Travelling musicians often had to carry their instruments on foot or horseback, and the materials required to build a quality instrument were expensive. Medieval harps in general were small and portable. It is the small, hand-held harp that the Welsh bard Rhodri plays in The Red Wolf’s Prize. Harps became common closer to the 10 th century when we find evidence of a triangular-shaped harp. The number of strings varied, the original Celtic version having seven strings. It was used by bards beginning in the 8 th century BC, then later in Rome where it was the lyra, the first European bowed string instrument. This is the instrument David played while tending sheep, as recorded in the Bible.
“An ancient plucked and bowed stringed instrument which had a more or less rectangular frame, the lower half of which was filled in as a sound-box, with flat (or occasionally vaulted) back, the upper half being left open on each side of the strings.” The Oxford Companion to Music defines a crwth as: Well, if you happened to have a traveling minstrel on hand, it might be crwth, the ancient Celtic lyre, predecessor to both the harp and violin. What kind of musical instruments did they enjoy? In my story, the Welsh bard, Rhodri, plays his small harp and the heroine, Lady Serena joins him in song, whether she is garbed as a servant in disguise or, later, as herself. It would be something like what we call A cappella today. The oldest instrument, of course, was the human voice, and the oldest form of that was the plainchant, singing without instruments. Music was the chief form of entertainment of the people who lived during this time. In my new medieval romance, The Red Wolf’s Prize, evenings at the manor at Talisand often featured music.
Since I love music and I play the harp, I was especially interested in hearing about her take on the medieval predecessors to my favorite instrument. Today, please welcome my guest blogger, Regan Walker, as she discusses medieval music and musical instruments.
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