Talharpa

<h2 id="background">Background</h2>
<p>The earliest known Norse literary mentions of a <a href="/facts/Harp/FhRqeCDf">harp</a> or <a href="/facts/Lyre/aCzXT1L4">lyre</a> date to the <a href="/facts/Eddic_poem/An8wD6WM">Eddic poem</a> <i><a href="/facts/V%C3%B6lusp%C3%A1/tpgS2vlE">Völuspá</a></i>, though not as a bowed instrument. There have been attempts to interpret as talharpa the <a href="/facts/Iconography/YUcIQLN7">iconography</a>, that show <a href="/facts/Gunther/8u3BYncf">Gunnar</a> charming the snakes in the <a href="/facts/Gunther/8u3BYncf">snake pit</a> with a <i>harpa</i>-like instrument (also don't include a bow and instrument is in a very different shape) and a stone carving at the <a href="/facts/Trondheim_Cathedral/VCEC9DHQ">Trondheim Cathedral</a> of Norway, that shows a musician playing a bowed <a href="/facts/Hurdy_gurdy/b2xqCPrI">hurdy gurdy</a>- or <a href="/facts/Nyckelharpa/lRUrSjvp">nyckelharpa</a>-like instrument, dating to around the 14th century.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> In Nordic countries, the bowed lyre (as opposed to the plucked harp) has continued in Finland, where it is called <i>jouhikko</i> or a <i>jouhikantele</i> and Estonia where it is called <i>hiiu kannel</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="construction-techniques">Construction techniques</h2>
<p>Talharpas were traditionally built by hollowing out a single block of wood and gluing a soundboard on top, as can be seen from many instruments stored in the museums in Estonia  and Finland.
In modern times, many talharpa makers continue to build their musical instruments from solid wood, such as Rait Pihlap, Mihkel Soon or Rauno Nieminen. Others began to make tagelharpas following the classical school of <a href="/facts/Lutherie/HUaRc9pc">lutherie</a>, with each part assembled and characterized by reinforcements, bands, counter-bands, figured bottoms and blocks (such as Raivo Sildoja).
</p>
<h2 id="modern-use">Modern use</h2>
<p>The talharpa is sometimes used in modern folk music, most notably by the Estonian <a href="/facts/Nu-folk/4PouI8yF">nu-folk</a> duo <a href="/facts/Puuluup/tFxWUe0x">Puuluup</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> who use talharpas and modern <a href="/facts/Live_looping/e5pSaMEy">live looping</a>. Other notable musicians and bands, that use a bowed-lyre family instruments: Sofia Joons, Strand...Rand, Pekko Käppi, Styrbjörn Bergelt, Krista Sildoja, <a href="/facts/Metsat%C3%B6ll/Nd02wcUR">Metsatöll</a>, <a href="/facts/Wardruna/e8gaXek3">Wardruna</a>, Per Runberg, Janne Mängli, A Tergo Lupi.
</p>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Crwth/ch3hkNTN">Crwth</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Jouhikko/rVtr2bT0">Jouhikko</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Gue/XCd7JbPY">Gue</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Byzantine_lyra/KaxmUgGR">Byzantine lyra</a> (bowed lyre)</li>
<li>Hiiu kannel (in Estonian)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Bowed_string_instrument/yoLGrKeu">Bowed string instrument</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li> Media related to Talharpa at Wikimedia Commons</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN8Fvwhx0no">"Per Runberg demonstrates playing the talharpa"</a>. <i><a href="/facts/YouTube/db276jst">YouTube</a></i>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Cronshaw, Andrew (1999). "Baltic States: singing revolutions". The Rough Guide to World Music. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). London: Rough Guides Limited. p. 18. ISBN 1-85828-635-2. <a href="1-85828-635-2" target="_blank">1-85828-635-2</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Montagu, Jeremy (2007). Origins and Development of Musical Instruments. Scarecrow. p. 174. ISBN 9780810877702. <a href="9780810877702" target="_blank">9780810877702</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Andersson, Otto (1930). The Bowed Harp. Translated and edited by Kathleen Schlesinger. London: New Temple Press p. 111 <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Nieminen, Rauno (2020) The Bowed Lyre. p.16 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Rice, Timothy (2017). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe. Routledge. p. 730. ISBN 978-1351544269. Retrieved 13 August 2019. <a href="978-1351544269" target="_blank">978-1351544269</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>[1], Puuluup official website <a href="https://www.puuluup.ee/en/" target="_blank">https://www.puuluup.ee/en/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Talharpa open-in-new

Talharpa