave, unison, 5th and 4th. Other
diatonic combinations, whether concords or discords, are called
imperfect.
[4] The submediant is so-called because if the subdominant is taken a
5th below the tonic, the submediant will come midway between it and
the tonic, as the mediant comes midway between tonic and dominant.
[5] See PLAIN SONG.
[6] Until Beethoven developed the resources for a wider scheme of
key-contrasts, the only keys for second subjects of sonata-movements
were the dominant (when the tonic was major) and the "relative" major
or dominant minor (when the tonic was minor). A wider range was
possible only in the irresponsible style of D. Scarlatti.
[7] Many theorists mistake the usual extreme emphasis on the dominant
chord of the dominant key, in preparation for second subjects, for a
modulation to the major supertonic, but this can deceive no one with
any sense of tonality. A good practical test is to see what becomes
of such passages when translated into the minor mode. Illusory
modulation to the flat 7th frequently occurs as a bold method of
throwing strong emphasis on to the subdominant at the outset of a
movement, as in Beethoven's _Sonata, Op. 31_, No. 1.
[8] Very rare, but the slow movement of Schubert's _C major String
Quintet_ demonstrates it magnificently.
[9] All the indirect relationships from a minor tonic are distinctly
strained and, except in the violently contrasted doubly indirect
keys, obscure as being themselves minor. But the direct artificial
modulation is quite smooth, and rich rather than remote. See
Beethoven's _C[sharp] minor Quartet._
[10] No classical example, though the clearer converse from a major
tonic occurs effectively.
[11] Not (with the exception of II) so violent as when from major
tonic. Bach, whose range seldom exceeds direct key-relationships, is
not afraid to drift from D minor to C minor, though nothing would
induce him to go from D major to C major or minor.
HARMOTOME, a mineral of the zeolite group, consisting of hydrous barium
and aluminium silicate, H2BaAl2(SiO3)5 + 5H2O. Usually a small amount of
potassium is present replacing part of the barium. The system of
crystallization is monoclinic; only complex twinned crystals are known.
A common and characteristic form of twinned crystal, such as is
represented in the figure, consists of four intercrossing individuals
twinned together according to two twin-laws; the compound group
resembles a tetragonal crystal with prism and pyramid, but may be
distinguished from this by the grooves along the edges of the
pseudo-prism. The faces of the crystals are marked by characteristic
striations, as indicated in the figure. Twinned crystals of exactly the
same kind are also frequent in phillipsite (q.v.). Crystals are usually
white and translucent, with a vitreous lustre. The hardness is 4(1/2),
and the specific gravity 2.5.
[Illustration]
The name harmotome (from [Greek: harmos], "a joint," and [Greek:
temnein], "to cut") was given by R. J. Hauy in 1801, and has a
crystallographic signification. Earlier names are cross-stone (Ger.
_Kreuzstein_), ercinite, andreasbergolite and andreolite, the two last
being derived from the locality, Andreasberg in the Harz. Morvenite
(from Morven in Argyllshire) is the name given to small transparent
crystals formerly referred to as phillipsite.
Like other zeolites, harmotome occurs with calcite in the amygdaloidal
cavities of volcanic rocks, for example, in the dolerites of
Dumbartonshire, and as fine crystals in the agate-lined cavities in the
melaphyre of Oberstein in Germany. It also occurs in gneiss, and
sometimes in metalliferous veins. At Andreasberg in the Harz it is found
in the lead and silver veins; and at Strontian in Argyllshire in lead
veins, associated with brewsterite (a strontium and barium zeolite),
barytes and calcite. (L. J. S.)
HARMS, CLAUS (1778-1855), German divine, was born at Fahrstedt in
Schleswig-Holstein on the 25th of May 1778, and in his youth worked in
his father's mill. At the university of Kiel he repudiated the
prevailing rationalism and under the influence of Schleiermacher became
a fervent Evangelical preacher, first at Lunden (1806), and then at Kiel
(1816). His trenchant style made him very popular, and he did great
service for his cause especially in 1817, when, on the 300th anniversary
of the Reformation, he published side by side with Luther's theses,
ninety-five of his own, attacking reason as "the pope of our time" who
"dismisses Christ from the altar and throws God's word from the pulpit."
He also had some fame as a hymn-writer, and besides volumes of sermons
published a good book on _Pastoraltheologie_ (1830). He resigned his
pastorate on account of blindness in 1849, and died on the 1st of
February 1855.
