Jean le Flelle, harpist to the Queen of England, enjoyed an international reputation as a player of the gut-strung Triple Harp. According to Mersenne's 'Harmonie Universelle' (Paris 1636), the triple harp was invented in Naples by 'Luc Anthoine Eustache', improved by the Roman composer 'Horace Mihi' and played by le Flelle 'en perfection'. Mersenne also states that the French harpists shared a common repertoire of dances and descriptive pieces with keyboard players.
The renaissance art of the improvised Fantasia, transformed into the flamboyant Neapolitan Stravaganze and the elaborate Roman Toccata, was adapted for French taste as the Prelude. Louis Couperin's 'preludes non mesurees' preserve the improvisatory freedoms of the toccata style - rich arpeggios and short fragments of melody, mingled with the gentle swing of triple-time dance metres. Although the notation does not specify exact note values, the music is not un-structured, but is organised like a vocal recitative, by the association of expressive devices. This 'stream of conciousness' serves as a contrast to the metric rhythm and formal patterns of the dances that follow, in the same way that an operatic recitative prepares the way for the ensuing aria.
The French taste for 'Gayety and Fashion' was expressed not only in lively dances and modish preludes but also in many character-pieces, with descriptive, even whimsical titles and instrumental special effects. Louis Couperin imitates the pealing chimes of the Paris carillons, and the tolling of funeral-bells in the Tombeau. This musical tombstone for a distinguished patron of music imitates an operatic lament, with passionate changes of tempo, abrupt dissonances and expressive harmonies.
Mudarra's famous 'Fantasia de Luduvico' preserves the improvisatory style of this famous 16th century virtuoso. Within a harmonic framework based on the 'folia' sequence, Luduvico's fantasy transcended the normal rules of harmony with daring 'falsas' or 'wrong notes'. In contrast, Luys Milan's fantasias embody the classic renaissance polyphonic style, interspersed with brilliant passage-work or 'redobles': as he observes 'the secret of this style, the 'taner de gala' is to play the chords slowly and the 'redobles' fast.
Naples imported into Italy not only the harp and the Spanish guitar, but also a taste for the bizarre effects and dramatic twists of the fantasia style, presented by Di Macque as 'Stravaganze'. This colourful southern style was moulded by such composers as Frescobaldi (the harpsichordist) and Orazio Mihi (the harpist) into the Roman toccata, in which polyphony, passage-work, consonance and dissonance, succeed one-another in dazzling variety.
The Italian theorist Vicenzo Galilei (father of the astronomer) described an 'arpa doppia' with twice the usual number of strings in his 'Dialogo della Musica' of 1581. The harp quickly became associated with an extravagant playing style and with virtuosic improvisation, as cultivated by such musicians as Trabaci and Mayone in Naples and Orazio Mihi, the greatest harpist of the age, in Rome.
Just as the theorbo was developed from the renaissance lute, harps were made larger and provided with extra strings in the bass. So around 1600, the 'arpa doppia' was double not only because it had twice as many strings, but also because it was very large and had an extended bass register. By this time, harps were being built with three rows of strings, arranged like the black and white notes on a keyboard. One row has the white notes, and you poke your fingers through between two of the 'white note' strings to reach the 'black notes' in the second row. The third row duplicates the first, giving the effect of a two-manual keyboard.