Harp Column Blogs: Samuel MilliganArchive

There are very good reasons why women rarely play the tuba.  A hefty physique is handy for holding it up, and it takes a sizable pair of lungs to power the thing--attributes more often found in men than women.  On the other hand, there are no good physical reasons why men should be such a small minority among harpists.  The reasons for the imbalance must be found elsewhere.

But first, let's look at the current situation.  A head count of the New York/Ontario region in the Directory of the American Harp Society lists 243 females as opposed to 26 males.

Clearly, the ladies win hands down.  But this has not always been the case.  In all the Celtic areas, such as Wales, Brittany or Scotland, the harp was mostly played by men.  For example, in Ireland in the 1790's, of the 14 players mentioned by Arthur O'Neill in his Menoirs, only two were women.  This was because men were expected to be breadwinners, and so blind boys were taught the harp to give them the means to make a living.  Girls, blind or not, were not so encouraged. 

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

In the years just previous to this, something quite different was going on in France.  The queen, Marie Antoinette, played the harp, and so ladies of the aristocracy took it up, since the queen was the supreme arbiter of fashion.  However, any ladies of the aristocracy trying to survive the Reign of Terror had a good deal more on their minds than the Krumpholz Sonatas.

That might have been the end of the matter, except that something very interesting happened.  Today we are so horrified by the brutalities of the revolution that we often overlook the good that was accomplished.  One of these was the birth of a hitherto missing middle class.  There appeared as well a newly rich  mercantile aristocracy, based on an economy supported in large part by the manufacture of supplies for Napoleon's armies.

Being influenced by the idea that the instrument had been highly suitable for ladies of quality under the ancien regime, this newly rich class encouraged daughters to play the harp.  It was thought that the inherent beauty of the harp would enhance the beauty--real or imagined--of any young lady sitting behind it. 

Besides, what better way for any new arriviste to announce that he had "arrived" than to have a big gold Erard harp displayed prominently in the parlor?  And what better way to hint at the presence in the household of at least one highly cultivated young lady who just might be available for marriage to some up-and-coming young man of substance?  (And perhaps including a big gold Erard in her dowry?)

WANTON FRENCH AND PRUDISH GERMANS

Fashion in these matters was led by the French, followed closely primarily by the English.  Interestingly enough, the young ladies in Germany were not encouraged to play the harp for the same reason that they were steered away from the 'cello, the position at the instrument being considered somewhat indecent.  The pianoforte was another matter entirely.  The young lady could sit at the keyboard with her virginal knees clamped firmly together.  The dissolute French, of course, were hardly bothered by such pruderies.

So while the era produced some truly remarkable male haptists--Bochsa and Parish-Alvars come to mind--the harp was seen my most to be not only a woman's instrument, but a domestic one as well.  The results were unfortunate.  If the effect of the lady at the harp was to be primarily a visual one, there was little reason for her to advance much beyond bare competence.  This encouraged the production of a lot of inferior music.  Berlioz notwithstanding, serious composers of the first rank generally considered the harp to be beneath their notice.

BUT WHAT IF?

The situation continued with little change until our own century, though fortunately most young ladies these days strive for considerably more than bare competence.

But let's take a look at the economy involved here.  It is said that nothing hurts like a stab in the pocketbook, so it might be instructive to consider just how the harp world is being financially wounded.  Let's pretend for a moment that a sudden miracle has happened, causing the harp to be played by both men and women equally.  Harp makers would nearly double their production, as would the dependent industries--string makers, publisher and so on.

The demand for harp recitals and recording would also get a big boost.  Harp teachers could nearly double the size of their classes.  And I expect that some of the young ladies in those classes might find a male presence to be of more than routine interest.  (Strictly to help move the harp, you understand.)

But how to make such a miracle happen?  As the King of Hearts told Alice, we must begin at the beginning, in this case, with the harp student.  Now if the teacher regards the harp as being suitable only for girls, no effort is going to be made to interest boys in studying it, and the situation continues on as before.

THREATENED MASCULINITY

But things can be changed, by such a forward looking teacher as Robin Gordon-Cartier who directs the harp program in the East Orange, NJ Public School System.  When se set up the program a few years ago, she rounded up a class of 30 students, half of whom were boys.  The boys felt no social stigma attached to harp playing.  Their masculinity (which, as we know, is especially fragile with teen-age boys) was in no way threatened.  In fact, two of her most outstanding students were leaders of the boy's basketball team.

Now all this didn't happen automatically.  It took effort to search out boys who might be interested and encourage them to do it.  But the math is obvious.  Had she not made the effort, the class would have been only half as large. 

Looking at the economics again.  To accommodate the new harp program, the school system purchased 30 new harps for her department; 25 lever harps, four pedal harps and one electric pedal harp.  Her annual budget for strings and music exceeds $2,500.  All this happened because of one teacher's enthusiasm.

Naturally, this class is not going to produce 30 professional harpists down the line.  That is not the object, though any student who goes on to a professional career will thrill Robin no end when it happens.  However, the program will produce people who will not only add to the market for harps and related products, but will be the knowledgeable audience for recitals and concerts.  And this means all recitals and concerts, not just harp programs.

It has always been my opinion that the harp is not a woman's instrument.  But then, neither is it a man's instrument.   It is simply an instrument and should be played by everyone, regardless of gender.

Marcel Tournier wrote somewhere that the reason we are willing to put up with the troublesome asbects of the harp, such as rattles, buzzes, string breakage, constant tuning and so on, is because it is quite simply the most beautiful sound ever conceived by human imagination and manufactured by human ingenuity.

I concur.  I further feel that the privilege of producing this beautiful sound should be available to anyone, regardless of sex.

Brooklyn, NY, April 21, 2006

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NOTE:  Regarding the social history of the harp, much valuable material, wittily presented, can be found in Arthur Loesser's Men, Women and Pianos, available in an inexpensive reprint by Dover Books.  (And let me apologize here to Mr. Loesser for cannibalizing the title of his wonderful book.)

For further reading in gender studies relating to the harp, I recommend the very fine article by Olga Gross, Gender and the Harp, in the Winter 1992 and Summer 1993 numbers of the American Harp Journal.  Also the all too brief article Gender, Image and Reception by Ann Yeung in the Fall, 1998 issue of the World Harp Congress Review.