See _Autobiography_ (2nd ed., Kiel, 1852); M. Baumgarten, _Ein Denkmal
fur C. Harms_ (Brunswick, 1855).
HARNACK, ADOLF (1851- ), German theologian, was born on the 7th of May
1851 at Dorpat, in Russia, where his father, Theodosius Harnack
(1817-1889), held a professorship of pastoral theology.
Theodosius Harnack was a staunch Lutheran and a prolific writer on
theological subjects; his chief field of work was practical theology,
and his important book on that subject, summing up his long experience
and teaching, appeared at Erlangen (1877-1878, 2 vols.). The liturgy of
the Lutheran church of Russia has, since 1898, been based on his
_Liturgische Formulare_ (1872).
The son pursued his studies at Dorpat (1869-1872) and at Leipzig, where
he took his degree; and soon afterwards (1874) began lecturing as a
_Privatdozent_. These lectures, which dealt with such special subjects as
Gnosticism and the Apocalypse, attracted considerable attention, and in
1876 he was appointed professor extraordinarius. In the same year he
began the publication, in conjunction with O. L. von Gebhardt and T.
Zahn, of an edition of the works of the Apostolic Fathers, _Patrum
apostolicorum opera_, a smaller edition of which appeared in 1877. Three
years later he was called to Giessen as professor ordinarius of church
history. There he collaborated with Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt in _Texte
und Untersuchungen zur Geschithte der altchristlichen Litteratur_ (1882
sqq.), an irregular periodical, containing only essays in New Testament
and patristic fields. In 1881 he published a work on monasticism, _Das
Monchtum, seine Ideale und seine Geschichte_ (5th ed., 1900; English
translation, 1901), and became joint-editor with Emil Schurer of the
_Theologische Literaturzeitung_. In 1885 he published the first volume of
his epoch-making work, _Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte_ (3rd ed. in three
volumes, 1894-1898; English translation in seven volumes, 1894-1899). In
this work Harnack traces the rise of dogma, by which he understands the
authoritative doctrinal system of the 4th century and its development
down to the Reformation. He considers that in its earliest origins
Christian faith and the methods of Greek thought were so closely
intermingled that much that is not essential to Christianity found its
way into the resultant system. Therefore Protestants are not only free,
but bound, to criticize it; indeed, for a Protestant Christian, dogma
cannot be said to exist. An abridgment of this appeared in 1889 with the
title _Grundriss der Dogmengeschichte_ (3rd ed., 1898). In 1886 Harnack
was called to Marburg; and in 1888, in spite of violent opposition from
the conservative section of the church authorities, to Berlin. In 1890 he
became a member of the Academy of Sciences. At Berlin, somewhat against
his will, he was drawn into a controversy on the Apostles' Creed, in
which the party antagonisms within the Prussian Church had found
expression. Harnack's view is that the creed contains both too much and
too little to be a satisfactory test for candidates for ordination, and
he would prefer a briefer symbol which could be rigorously exacted from
all (cf. his _Das apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis. Ein geschichtlicher
Bericht nebst einem Nachworte_, 1892; 27th ed., 1896). At Berlin Harnack
continued his literary labours. In 1893 he published a history of early
Christian literature down to Eusebius, _Geschichte der altchristl.
Litteratur bis Eusebius_ (part 2 of vol. i., 1897); and in 1900 appeared
his popular lectures, _Das Wesen des Christentums_ (5th ed., 1901;
English translation, _What is Christianity?_ 1901; 3rd ed., 1904). One of
his more recent historical works is _Die Mission und Ausbreitung des
Christentums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten_ (1902; English translation
in two volumes, 1904-1905). It has been followed by some very interesting
and important New Testament studies (_Beitrage zur Einleitung in das neue
Testament_, 1906 sqq.; Engl. trans.: _Luke the Physician_, 1907; _The
Sayings of Jesus_, 1908). Harnack, both as lecturer and writer, was one
of the most prolific and most stimulating of modern critical scholars,
and trained up in his "_Seminar_" a whole generation of teachers, who
carried his ideas and methods throughout the whole of Germany and even
beyond its borders. His distinctive characteristics are his claim for
absolute freedom in the study of church history and the New Testament;
his distrust of speculative theology, whether orthodox or liberal; his
interest in practical Christianity as a religious life and not a system
of theology. Some of his addresses on social matters have been published
under the heading "Essays on the Social Gospel" (1907).
