The International Harp Archives (IHA) is a collection of archives from the World Harp Congress,

American Harp Society The American Harp Society, Inc. (AHS) is a non-profit organization. Founded in 1962, the AHS is an organization of harpists with more than 3,000 members from all 50 states and 20 countries. The organization is currently led by President Lynne Aspnes ...

, and individual harpists. It is located at the

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gr ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU). The archives began as a collection established by Samuel and Rosalie Pratt, and it may be the largest collection of harp materials in the world.

History

Harpists Samuel and Rosalie Pratt had their own personal collection of harp-related materials. Samuel designed the original Troubadour harp and owned a harp repair business. His wife Rosalie was a professor of music at BYU. They donated their collection of harp-related materials to BYU in 1985. After the Pratt's initial donation, additional major donations arrived at the university, including one from the

Victor Salvi Victor Salvi (\ˈvik-tər\ \ˈsal-vē \); (March 4, 1920 – May 10, 2015) was an American-born harpist, harp maker, and entrepreneur. Salvi, who has been called "harpmaker of the world", was of Italian descent. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he ...

Foundation. The International Harp Archives was formally established in 1994 due to the collection's growth.

Holdings

The archives consist of over 11,000 scores and recordings that use the harp. Items such as "manuscripts and recordings, photographs, correspondence, programs and other documents" are included in the collection. Additionally, the IHA serves as a central hub for any information regarding the harp, its music, and harpists. Nearly 60 major contributors donated materials to the collection. All archived items are housed in the

on BYU's campus. The archives and its materials are organized by the general collection and the non-circulating special collections. The IHA partners with the Archives of the American Harp Society to offer a lending library through BYU's library. Only American Harp Society members are permitted to request archived materials offsite. Other library patrons can view materials in person. In 1987, the American Harp Society began an interview series with notable harpists, including

Lucile Lawrence Lucile Lawrence (February 7, 1907 in New Orleans – July 8, 2004 in Englewood, New Jersey) was a leader among American harpists. At the end of her life, she was actively teaching as a faculty member of Boston University and the Manhattan Schoo ...

and Alice Chalifoux. These interviews can be accessed via the AHS lending library. The IHA aims to preserve the harp's history and make the collected materials available to through their Internet Archive. A project to scan and make all pre-1923 published scores available online is ongoing. Over 2,400 public domain records have been scanned for public access through the online archive.

Gallery

File:IHA Stacks.jpg, Sheet music and other harp-related documents File:IHA Harp 1.jpg, Harp 1 File:IHA Recordings Library 04.jpg, Harp 2

References

External links

Official site

Public domain scans on archive.org
{{coord, 40.249, -111.649, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-UT, display=title 1994 establishments in Utah Archives in the United States Brigham Young University Harps Music of Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related music articles