Haydn's Folk Harp: About the Festival
Harfenlabor's founder Margret Koell introduces Haydn' Folk Harp, the first edition of the Harp Biennale with a brief overview of the Symposia, Concerts and Concert-Lectures, as well as an overview of the Harp Biennale as a new, innovative festival bringing historical harp into contemporary contexts.
The second day morning session saw symposium contributions on the topic of Regionalities, and a concert-lecture. The afternoon was devoted to Single-Action Harp: Construction and Playing. The day was rounded off with the evening concert Tullochgorum – Haydn – Harp – Scotland.
Haydn's Folk Harp, the Exhibition
In collaboration with Armin Linke, Harfenlabor staged an exhibition to accompany the first edition of the Harp Biennale. The exhibition extended through two "playgrounds," with the historical instruments presented at the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, and images and video works at the Haus der Musik.
The Barberini Harp
Before and After Restoration
Mara Galassi and Armin Linke photographed the Barberini Harp at the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali in Roma, thirty years apart, before and after its restoration. In this period, the museum has undergone renovations and the harp is now displayed under more controlled conditions. This double photo story can be placed on the arc of our transition from analogue to digital technologies, echoing Harfenlabor's dual existence.
Report on the Convening in Roma
14-16 December 2016
Bernhard Schrammek's report offers a concise account of Harfenlabor's interdisciplinary international symposium Convening around the Barberini Harp Project, which took place on 14-16 December 2016, in Roma, in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali, Istituto Storico Austriaco a Roma, and the Deutsche Botschaft Rom, bringing together musicologists, harpists, harp and string makers, and art historians.
What We Know, and What We still Do Not Understand about the Barberini Harp
Chiara Granata and Dario Pontiggia present findings and analysis related to new facts about the Barberini Harp. By integrating technical and historical research, they offer facts as well as open questions about this sumptuous musical instrument and its contexts. Unlike the other analyses presented by Harfenlabor, Granata and Pontiggia posit that Giovanni Lanfranco's painting Venus Playing the Harp does not depict the Barberini Harp.
Practical Examination of the Barberini Harp
Eric Kleinmann shares findings of decades-long research into and practical examinations of the Barberini Harp as part of his work on building reproductions of this famous Baroque harp. Harfenlabor commissioned Kleinmann to build a small-scale model of the top of the harp for experiments with stringing, and present analysis of changes made to the harp, and other aspects pertinent to building a copy.
Designs for Musical Instruments
A drawing titled Progetto per un’arpa, in the collection of the Uffizi, presents a project for a harp with a richly decorated column. Ursula Verena Fischer Pace presents arguments stating that not only was this a design drawing for the Barberini Harp, but also that the drawing ought to be attributed to Giovanni Battista Soria. Soria had worked for the Barberini; his hand is clearly recognisable in this design for a harp.
Harpist and researcher Mara Galassi and master luthier Dario Pontiggia discuss some of the finer points of making copies of historical harps, in particular, of the pros and cons of building a true copy of the Barberini Harp. As a luthier, Pontiggia believes he ought to “correct the mistakes" on the Barberini. As a performer, Galassi believes a true copy would offer valuable insights into the musical perspective of the period.
Examining the Harp in Roma: The Process
This is a video account of aspects of the scientific process deployed by the wood scientists Volker Haag and Valentia Zemke during the The Barberini Harp Wood Species Identification in the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali Roma in 2018. It’s a delicate process, as the scientists must approach this precious harp with utmost care, due to conservation concerns.
Thünen-Institut Wood Species Identification Report
Institut für Holzforschung, Thünen-Institut (Hamburg) presents the findings of the anatomical determination of structural features for wood species on the Barberini Harp, detected with the non-destructive high-resolution 3D-reflected light microscopy and compared with the data held in the scientific wood collection at the Thünen-Institut. On February 18, 2019, Volker Haag shared his findings in this report to Harfenlabor.
The Barberini Harp Wood Species Identification
In December 2018, Volker Haag and Valentina Zemke from the Thünen-Institut, Institut für Holzforschung transported comprehensive microscopy equipment, including a state-of-the-art 3D-RLM (3D-reflected light microscopy) microscope from Hamburg to Roma for investigation of wood species on the Barberini Harp. This advanced technology enables completely non-destructive material analysis.
Marzia Faietti provides art historical context for music iconography and its relation to mythological figures within the graphic art of the 16th and the 17th century at the Uffizi. Faietti's analysis of a preparatory drawing for a richly decorated harp, often attributed to Giovanni Battista Soria, offers a fascinating insight into the aesthetic, political, musical, ceremonial and economic importance of such an instrument.
“My Hands are Armed with Nought but Sweet-toned Strings?" Different Ways to Use the Same Instrument
Chiara Granata argues for keeping open the tension between the opposite viewpoints expressed by Dario Pontiggia and Mara Galassi in About the Barberini Harp on the need for a true copy of the Barberini Harp. Granata presents a variety of performance situations and argues that the harp had a varied use: the contradictions preserved in an absolute copy would allow for diverse solutions.
Master string maker Mimmo Peruffo is one of the very few remaining makers of musical gut strings. He has learnt this secret art from an old master from Abruzzo through oral transmission and teaching of gestures. In his workshop in Vicenza, Peruffo demonstrates elements of this ancient technique and its simple tools, and offers insights as to why gut string making has been such a closely guarded secret for centuries.
The Barberini Harp Wood Species: The Biology of Sound
Volker Haag explains some of the science and methods underpinning the process of the Barberini Harp wood species identification conducted in 2018. The same scientific principles and methods also help us understand what types of wood are most suitable for instrument making and why this is so—an introduction, in a sense, into the biology of sound as produced by tone woods.
Wood Science Meets Historical Instrument Making
Volker Haag and Eric Kleinmann come together in this zoom conversation in order to comment on their respective earlier contributions and conclusions: The Biology of Sound and Practical Examination of the Barberini Harp. Their dialogue of is part of a continued conversation between the two disciplines—wood science and harp building—involved in preservation and construction of historical instruments.