HARNESS (from O. Fr. _harneis_ or _harnois_; the ultimate origin is
obscure; the Celtic origin which connects it with the Welsh _haiarn_,
iron, has phonetic and other difficulties; the French is the origin of
the Span. _arnes_, and Ger. _Harnisch_), probably, in origin, gear,
tackle, equipment in general, but early applied particularly to the body
armour of a soldier, including the trappings of the horse; now the
general term for the gear of an animal used for draft purposes, traces,
collar, bridle, girth, breeching, &c. It is usually not applied to the
saddle or bridle of a riding animal. The word, in its original meaning
of tackle or working apparatus, is still found in weaving, for the
mechanism which shifts the warp-threads to form the "shed," and in
bell-hanging, for the apparatus by which a large bell is hung. The _New
English Dictionary_ quotes an early use of the word for the lines, rod
and hooks of an angler (_Fysshing with an Angle_, c. 1450).
HARO, CLAMEUR DE, the ancient Norman custom of "crying for justice,"
still surviving in the Channel Islands. The wronged party must on his
knees and before witnesses cry: "Haro! Haro! Haro! a l'aide, mon prince,
on me fait tort." This appeal has to be respected, and the alleged
trespass or tort must cease till the matter has been thrashed out in the
courts. The "cry" thus acts as an interim injunction, and no inhabitant
of the Channel Islands would think of resisting it. The custom is
undoubtedly very ancient, dating from times when there were no courts
and no justice except such as was meted out by princes personally. The
popular derivation for the name is that which explains "Haro" as an
abbreviation of "Ha! Rollo," a direct appeal to Rollo, first duke of
Normandy. It is far more probable that haro is simply an exclamation to
call attention (O.H.G. _hero_, _hara_, "here"!). Indeed it is clear that
the "cry for justice" was in no sense an institution of Rollo, but was a
method of appeal recognized in many countries. It is said to be
identical with the "Legatro of the Bavarians and the Thuringians," and
the first mention of it in France is to be found in the "Grand coutumier
de Normandie." A similar custom, only observed in criminal charges, was
recognized by the Saxon laws under the name of "Clamor Violentiae." Thus
there is reason to think that William the Conqueror on his arrival in
England found the "cry" fully established as far as criminal matters
were concerned. Later the "cry" was made applicable to civil wrongs,
and, when the administration of justice became systematized, disappeared
altogether in criminal cases. It naturally tended to become obsolete as
the administration of justice became systematized, but it was long
retained in north-western France in cases of disputed possession, and
was not actually repealed until the close of the 18th century. A
survival of the English form of haro is possibly to be found in the
"Ara," a cry at fairs when "settling time" arrived.
HAROLD I. (d. 1040), surnamed Harefoot, the illegitimate son of Canute,
king of England, and Aelfgifu of Northampton. On the death of his father
in 1035, he claimed the crown of England in opposition to Canute's
legitimate son, Hardicanute. His claims were supported by Leofric, earl
of Mercia, and the north; those of Hardicanute by his mother, Queen
Emma, Godwine, earl of the West-Saxons and the south. Eventually Harold
was temporarily elected regent, pending a final settlement on
Hardicanute's return from Denmark. Hardicanute, however, tarried, and
meanwhile Harold's party increased rapidly. In 1037 he was definitely
elected king, and banished Emma from the kingdom. The only events of his
brief reign are ineffectual inroads of the Welsh and Scots. Hardicanute
was preparing to invade England in support of his claims when Harold
died at Oxford on the 10th of March 1040.
