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Aeolian harp   Listen
noun
Harp  n.  
1.
A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
2.
(Astron.) A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
3.
A grain sieve. (Scot.)
Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
Harp seal (Zool.), an arctic seal (Phoca Groenlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback. The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.
Harp shell (Zool.), a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.


adjective
AEolian  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to AEolia or AEolis, in Asia Minor, colonized by the Greeks, or to its inhabitants; aeolic; as, the AEolian dialect.
2.
Pertaining to AEolus, the mythic god of the winds; aerial. "Viewless forms the aeolian organ play."
3.
Relating to or caused by wind; as, aeolian erosion.
AEolian attachment, a contrivance often attached to a pianoforte, which prolongs the vibrations, increases the volume of sound, etc., by forcing a stream of air upon the strings.
AEolian harp, AEolian lyre, a musical instrument consisting of a box, on or in which are stretched strings, on which the wind acts to produce the notes; usually placed at an open window.
AEolian mode (Mus.), one of the ancient Greek and early ecclesiastical modes.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Aeolian harp" Quotes from Famous Books



... upon my tuneless ear Soft music's stealing strain; It cannot soothe, it cannot cheer This anguished heart again! But place the AEolian harp upon The tomb of her I love; There, when Heaven shrouds the dying sun, My weary steps will rove, While o'er its chords Night pours its breath, To list the serenade of death Her ...
— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844 - Volume 23, Number 1 • Various
... detriment of appearance, or to its subjugation as an art work, but as an adjunct or accessory of such importance that it is apparent it must imperatively assume pre-eminence; just as we forget the plain box of the AEolian harp the moment the strings are struck by the passing gale into the most exquisite chords; as, on the contrary, do we seem to wish for no song from the tropical bird of magnificent plumage, and express no surprise that none comes from it. I may put this more plainly as I proceed, and in ...
— Violin Making - 'The Strad' Library, No. IX. • Walter H. Mayson
... I have the advantage of having heard most of them played by Chopin himself, and, as Florestan whispered in my ear at the time, "He plays them very much a la Chopin." Imagine an AEolian harp that had all the scales, and that these were jumbled together by the hand of an artist into all sorts of fantastic ornaments, but in such a manner that a deeper fundamental tone and a softly-singing higher part were always audible, and you have an approximate idea ...
— Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician - Volume 1-2, Complete • Frederick Niecks


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