The Harp to give music to your ceremony with an instrument of effect…
The harp gives emotions and transports guests to a fantasy world with its delicate melodies.
The harp is one of the oldest instruments, dating back about five thousand years. It has always been widespread all over the world, from Europe to Latin America to Asia. It is played by plucking the strings with fingertips or nails depending on the tradition of the country. The sound it produces is certainly magical. In fact, the harp has been the favorite instrument of kings and queens. In the collective imagination it is associated with angelic visions and fairy worlds.
In Ireland….
the harp has become the national instrument because of its importance. In fact we find it in Irish euros, it is the symbol of Guinness and Ryan Air. A curiosity is that the harp drawn on Irish coins really exists and is preserved in the Trinity Museum. Legend has it that it belonged to Brian Boru, the first king of Ireland, who lived about 1,000 years ago.
It is believed that…
the harp, perhaps because of its curvy shape, is an instrument played only by women. This feature, however, is very recent. Until 60 years ago it was played mostly by men, always very elegant and excellent harpists. The harp is a solo instrument, but has always played with other instruments as well: flute, violin, singer, cello.
Nowadays…
the harp is one of the most CHAMELEONTIC instruments. We not infrequently see her in jazz, pop, rock concerts, or busy playing covers of Lady Gaga, John Legend, Coldplay…
The classical harp as we know it today is 1.80 meters high with 47 strings and 7 pedals. It is the result of hundreds of years of evolution. Harpists have always been very brave musicians. Suffice it to say that they traveled all over Europe without posing too many problems about the instrument’s bulk. Today the harp is transported in an ordinary car and has adequate cases to protect it, but before it was transported by carriage and with no small amount of difficulty!
“…my body was like a harp and her words and gestures like fingers on her strings.”
(James Joyce, Irish writer and poet)