HAROLD II. (c. 1022-1066), king of the English, the second son of Earl
Godwine, was born about 1022. While still very young (before 1045) he
was appointed to the earldom of the East-Angles. He shared his father's
outlawry and banishment in 1051; but while Godwine went to Flanders,
Harold with his brother Leofwine took refuge in Ireland. In 1052 Harold
and Leofwine returned. Having plundered in the west of England, they
joined their father, and were with him at the assembly which decreed the
restoration of the whole family. Harold was now restored to his earldom
of the East-Angles, and on his father's death in 1053 he succeeded him
in the greater earldom of the West-Saxons. He was now the chief man in
the kingdom, and when the older earls Leofric and Siward died his power
increased yet more, and the latter part of Edward's reign was virtually
the reign of Harold. In 1055 he drove back the Welsh, who had burned
Hereford. In 1063 came the great Welsh war, in which Harold, with the
help of his brother Tostig, crushed the power of Gruffyd, who was killed
by his own people. But in spite of his power and his prowess, Harold was
the minister of the king rather than his personal favourite. This latter
position rather belonged to Tostig, who on the death of Siward in 1055
received the earldom of Northumberland. Here, however, his harshness
soon provoked enmity, and in 1065 the Northumbrians revolted against
him, choosing Morkere in his place. Harold acted as mediator between the
king and the insurgents, and at length agreed to the choice of Morkere,
and the banishment of his brother. At the beginning of 1066 Edward died,
with his last breath recommending Harold as his successor. He was
accordingly elected at once and crowned. The men of Northumberland at
first refused to acknowledge him, but Harold won them over. The rest of
his brief reign was taken up with preparations against the attacks which
threatened him on both sides at once. William challenged the crown,
alleging both a bequest of Edward in bis favour and a personal
engagement which Harold had contracted towards him--probably in 1064;
and prepared for the invasion of England. Meanwhile Tostig was trying
all means to bring about his own restoration. He first attacked the Isle
of Wight, then Lindesey, but was compelled to take shelter in Scotland.
From May to September the king kept the coast with a great force by sea
and land, but at last provisions failed and the land army was dispersed.
Harold then came to London, ready to meet whichever enemy came first. By
this time Tostig had engaged Harold Hardrada of Norway to invade
England. Together they sailed up the Humber, defeated Edwin and Morkere,
and received the submission of York. Harold hurried northwards; and on
the 25th of September he came on the Northmen at Stamford Bridge and won
a complete victory, in which Tostig and Harold Hardrada were slain. But
two days later William landed at Pevensey. Harold marched southward as
fast as possible. He gathered his army in London from all southern and
eastern England, but Edwin and Morkere kept back the forces of the
north. The king then marched into Sussex and engaged the Normans on the
hill of Senlac near Battle (see Hastings). After a fight which lasted
from morning till evening, the Normans had the victory, and Harold and
his two brothers lay dead on the field (14th of October 1066).
HARP (Fr. _harpe_; Ger. _Harfe_; Ital. _arpa_), a member of the class of
stringed instruments of which the strings are twanged or vibrated by the
fingers. The harp is an instrument of beautiful proportions,
approximating to a triangular form, the strings diminishing in length as
they ascend in pitch. The mechanism is concealed within the different
parts of which the instrument is composed, (1) the pedestal or
pedal-box, on which rest (2) the vertical pillar, and (3) the inclined
convex body in which the soundboard is fixed, (4) the curved neck, with
(5) the comb concealing the mechanism for stopping the strings,
supported by the pillar and the body.
(1) The _pedestal_ or _pedal-box_ forms the base of the harp and
contains seven pedals both in single and double action harps, the
difference being that in the single action the pedals are only capable
of raising the strings one semitone by means of a drop into a notch,
whereas with the double action the pedals, after a first drop, can by
a further drop into a second and lower notch shorten the string a
second semitone, whereby each string is made to serve in turn for
flat, natural and sharp. The harp is normally in the key of C flat
major, and each of the seven pedals acts upon one of the notes of this
diatonic scale throughout the compass. The choice of this method of
tuning was imposed by the construction of the harp with double action.
The pedals remain in the notches until released by the foot, when the
pedal returns to its normal position through the action of a spiral
spring, which may be seen under each of the pedals by turning the harp
up.
(2) The _vertical pillar_ is a kind of tunnel in which are placed the
seven rods worked by the pedals, which set in motion the mechanism
situated in the neck of the instrument. Although the pillar apparently
rests on the pedestal, it is really supported by a brass shoulder
firmly screwed to the beam which forms the lowest part of the body, a
connexion which remains undisturbed when the pedal box and its cover
are removed.
(3) The _body_ or _sound-chest_ of the harp is in shape like the
longitudinal section of a cone. It was formerly composed of staves
joined together as in the lute and mandoline. Erard was the first to
make it in two pieces of wood, generally sycamore, with the addition
of a flat soundboard of Swiss pine. The body is strengthened on the
inside, in order to resist the tension of the strings, by means of
ribs; there are five soundholes in the back, which in the older models
were furnished with swell shutters opened at will by the swell pedal,
the fourth from the left worked by the left foot. As the increase of
sound obtained by means of the swell was infinitesimal, the device has
now been discarded. The harp is strung by knotting the end of the
string and passing it through its hole in the centre of the
soundboard, where it is kept in position by means of a grooved peg
which grips the string.
