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Double Chromatic Harp

Henry Greenway American, born England
after 1895
Not on view
This harp has two sets of strings that cross near their midpoint. One row of strings has the naturals for a C major scale, like white notes on a modern piano, while the second set of strings has the accidentals, or black notes. The design built by Greenway is an exaggerated version of a cross-strung model built by the Pleyel & Wolff Company of Paris in the late nineteenth century, and a way to address increasingly chromatic music in the orchestral repertoire without adding pedals. The greenway harp, with its two columns standing quite far apart, is much more difficult to play and it was probably not made for orchestral repertoire (glissandi in any key but C would be impossible). Only two harps by Greenway, both with the cross stringing design, are known to survive. Very little is known about this builder, but it is believed that he is Henry Greenway who was located at 545 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, a Civil War veteran and a piano repairer active in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Double Chromatic Harp
  • Maker: Henry Greenway (American (born England), Birmingham 1833–1903 St. Louis, Missouri)
  • Date: after 1895
  • Geography: Brooklyn, New York, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Spruce, maple, metal, gilding, brass
  • Dimensions: H.66 1/8 x W. 18 7/8 in. (168 x 48 cm)
  • Classification: Chordophone-Harp
  • Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
  • Object Number: 89.4.1235
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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