My Celtic harp and… me

In my story I’ll try to avoid sophisticated words and terms as far as possible, because the text is meant for the general public, and I’ll do my best to explain things where it’s impossible to avoid being scientific. I’ll do without any dogmatic statements like “the only right way to play the Celtic harp is…” as well, because one should remember that the Celtic harp playing tradition was eventually broken and then renewed once again. Moreover, there hadn’t been any written language tradition in Ireland and other Celtic regions for quite a long time, thus there is no real evidence of what it was like in ancient times.

So, here’s what is known about this marvellous instrument.

Till about the 9th century A.D. there existed a kind of harp- predecessor called the cruit (crotta encyclyca). It was a small rectangular instrument (around 50 cm high) with 3-6 strings.

It’s hard to tell when the “triangular” version of that instrument appeared on the Isles. There is a theory that the harp was brought to this region circa 1000 B.C. by the Phoenician merchants.

Some of the distinctive features of the Irish harp are: the arch-shaped pillar (the front part facing the audience :)), the soundbox – a wooden box about 60 cm long, whose upper part - the soundboard - had resonant openings, a top-arm, or a Harmonic curve (the harp’s upper part) shaped like a bird’s neck. In the 9th century the harp had 9-12 strings (judging by the iconographic sources). During that period it was still called the cruit. By the 14th–15th centuries the number of strings increased to 32. That sort of harps was named the clairseach (pronounced as clar-shah).

What ancient harp strings were made of? At first, they were made of makeshift materials – horsehair, later – brass, and around the 12th century twisted bass strings appeared. One of the common errors suggesting that strings were initially made of metal, results from the fact that the oldest harp ever found (the so-called “Brian Boru Harp” kept in Trinity College of Dublin) is metal-strung. However this instrument dates from the 15th or even 16th century, when metal working industry in Europe had already developed.

How was it tuned? Harps were diatonic (that’s roughly like using only the white keys of the piano :))

How were they played? Referring to the iconographic sources once again, the instrument was held between the knees. The harp was played using the right hand and the left hand was used to shorten strings by pressing them towards the top-arm (for getting chromatic semitones). Nowadays this work is done by special sharping levers – and they are, as far as I know, the 19th century invention.

Unlike the modern manner, at that time the instrument was played with the help of long nails, not fingertips. This meant that before playing the next note the harpist had to suppress the previous one. The first harpists playing with fingertips were Scots and by the 16th century the chromatic triple harp was invented in Wales.

Owing to continuous invasions to the Isles for many centuries, almost all the native “carriers” of ancient traditions were wiped out. By the 18th century the bardic culture was nearly forgotten. In order to revive the folk art a few enthusiasts began to collect traditional tunes that hadn’t disappeared yet. They began to make copies of traditional instruments as well.

Now, back to the modern world.

Well, what have we here… The distinctive shape of the Celtic harp was preserved all right. The resonant openings are often at the back of the soundbox. The levers for each string were added. However, in comparison with the classical harp where the key can be changed by means of pedals, everything has to be done manually. If you meet some chromatics in a tune then, being dexterous enough, you can manage to switch the levers on the move. That is, each lever, when switched, raises the chosen note by a semitone. In any case it’s impossible to shift between all the keys. To play in the most common keys the instrument is preferably tuned C natural (that is, the white keys of the piano) with three levers (on “A”, “B”, “E” strings) switched up. As for me, I prefer tuning my harp with 4 levers switched, because some tunes I play are in Fmoll.

Now, how is it played, at last?! :)

It’s played… in a variety of ways. There’s no strict set of rules and even if it had ever existed, it was lost long ago. Practically all modern “Celtic harpists” have graduated from a classical school. Thus they play with their fingertips, swinging them as it’s done in the classical mode. Presumably the most famous modern harpist of the no less famous group “The Chieftains” - Derek Bell, who regretfully passed away in 2002, as well as the well-known Alan Stivell, Laoise Kelly - they all in fact represent the classical harp school. Furthermore, they use all the classical harp techniques possible. The old nail-playing-on-metal-strung-harp techniques are mastered mainly by Myrdhin, Paul Dooley.

All in all what I mean, my dear Irish harp players, is that if someone ever starts telling you that your playing style is wrong because in Ireland they play that way and not any other – just turf this know-all out! In Ireland they all play in a great diversity of individual styles. There is no established canon. I’ve seen three Celtic harpists performing (two of them in Moscow) and they obviously play in different ways. Actually, you do not even need to go anywhere, just listen to various harpists and you’ll feel the difference! :)

And now a bit less seriously about… or the detective novel “How I got my harp”.