(4) The _neck_ consists of a curved piece of wood resting on the body
at the treble end of the instrument and joining the pillar at the bass
end. In the neck are set the tuning pins round which are wound the
strings.
(5) The _comb_ is the name given to two brass plates or covers which
fit over both sides of the neck, concealing part of the mechanism for
shortening the strings and raising their pitch a semitone when
actuated by the pedals. On the front plate of the comb, to the left of
the player, is a row of brass bridges against which the strings rest
below the tuning pins, and which determine the vibrating length of the
string reckoned from the peg in the soundboard. Below the bridges are
two rows of brass disks, known as forks, connected by steel levers;
each disk is equipped with two studs for grasping the string and
shortening it. The mechanism is ingenious. When a pedal is depressed
to the first notch, the corresponding lower disk turns a little way on
a mandrel keeping the studs clear of the string. The upper disk, set
in motion by the steel levers connecting the disks, revolves
simultaneously till the string is caught by the two studs which thus
form a new bridge, shortening the vibrating length of the string by
just the length necessary to raise the pitch a semitone. If the same
pedal be depressed to the second notch, another movement causes the
lower disk to revolve again till the string is a second time seized
and shortened, the upper disk remaining stationary. The hidden
mechanism meanwhile has gone through a series of movements; the pedal
is really a lever set upon a spring, and when depressed it draws down
the connecting rod in the pillar which sets in motion chains governing
the mandrels of the disks.
The harp usually has forty-six strings, of gut in the middle and upper
registers, and of covered steel wire in the bass; the C strings are
red and the F strings blue. The compass thus has a range of 6(1/2)
octaves from [music notes]. The double stave is used as for the
pianoforte. The single action harp used to be tuned to the key of
E[flat] major.
The modern harp with double action is the only instrument with fixed
tones, not determined by the ear or touch of the performer, which has
separate notes for naturals, sharps and flats, giving it an enharmonic
compass. On the harp the appreciable interval between D[sharp] and
E[flat] can be played. The harp in its normal condition is tuned to
C[flat] major; it rests with the performer to transpose it at will in
a few seconds into any other key by means of the pedals. Each of the
pedals influences one note of the scale throughout the compass,
beginning at the left with D, C, and B worked by the left foot.
Missing the fourth or forte pedal, and continuing towards the right we
get the E, F, G and A pedals worked by the right foot. By lowering the
D pedal into the first notch the D[flat] becomes D[natural], and into
the second notch D[sharp], and so on for all the pedals. If, for
example, a piece be written in the key of E major, the harp is
transposed into that key by depressing the E, A, and B pedals to the
first notch, and those for F, G, C and D to the second or sharp notch
and so on through all the keys. Accidentals and modulations are
readily played by means of the pedals, provided the transitions be not
too rapid. The harp is the instrument upon which transposition
presents the least difficulty, for the fingering is the same for all
keys. The strings are twanged with the thumbs and the first three
fingers.
The quality of tone does not vary much in the different registers, but
it has the greatest brilliancy in keys with many flats, for the
strings are then open and not shortened by the forks. Various effects
can be obtained on the harp: (1) by harmonics, (2) by damping, (3) by
guitar tones, (4) by the glissando. (1) Harmonics are produced by
resting the ball of the hand on the middle of the string and setting
it in vibration by the thumb or the first two fingers of the same
hand, whereby a mysterious and beautiful tone is obtained. Two or
three harmonics can be played together with the left hand, and by
using both hands at once as many as four are possible. (2) Damping is
effected by laying the palm against the string in the bass and the
back of the finger in the treble. (3) Guitar or pizzicato notes are
obtained by twanging the strings sharply at the lower end near the
soundboard with the nails. (4) The glissando effect is produced, as on
the pianoforte, by sliding the thumb or finger along the strings in
quick succession; this does not necessarily give the diatonic scale,
for by means of the pedals the harp can be tuned beforehand to chords.
It is possible to play on the harp all kinds of diatonic and arpeggio
passages, but no chromatic, except in very slow tempo, on account of
the time required by the mechanism of the pedals; and chords of three
or four notes in each hand, shakes, turns, successions of double notes
can be easily acquired. The same note can also be repeated slowly or
quickly, the next string being tuned to a duplicate note, and the two
strings plucked alternately in order to give the string time to
vibrate.
