Pedal harp
Concert harp whose strings can be retuned by pedals.
What it means
The pedal harp is the concert harp of the orchestra whose strings can be retuned by seven pedals. Each pedal belongs to one note of the scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) and controls all strings of that note in all octaves. In the basic position the harp is tuned in C flat major; each pedal can be moved to three positions and raises the strings by one or two semitones.
The concert harp has 47 strings and a compass of about six and a half octaves. Its sound is warm, full and carrying.
Musical use
Sébastien Érard invented the double-action pedal harp in 1810. It made the harp chromatic and as versatile to play as a piano. Older single-action pedal harps arose in the early 18th century. Famous works for harp are Debussy's Danses sacrée et profane and Ravel's Introduction et Allegro; in the orchestra it often plays glissandi and broken chords.
The pedal harp should be distinguished from the hook harp and the Celtic harp, on which notes are retuned by hand with hooks or levers, and from the piano, which has a keyboard.
Performance practice
On the pedal harp you set the pedals with your feet before playing the notes concerned. Practise pedal changes calmly and quietly so that they make no noise, and plan them in advance: in complicated music you are always already thinking of the next retuning.