A wooden soundbox fitted with strings (usually about a dozen) of various thicknesses, but tuned to a single pitch, which are made to vibrate freely by the surrounding air, producing an ethereal, disembodied sound. It takes its name from Aeolus, god of the winds.
An aeolian harp (or æolian harp or wind harp) is a musical instrument that is "played" by the wind.
History
Aeolian harps were very popular as household instruments during the Romantic Era, but are still being hand-crafted today.
Description
The traditional aeolian harp is essentially a wooden box including a sounding board, with strings stretched lengthwise across two bridges. It is placed in a slightly opened window where the wind can blow across the strings to produce sounds.
Sound
The sound is random, depending on the strength of the wind passing over the strings, and can range from a barely audible hum to a loud scream.
Operation
The harp is driven by an aeroelastic effect.
The effect can sometimes be observed in overhead utility lines, fast enough to be heard or slow enough to be seen.
Aeolian harps in literature and music
Aeolian harps are featured in at least two Romantic-era poems, The Aeolian Harp and Dejection, an Ode, both by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Henry Cowell's Aeolian Harp (1923) was one of the first piano pieces ever to feature extended techniques on the piano which included plucking and sweeping the pianist's hands directly across the strings of the piano.
Also, the Etude in A flat major for piano (1836) by Frédéric Chopin (Op. 1) is sometimes called the "Aeolian Harp" etude, a nickname given it by Robert Schumann. Sound file of a performance, with sheet music, from ChopinFiles.com
In 1972 Chuck Hancock and Harry Bee recorded a giant Aeolian harp reportedly built by the members of a commune on a hilltop in California. United released their double LP entitled The Wind Harp - The Song of The Hill. In the spirit of this, in 2003 an Aeolian harp was constructed at Burning Man
Australian artist, composer and sound scupltor Alan Lamb has created several very large scale aeolian harps, and made various recordings of them.
One of Sergei Lyapunov's 12 études d'exécution transcendante, Op.11 No.9, is named by the author "Harpes éoliennes" (aeolian harps).
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