"My Hands are Armed with Nought but Sweet-toned Strings?" Different Ways to Use the Same Instrument

The harpist and researcher Chiara Granata provides a scientific commentary on the opposing views presented in the Harfenlabor Interview, About the Barberini Harp, by the harpist and researcher Mara Galassi and the master luthier Dario Pontiggia. “Is it worthwhile to construct an ‘absolute copy’ of" the Barberini Harp “that runs the risk of not being completely playable?” the luthier asks? Taken from the position of the musician, would it not help to get “closer to a new vantage point, which offers the opportunity to listen to something quite different from what, for decades, we have called ‘early music.’” Granata presents arguments for keeping this tension open. Archival research has uncovered that the Barberini Harp was the work of a group of artisans; its final efficiency directly honed by the musician. Though many 17th century harp performances were best suited to a small “sonorous” space, some treatises and musical scores from the period offer examples of harp’s highly rhythmical bass lines used in dance contexts, and of its “resonant” sound that might be suited to large outdoor spaces. Granata proposes that it is precisely the contradictions presented by such an instrument that will offer a closer understanding of the Barberini Harp. Link to the original version of this article in Italian: https://www.harfenlabor.com/research/sol-di-corde-soavi-armo-le-dita-differenti-modi-di-usare-uno-stesso-strumento/.