Harps & Lyres

Harps and Lyres

This fine Harp was built for Dr. Mark Shekoyan when he was an instructor at Willamette University. It is based upon the Shepherd Harp sold by Musicmaker's. They sell it for nearly $700. We sell it for $600.

The harp is ancient as well as ubiquitous. I once saw a photograph of a stained glass window in which an angel was playing a lyre-harp of almost fantastic description. I let my imagination wander for a few hours on a bit of graph paper and came up with a design that made more sense for a seated harpist. 12 years later, I actually got around to building it and now I can't build them fast enough. $300.

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At left is a "Rote" Lyre, based upon a design by Ronald Zachary Taylor. I suppose everyone has heard the phrase "learned by rote", or my "rote memorization" but few realize what that really means. Basically, at the dawn of history when oral tradition was the "in" thing, folks remembered umpteen thousand verse histories and legends, the best known of which are probably the Tales of Ulysses. As a mnemonic device, lyres were used to call a note or a passage which kept the place for the story-teller and which gave him vital cues, as well as a pitch for his voice, as these things were sung and chanted as well as spoken. Of course, the development of the ballad couldn't be far behind . . . I sell this one for $170

The Anglo Saxon lyre, like the Greek Rote Lyre harp, was probably used by bards and skalds as a drone to accompany chanted or sung verses, acting both as pitch reference and place-keeper in those incredibly long lays. This one is closely based upon the one unearthed at Sutton Hoo, and features black steel tuners for an authentic touch.($175) Add $10 for a bone bridge, as shown.

This one, now in the collection of Damon Hickey, is more closely based upon the Sutton Hoo, and features an ornate Cherry top, maple fittings and hand-carved Cherry tuners. ($225) Add $10 for a bone bridge, as shown.

If you're going to have Anglo Saxon and Gallic lyres, why not Germanic? This is a scaled down version of the lyre found at Trossingen.

Breton Bard Patrick Caudal with the Gallic Lyre we made for him. Similar to the Sutton Hoo Lyre, the shape of this one reflects a more mainland tradition, clearly showing influence from Germanic and Norse Lyres. Black steel pins tune from the back. Rosette adds $15 to the standard ($225) Add $10 for a bone bridge.

Our best lyre. 3 Octaves of evenly balanced tone whether playing the wire strung model ($325) or the nylon-strung ($300). Solid woods,laser-cut rosette and brass string grommets set it off as an instrument of quality.