Pleyel's chromatic harp, patented in 1894 and improved in 1903 by
Gustave Lyon, manager of the firm of Pleyel, Wolff & Co., is an
instrument practically without mechanism which has already won great
favour in France and Belgium, notably in the orchestra. It has been
constructed on the familiar lines of the pianoforte. Henry Pape, a
piano manufacturer, had in 1845 conceived the idea of a chromatic harp
of which the strings crossed in the centre as in the piano, and a
report on the construction was published at the time; the instrument,
however, was not considered successful, and was relegated to oblivion
until Mr Lyon revised the matter and brought out a successful and
practical instrument. The advantages claimed for this harp are the
abandonment of the whole pedal mechanism, a metal framing which
insures the strings keeping in tune as long as those of a piano, and
an easily acquired technique. The chromatic harp consists of (1) a
pedestal on castors, (2) a steel pillar without internal mechanism,
(3) a wide neck containing two brass wrest-planks in which are fixed
two rows of tuning pins, and (4) a soundchest in which is firmly
riveted the steel plate to which the strings are fastened, and the
soundboard pierced with eyelet holes through which the strings are
drawn to the string plate. There is a string for every chromatic
semitone of the scale of C major, the white strings representing the
white keys of the piano keyboard, and the black strings corresponding
to the black keys. The tuning pins for the black strings are set in
the left side of the neck in alternate groups of twos and threes, and
those for the white in the right side in alternate groups of threes
and fours. The strings cross half-way between neck and soundboard,
this being the point where they are plucked; the left hand finds the
black notes above, and the right hand below the crossing. There is
besides in the neck a set of twelve tuning buttons, each one of which
on being pressed gives out one note of the chromatic scale tuned to
the pitch of the diapason normal. It is obvious that the repertoire
for this harp is very extensive, including many compositions written
for the piano, which however cannot be played with any legato effects,
these being still impossible on this chromatic harp.
_History._--While the instrument is of great antiquity, it is yet from
northern Europe that the modern harp and its name are derived. The
Greeks and Romans preferred to it the lyre in its different varieties,
and a Latin writer, Venantius Fortunatus,[1] describes it in the 7th
century of our era as an instrument of the barbarians--"Romanusque
lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa." This is believed to be the
earliest mention of the name, which is clearly Teutonic,--O.H.Ger.
_harapha_, A.-S. _hearpe_, Old Norse _harpa_. The modern Fr. _harpe_
retains the aspirate; in the Spanish and Italian _arpa_ it is dropped.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The earliest delineations of the harp in Egypt give no indication that
it had not existed long before. There are, indeed, representations in
Egyptian paintings of stringed instruments of a bow-form having
affinities with both primitive harp and _nefer_ (a kind of oval
guitar) that support the idea of the invention of the harp from the
tense string of the warrior's or hunter's bow. This primitive-looking
instrument, called _nanga_, had a boat-shaped sound-chest with a
parchment or skin soundboard, down the centre of which one end of the
string was fastened to a strip of wood, whilst the other was wound
round pegs in the upper part of the bow. The nanga was played
horizontally, being borne upon the performer's shoulder.[2] Between it
and the grand vertical harps in the frescos of the time of Rameses
III., more than 3000 years old, discovered by the traveller Bruce[3]
(fig. 1), there are varieties that permit us to bind the whole, from
the simplest bow-form to the almost triangular harp, into one family
(see fig. 2).
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
The Egyptian harp had no front pillar, and as it was strung with
catgut the tension and pitch must necessarily have been low. The harps
above-mentioned depicted in the tomb at Thebes, assumed from the
players to be more than 6 ft. high, have not many strings, the one
having ten, the other thirteen. What the accordance of these strings
was it would be hard to recover. We must be content with the knowledge
that the old Egyptians possessed harps in principle like our own, the
largest having pedestals upon which they bestowed a wealth of
decoration, as if to show how much they prized them.
The ancient Assyrians had harps like those of Egypt in being without a
front pillar, but differing from them in having the sound-body
uppermost, in which we find the early use of soundholes; while the
lower portion was a bar to which the strings were tied and by means of
which the tuning was apparently effected.[4] What the Hebrew harp was,
whether it followed the Egyptian or the Assyrian, we do not know. That
King David played upon the harp as commonly depicted is rather a
modern idea. Medieval artists frequently gave King David the psaltery,
a horizontal stringed instrument from which has gradually developed
the modern piano. The Hebrew "kinnor" may have been a kind of
trigonon, a triangular stringed instrument between a small harp and a
psaltery, sounded by a plectrum, or more probably, as advocated by Dr
Stainer in his essay on the music of the Bible, a kind of lyre.
