Harps & Harpists Revised Edition

Revising her classic 1989 book Harps and Harpists, Roslyn Rensch expands her authoritative history of this timeless instrument. This lavishly illustrated edition, with 137 black-and-white images and 24 color plates, surveys the progress of the harp from antiquity to the present day. The new edition includes two new chapters; an extensive bibliography and index; personal anecdotes of the author's studies under Alberto Salvi; an appendix on the Roslyn Rensch Papers and Harp Collection, which are housed at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign; and an hour-long CD of harp music.

"The 2007 revision of Harps and Harpists by Roslyn Rensch is the fourth in its line by the author. Even cursory glances at the precursors of the present work show her lifetime odyssey and love affair with her instrument, and make interesting comparisons with one another." --Notes Indiana University Press

Six thousand years of lavishly illustrated harp history

Roslyn Rensch, musician and art historian, studied harp with Alberto Salvi and Joseph Vito. She is author of The Harp; The Harp, Its History, Technique and Repertoire; and most recently, Three Centuries of Harpmaking.

List of Illustrations

Preface

Part 1. The Harp in the Ancient World

1. The Beginning

2. Beyond the Earliest Sources

Part 2. The Non-Pedal Harp in Western Europe and North America

3. Early Representations

4. The Harp in Art, 12001665

5. The Harp in Literature and Music

6. Concerning Non-pedal Harps and Harpists

Part 3. The Pedal Harp in Western Europe and North America

7. Some Early Harps, Harpists, and Music

8. From Single to Double Action

9. The Colonies and the United States

10. The Harp International

Part 4. Retrospection and the Future

11. Some Notable Events

12. Four Essays by the Author

Appendix

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index