The krogharpe was a type of harp native to Norway, which featured steel strings and a horizontal soundboard.[1] In the modern era German harpist Nancy Thym has reconstructed and played a krogharpe based on an instrument built in 1776 in Østerdalen.

Period description

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A 1916 article in The Musical Times described the instrument:

The Krogharp is an antique and uncouth instrument with metal strings and a horizontal sound-board. It is still in use among the peasantry, and with reason; for it is capable of producing great emotional effects, and is peculiarly fitted to be the interpreter of that weird Norwegian music, through which such a deep strain of melancholy runs.

A 1902 German-language encyclopedia described it as "played until recently."[2]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Wilhelm Spemann (1909). Spemanns goldenes Buch der Musik: eine Hauskunde für Jedermann. W. Spemann. p. 706. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  2. ^ Hermann Ritter (1902). Allgemeine illustrierte Encyklopädie der Musikgeschichte. M. Schmitz. p. 1. Retrieved 22 April 2012.