Lyon & Healy
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Lyon & Healy is an American manufacturer of harps founded in 1864 in Chicago by George W. Lyon and Patrick J. Healy. Lyon & Healy has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States, which, in addition to being the location of the production of its harps, also contains a showroom and concert hall.
Lyon & Healy harps are widely-played by professional musicians since they are one of the few harps for orchestral use, which are also known as "concert harps" or "pedal harps". In addition, Lyon & Healy makes smaller versions of the harp, which are known as folk harps (based on traditional Irish instruments) or lever harps (which use levers to change the pitch of the string rather than pedals). In the 1980s, Lyon & Healy also began to manufacture electroacoustic harps as well as solid body electric harps in later years.
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[edit] History
The company was founded in 1864 by George W. Lyon and Patrick J. Healy, who moved from Boston to start a sheet music shop for music publisher Oliver Ditson. The full history of Lyon & Healy is complicated by the destruction of its building and loss of company records during four fires including the Great Chicago Fire. Letters and trade catalogs containing information about this company are not forthcoming as to exact dates when Lyon & Healy began manufacturing instruments. An article found within the pages of the Musical Courier states that Lyon & Healy began manufacturing instruments in 1885. Clearly, Lyon & Healy was making plucked string instruments in the 1880s, with Washburn (guitars, mandolins, banjos, and zithers) being their premier line. Lyon & Healy also made various percussion instruments. Later, Lyon & Healy began manufacturing brass instruments, possibly as early as the 1890s. Lyon & Healy also repaired instruments and evidently offered engraving services. Complicating matters still further, Lyon & Healy engraved instruments that it retailed but did not actually manufacture. In its 1892 catalog, it began advertising that it manufactured 100,000 instruments annually.
Other instruments the company is known to have made include reed organs and pianos. Lyon & Healy evidently began manufacturing these instruments around 1876 in its factories in Chicago and nearby cities. George W. Lyon patented his cottage upright in 1878 and it was sold under the Lyon and Healy name.
Lyon retired in 1889; Healy died in 1905.[1]
Lyon & Healy built their first harp in 1889. Healy was interested in developing a harp which would be better suited to the rigours of the American climate than the available European models. They succeeded in producing a harp notable for its strength, reliability of pitch, and freedom from unwanted vibration. Previously, most harps were imported to North America from France, England, Ireland, or Italy by smaller groups of craftsmen.[2]
In 1890, Lyon & Healy introduced the Style 23 Harp, still one of the most popular and recognizable designs in the world. It has 47 strings, highly decorative floral carving on the top of the column, base, and feet, and has a fleur de lis pattern at the bottom of the column. In many orchestras, patrons may see the harpist playing a gold version of this harp. It is 74 inches (190 cm) tall, and weighs about 37 kilograms (82 lb). Lyon & Healy produces one of the most ornate and elaborate harps in the world, the Louis XV, which includes carvings of leaves, flowers, scrolls, and shells along its neck and kneeblock, as well the soundboard edges.
By the 1900s, Lyon & Healy was one of the largest music publishers in the world, and selling new and antique violins, pianos, and other instruments. However, In 1920s, Lyon & Healy sold its brass musical instrument manufacturing branch (see "New Langwill Index"). By the 1970s, L&H decided to concentrate solely on the creation and sale of harps.
In 1928, Lyon & Healy introduced one of the most unusual harps ever designed for mass production, the Salzedo Model, designed in collaboration with the harpist Carlos Salzedo. It is in the Art Deco style, incorporating bold red and white lines on the soundboard to create a stylized and distinct instrument that still appears modern and bold even today.
In the 1960s, Lyon & Healy introduced a smaller lever harp, the Troubadour, a 36-string harp that is designed for young beginners, who have smaller hands and may find playing a concert harp difficult, as well as hobbyists. This harp stands 65.5 inches (166 cm), and weighs 17 kilograms (37 lb).
By 1985, Lyon & Healy was also making folk harps, also known as "Irish harps," which are even smaller than the Troubadour. The Shamrock model folk harp has 34 strings. It stands 55 inches (140 cm) tall with its legs; the legs can be removed if the player wishes to play lap-style on the knees, although this makes playing much more difficult and can only be done by the tallest players. It weighs about 10 kilograms (22 lb). It has celtic designs on the soundboard. One who plays the smaller Irish or folk harps is often referred to as a "harper" rather than the more formal "harpist" title, which is used for players of concert or pedal harps. The most famous of the wandering Irish bards, was the blind harper O'Carolan.
In the late 1970s, Lyon & Healy was purchased by CBS, and consequently closed all of the retail stores in the Chicago area that had been selling sheet music, musical instruments and their education departments - focusing on the harp division. Their Wabash building is now owned by DePaul University.
[edit] Craftsmanship
File:http://www.lyonhealy.com/images/harps/Style-23-N-cp.jpg%7CCaption1 'Style 23 Concert Grand Harp'
Research and design teams work next to long-time harp craftsmen and has allowed Lyon & Healy to mass-produce harps to which can be added many of the special items of individually produced harps—such as carved columns, gold-leaf work, hand-painted sound boards, and other artistic inlays. The wood used for harp production varies by instrument, but the most common wood used for the soundboard, which is essential to a harp's ability to resonate and produce the warm sound the instrument is famous for, is Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Lyon & Healy harps are still located in Chicago, Illinois, at 168 North Ogden Avenue. The building was once home to the recording studios of Orlando R. Marsh.
Examples of various types of musical instruments with Lyon & Healy markings on them can be found in many major musical instrument museums in the U.S. and Europe.
Lyon and Healy primarily manufactures four types of harps. The level harp, petite pedal harp, semi-grande pedal harp, and concert grand harp. They also have "special harps," which are concert grands and have a limited number.