Before I laid hands on the desired instrument, 4 years had passed since I first listened to its enchanting sound (aye-aye, that’s all because of Alan Stivell). Four endless years of searching through the World Wide Web and putting by. In the summer of 1997, just half a year before I actually bought my first harp, I remember myself sitting on the floor of a San-Francisco music shop quite unable to leave. There was a number of Celtic harps of different sizes and quality. I was sitting there for about an hour already and the shop’s staff should have got suspicious about me. Indeed, why on earth should that young lady be sitting there, so that the customers are stumbling over her? Oh well, but in the lady’s head there was a terrifying mess! A small 23-strung rosewood harp is $450. And in the fair maid’s pocket there were the 450 dollars in question. The very last 450 dollars. While I still needed to visit my brother in Boston. On the other hand, by simply passing my hand over the strings and moving tuning pegs I found out that this instrument is by far not a high quality harp just like a partly hand-made tourist guitar is not a professional one. Still, I could hardly keep myself from bying it it after the three years of search… However an inexorable voice in my mind kept telling me: «Just won’t you wait a bit, put by some more and get yourself a good instrument!» And here it stands, the miracle, just at arm’s length… Don’t you tempt me, the devil! Now, thanks to the Americans, for they’re really a patient nation – were I in my homeland, the shopkeepers would have thrown me out in fifteen minutes… ;)

Finally, there came my moment of glory: on April 1, 1998 a friend of mine who was entrusted to deliver the instrument from France brought me what I was longing to have. I have no regrets for not buying that cheap harp in the States at all for my first one was of quite a professional quality indeed. Not surprisingly, since it was chosen by a really competent person. When I was ordering a harp I specified the 3 strict “spartan” demands: I wished the sound to be fine, the tuning system to be perfect (so that it kept tuned for long) and no embellishments as to the design. A few days before the arrival he phoned to tell me the joyful news and told me with laughter that the harp was bought… on the 17th of March! Right on Saint Patrick’s Day. Miracles will never cease to happen…

Thus the first instrument in my possession was the French mahogany harp by «Camac» called «Troubadour». That’s the smallest harp this harpmaker produces. The harp has only 3 octaves (22 strings) with levers on each string. My “little troubadour” has lived up to my expectations on any count. The record period it was tuned for makes three weeks! And it’s usually tuned well for 1.5-2 weeks. And that’s true even taking in the account our northern climate, as I often used to carry it to rehearsals in winter. Moreover, it suffered quite a few nasty falls, and the beer was spilt over it – and still nothing could harm it. All the spartan demands were met. I’ve chosen nylon strings as they’re more practical in terms of both price and quality.

Later on, when I had already seen a great number of small harps I realized that my harp evidently has a clearer and brighter sound comparing to most of them. Thus whenever I’m asked what harp to choose, I straightaway answer “Get a Camac and you won’t be disappointed!”.

I started learning by myself and learned in the Internet how to tune the instrument correctly. Nevertheless, I continued to learn without a tutor later on. Why so? It may sound amusing, but that’s just because I am so incorrigibly lazy. The mere thought of being forced to exercise gives me the creeps… Moreover, I didn’t intend to become a professional musician, I didn’t even expect at all that I’d perform on the stage that soon (and for that long). My debut as a harpist took place in June 1998 at the First Moscow festival of Celtic music. I kept learning guided by own ear only and the little harp served me faithfully in three bands («Slua Si», «Si Mhor», «Mervent») till 2003, when I got a more advanced instrument. Still I do use it from time to time, for instance, in the “Sak-Mar” band.

My second harp is thoroughly magical. It comes from the American shore. Unlike my little harp it was made by the master Stanley who was astonished to receive an order from a Russian lass. He suggested that I should choose between different sorts of wood. I chose walnut straightaway. Well, first of all, if you remember, the Irish (and not only them) considered the nut-tree to be magical. And all the ancient harps were made of this wood type as legends claim. The soundboard of my harp is made of Canadian fir that is without any embellishments as ever – perfectly smooth. The sound of my belle is truly magical – clear, deep and enchanting. And its shape resembles a bird – for a reason, of course! :) The harp’s range is four octaves, 29 strings.

And here I didn’t do without my friends’ aid as well. One half of the harp’s cost (not at all a small sum…) was simply given to me by a friend who was working in Ireland at that time. He said: “I’d drink away this money in pubs anyway, but you’ll use if for a better purpose”. The harp was brought to me by a university colleague, who works at the other side of the ocean now. He believed he would carry it with him as hand luggage, yet because of the instrument’s size it had to be checked in. What’s worse there wasn’t even a case for the harp so it was simply wrapped in plastic. It’s a good thing I didn’t know about it till it was given to me safe and sound! When my friend finally handed the instrument over to me, he looked terrified and said he must have lost about five kilos’ weight… :)

What wonderful friends I have! Bless them for just being around and bless my luck that brought us together.