The earliest records that we possess of the Celtic race, whether
Gaelic or Cymric, give the harp a prominent place and harpists
peculiar veneration and distinction. The names for the harp are,
however, quite different from the Teutonic. The Irish "clairseach,"
the Highland Scottish "clarsach," the Welsh, Cornish, Breton "telyn,"
"telein," "telen," show no etymological kinship to the other European
names. The first syllable in clairseach or clarsach is derived from
the Gaelic "clar," a board or table (soundboard), while the first
syllable of telyn is distinctly Old Welsh, and has a tensile meaning;
thus resonance supplies the one idea, tension the other.
The literature of these Celtic harps may be most directly found in
Bunting's _Ancient Music of Ireland_ (Dublin, 1840), Gunn's
_Historical Enquiry respecting the Performance on the Harp in the
Highlands of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1807), and E. Jones's _Musical and
Poetical Memoirs of the Welsh Bards_ (London, 1784). The treatises of
Walker, Dalyell, and others may also be consulted; but in all these
authorities due care must be taken of the bias of patriotism, and the
delusive aim to reconstruct much that we must be content to receive as
only vaguely indicated in records and old monuments. There is,
however, one early Irish monument about which there can be no mistake,
the harp upon a cross belonging to the ancient church of Ullard near
Kilkenny, the date of which cannot be later than 830; the sculpture is
rude, but the instrument is clearly shown by the drawing in Bunting's
work to have no front pillar. This remarkable structural likeness to
the old harps of Egypt and Assyria may be accidental, but permits the
plausible hypothesis of Eastern descent. The oldest specimen of the
beautiful form by which the Irish harp is now recognized, with
gracefully curved front pillar and sweep of neck (the latter known as
the harmonic curve), is the famous harp in Trinity College, Dublin,
the possession of which has been attributed to King Brian Boiroimhe.
From this mythic ownership Dr Petrie (see essay in Bunting) has
delivered it; but he can only deduce the age from the ornamentation
and heraldry, which fix its date in the 14th century or a little
later. There is a cast of it in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The
next oldest is in the Highlands of Scotland, the _Clarsach Lumanach_,
or Lamont's Clarschoe, belonging, with another of later date, to the
old Perthshire family of Robertson of Lude. Both are described in
detail by Gunn. This Lamont harp was taken by a lady of that family
from Argyleshire about 1460, on her marriage into the family of Lude.
It had about thirty strings tuned singly, but the scale was sometimes
doubled in pairs of unisons like lutes and other contemporary
instruments. The Dalway harp in Ireland (fig. 3) inscribed "Ego sum
Regina Cithararum," and dated 1621, appears to have had pairs of
strings in the centre only. These were of brass wire, and played with
the pointed finger-nails. The Italian contemporary "Arpa Doppia" was
entirely upon the duplex principle, but with gut strings played by the
fleshy ends of the fingers. When E. Bunting met at Belfast in 1792 as
many Irish harpers as could be at that late date assembled, he found
the compass of their harps to comprise [music notes] thirty notes
which were tuned diatonically in the key of G, under certain
circumstances transposable to C and rarely to D, the scales being the
major of these keys. The harp first appeared in the coat of arms of
Ireland in the reign of Henry VIII.; and some years after in a map of
1567 preserved in a volume of state papers, we find it truly drawn
according to the outlines of the national Irish instrument.[5]
References to the Highlands of Scotland are of necessity included with
Ireland; and in both we find another name erroneously applied by
lexicographers to the harp, viz. "cruit." Bunting particularly
mentions the "cinnard cruit" (harp with a high head) and the "crom
cruit" (the curved harp). In the Ossianic MSS. of the Dean of Lismore
(1512) the word "crwt" occurs several times, and in Neill M'Alpine's
_Gaelic Dictionary_ (1832), which gives the dialect of Islay, closely
related to that of Ulster, the word "cruit" is rendered "harp." The
confusion doubtless arose from the fact that from the 11th century
cithara is glossed _hearpan_ in Anglo-Saxon MSS., a word which, like
_citharisare_ in medieval Latin, referred to plucking or twanging of
strings in contradistinction to those instruments vibrated by means of
the bow. In Irish of the 8th and 9th centuries (Zeuss) cithara is
always glossed by "crot." The modern Welsh "crwth" is not a harp but a
"rotta" (see CROWD). An old Welsh harp, not triple strung, exists,
which bears a great resemblance to the Irish harp in neck, soundboard
and soundholes. But this does not imply derivation of the harp of
Wales from that of Ireland or the reverse. There is really no good
historical evidence, and there may have been a common or distinct
origin on which ethnology only can throw light.[6] The Welsh like the
Irish harp was often an hereditary instrument to be preserved with
great care and veneration, and used by the bards of the family, who
were alike the poet-musicians and historians. A slave was not allowed
to touch a harp, and it was exempted by the Welsh laws from seizure
for debt. The old Welsh harp appears to have been at one time strung
with horse-hair, and by the Eisteddfod laws the pupil spent his
noviciate of three years in the practice of a harp with that
stringing. The comparatively modern Welsh triple harp (fig. 4) is
always strung with gut. It has a rising neck as before stated, and
three rows of strings,--the outer rows tuned diatonic, the centre one
chromatic for the sharps and flats. Jones gives it 98 strings and a
compass of 5 octaves and one note, from violoncello C. As in all
Celtic harps, the left is the treble hand, and in the triple harps
there are 27 strings on that side, the right or bass hand having 37,
and the middle or chromatic row 34.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. Irish (Dalway) Harp.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4. Welsh Triple Harp.]
