Cross-strung harp

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Cross-strung harp

The cross-strung harp is a multi-course harp that has two rows of strings which cross each other without touching. While accidentals are played on the pedal harp via the pedals and on the lever harp with levers, the cross-strung harp features two rows, the second of which are tuned to the accidentals notes. The first row is tuned diatonically.

[edit] History

The first cross-strung harp is believed to have been created in the late 16th century in Spain and was known as the "Arpa de dos ordenes". Its identity as an instrument was established as soon as the early 1600s and was used in both liturgical and profane music. Its popularity topped out in the late 17th century and its decline continued into the 18th century, in part due to the rise of the pedal harp.

The Pleyel Company produced a cross-strung model in the late 19th century to keep up with Romanticist trends in classical music. Designed by Gustave Lyon and known as the "harpe chromatique", it had four sets of strings, enabling the harpist to play a diatonic note or an accidental from either side of the neck. The two sets of strings crossed midway, unlike the Arpa de dos ordenes' strings, which crossed close to the neck.

Perhaps the most notable composition written for the harpe chromatique is Claude Debussy's Danse avec double quatuor cordes: Danse sacree, danse profane, published in 1904.

Cross-strung harps are usually strung with gut strings, though a wire cross-strung model called the Lute-harp was invented by Lyon in 1899. It was designed for the purpose of interpreting harpsichord works. With a range of 5 octaves, it was considerably smaller than the harpe chromatique.

[edit] The contemporary cross-strung harp

Two types of cross-strung harps currently are being made and played: the 5/7 featuring a string configuration similar to piano keys, and the 6/6 or isomorphic, featuring six strings on each side per octave. The more traditional 5/7 is currently more popular due to its longer history and its similarity to the piano. The newer 6/6 requires only two fingerings to play all the possible keys, and makes more compact use of the size of the harp for range, since it requires only six, rather than seven strings per octave on each side. Each year more folk harp makers offer cross-strungs in their lineup of harps as demand grows.

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Modern cross-strung harp players in the United States enjoy the unlimited chromatic range and the enliving jazz music that can be syncopated on the newest state-of-the-art designs. There are many new cross-strung harp players in America that are on the cutting edge of this radical departure from the celtic harp, motivated by the new horizons that can be reached on a fully chromatic cross-strung. The music of the 3rd millennial cross-strung harp is both haunting and enthralling, yet intimate and evocative.