Maria Christina Cleary

The development of the harp repertoire from the arpa doppia to the single-action pedal harp in Europe 1546-1850

This research deals with music from 1546-1850 written or performed on various types of original European harps or copies of historical instruments. Performers study the style of each period; this is generally termed "historically informed performance" (Haynes 2007) where an attempt is made to incorporate all known aspects about a piece while playing it while placing it in an historical perspective. The fundamental aspects of music of this time are historical techniques of playing, the role of Rhetoric and the Art of improvising: knowing how to "read" between the five lines of the staves. Despite many potential and varied sources to draw upon, including information about instruments, players and repertoire, there has been no systematic review of the material to-date nor any detailed study of playing techniques which would be highly useful for harpists today.

The aim is to investigate the development of the harp from a chromatic instrument to the Singleaction pedal harp. In order to do this it is necessary to consider the instruments, the harpists and the repertoire. There exists no comprehensive bibliography or catalogue of music for harp before 1800; a catalogue/database of harp music repertoire from 1546-1850 is a project that I have been working on for a number of years. Identifying harpists including the various types of harps that they used and the music they played using archives, personal diaries and any other historical sources available can be valuable resources for defining the repertoire. Taking the original musical scores, I would specifically like to compare the role of the harp as a solo and accompanying instrument, considering the harp as an instrument of basso continuo and following it on to written-out styles of accompaniment. Considerations about historical techniques and Performance Practice (knowledge of Rhetoric and the practical skill of improvisation) are fundamental to perform this music within its historical perspective.

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