THE HARP
The small single action harp with the slim body appears very elegant and filigree. From its design and construction the harp can be regarded as the work of a gifted instrument maker. The harp is signed and dated only by the manufacturer of the mechanism "GO' do' 1728".
Height 1395 mm; 34 strings G1 to e3; 7 pedals, single-action; 30 turning crutches.
ORIGIN AND ATTRIBUTION
I bought this harp from a private person in 1992. Only in 1997 I was able to make a comparison with the harp SAM 565 of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, with the kind support of Dr. D. Droysen-Reber. That harp is labeled "Hochbrucker, Donauwörth 1720".
JACOB HOCHBRUCKER
The German Jacob Hochbrucker (1673-1763) of Donauwörth has constructed the new invention of the pedal harp in 1699 as one of the first makers. He has started making a five-pedal harp first (after Fétis Biographie universelle...1839), but in 1720 his harp with seven pedals was already well known. Two musicians of the Hochbrucker family have succeeded as composers for harp: Jacob's son, Johann Baptist (> Six Sonates pour la harpe, dedicated to De Rohan, 1762) and the nephew of Jacob, Pater Coelestin (> Six Sonates pour la harpe, dedicated to De la Guiche, c. 1771).
However the invention of the pedal harp was claimed by several makers: J.P. Vetter of Nuremberg; Johann Hausen of Weimar; Goepffert (Gaeffre) and the Italian Petrini.