The first pattern of the modern harp is discovered in German and
Anglo-Saxon illuminated MSS. as far back as the 9th century.[7] A
diatonic instrument, it must have been common throughout Europe, as
Orcagna, Fra Angelico, and other famous Italian painters depict it
over and over again in their masterpieces. No accidental semitones
were possible with this instrument, unless the strings were shortened
by the player's fingers. This lasted until the 17th century, when a
Tirolese maker adapted hooks[8] (perhaps suggested by the fretted or
bonded clavichord) that, screwed into the neck, could be turned
downwards to fix the desired semitone at pleasure. At last, somewhere
about 1720, Hochbrucker, a Bavarian, invented pedals that, acting
through the pedestal of the instrument, governed by mechanism the
stopping, and thus left the player's hands free, an indisputable
advantage; and it became possible at once to play in no less than
eight major scales. By a sequence of improvements, in which two
Frenchmen named Cousineau took an important part, the various defects
inherent in Hochbrucker's plan became ameliorated. The pedals were
doubled, and, the tuning of the instrument being changed from the key
of E[flat] to C[flat], it became possible to play in fifteen keys,
thus exceeding the power of the keyboard instruments, over which the
harp has another important advantage in the simplicity of the
fingering, which is the same for every key.
It is to Sebastian Erard we owe the perfecting of the pedal harp (fig.
5), a triumph he gained in Paris by unremitting studies begun when he
adopted a "fork" mechanism in 1786 and ended in 1810 when he had
attained complete success with the double action pedal mechanism
already described above. Erard's merit was not confined to this
improvement only; he modified the structure of the comb that conceals
the mechanism, and constructed the sound-body of the instrument upon a
modern principle more advantageous to the tone.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Modern Erard Harp.]
Notwithstanding these improvements and the great beauty of tone the
harp possesses, the domestic use of it in modern times has almost
disappeared. The great cost of a good harp, and the trouble to many
amateurs of tuning, may have led to the supplanting of the harp by the
more convenient and useful pianoforte. With this comes naturally a
diminution in the number of solo-players on the instrument. Were it
not for the increasing use of the harp in the orchestra, the colour of
its tone having attracted the masters of instrumentation, so that the
great scores of Meyerbeer and Gounod, of Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner are
not complete without it, we should perhaps know little more of the
harp than of the dulcimer, in spite of the efforts of distinguished
virtuosi whose devotion to their instrument maintains its technique on
an equality with that of any other, even the most in public favour.
The first record of the use of harps in the orchestra occurs in the
account of the _Ballet comique de la royne_ performed at the chateau
de Moutiers on the occasion of the marriage of Mary of Lorraine with
the duc de Joyeuse in 1581, when harps formed part of the _concert de
musique_.
See in addition to the works already referred to, Engel's _Musical
Instruments in the South Kensington Museum_ (1874); and the articles
"Harp," in Rees's _Cyclopaedia_, written by Dr Burney, in Stainer and
Barrett's _Dictionary of Musical Terms_ (1876), and in Grove's
_Dictionary of Music and Musicians_. On the origins of the instrument
see _Proceedings of British Association_ (1904) (address of president
of anthropological section). (K. S.; A. J. H.)