Harpist Rhodri Davies has recorded an album of music for the Telyn Rawn, a harp strung with horse hair which predates the appearance of the triple, lever and pedal harps. He researched the telyn rawn in early Welsh poetry and commissioned the building of a new harp for the project.
“All the music on this album is improvised. I designed and built a long forgotten instrument, experimented with wound and pleated horse hair strings, I engaged with historical texts and poetry, learnt the techniques and music from the Robert ap Huw manuscript and researched the importance of the horse and horse cults in Welsh culture. All these interventions were a means to improvise historically informed music and re-evaluate the legacy of the harp in Wales but ultimately served as a jumping off point so as to create new possibilities.” Rhodri Davies