Regardless of the lyre-guitar’s high melodic, harmonic and timbre capabilities, the instrument is not at present broadly known. Only few models preserved in museums or in the private collection exist.
The specific type I brought back from the past is a unique copy of a lyre-guitar built by luthier Gennaro Fabricatore, at the beginning of the XIX century.
My instrument has been manufactured in Rome in 2003 by Gerardo Parrinello, luthier.

The story is unique and quite charming: a neoclassic shape instrument, the lyre-guitar was at the highest of its fame in Paris in the first twenty years of the XIX century; that moment was decisive to the evolution of the guitar.
The name itself “Lyre-guitar” is enough to give light to its origins: the shape is that of the Greek lyre whit the addition of the guitar neck where the ancient lyre had only strings stretched between the side-bar and the bridge.

Byzantine mosaic: Orpheus that tames the animals with the sound of the Lyre

About the half of XVIII century in France an instrument appeared that preceded the making of lyre-guitar, usually called: French lyre. The instrument had 7, 8 or 9 strings, diatonically tuned, and a neck interrupted towards the soundboard. The choice to use an interrupted neck was taken to upset the minimum the shapes of the antique lyre. This was an instrument difficult to be played for the proximity between the lateral arms and the keyboard. An besides it had a weak sound and it was meant for the accompaniment only. No link can be established between the two instruments.

1785 - by Charles (luthier in Marseille); Musée de la Musique, Paris

At the end of the century the lyre-guitars appeared: they were more comfortable to play and their sound was stronger.

The lyre-guitar cult grew from the end of the XVIII to the first of the XIX century as an infatuation for Greek antiquities, very fashionable then among the noble classes in pre-revolutionary France.
The instrument was adopted by the emerging middle class after the Revolution and during the Napoleonic period it spread troughout Europe.

«Here was a musical instrument which did not follow the natural evolution of music itself, nor was it created by the whim of invention of artisans in search of improved acoustical attributes or instrumental potentialities. The idea was to create an instrument which looked pretty and provided a visual accessory to help ladies of fashion to assume the gracious pose of Greek “kithara” players. This visual likeness became a potent ingredient of the culture of the upper classes. Its cult was created by an infusion of a style which derived its inspiration from classical literature and art. The lyre-guitar came into its own at about the same point in time which is usually associated with the birth of the so-called “classical” six-string guitar. Its history is thus intimately linked with that of the guitar proper».
(Matanya Ophee, Soundboard, 1987 )

In the neoclassic period this fad for antiquities embraces art, architecture, painting and music. A true fashion for “classic style” spreads, the uses and customs follow the best examples of the past, mainly those of the Greek and Roman worlds: the guitar becomes a lyre-guitar recalling the look of the Greek lyre.

The Graces and Venus dance in front of Mars - A. Canova - 1798

«The lyre-guitar becomes quickly popular, it is “dazzling, shining meteor”: it was the symbol of an instrument used to revive the evening performances of the “parisian salons” with an ancient mythological, pastoral and fable-like touch». (Mario Torta)

We are in Paris, in the first two years of the XIX century, likely around 1780 when Pierre Charles Mareschal, famous French luthier shaped the ancient lyre-guitar naming at “Anacreontic-lyre” drawing inspiration from the Greek poet Anacreonte who lived between the VI and V century b.C.
Anacreonte become a symbol of the poetic movement that in the middle of the XVIII century revived the Greek mithologic litterature, the love for Arcadia and the golden age exalted by Anacreonte, Archiloco, Alceo and Saffo Greek lyrists, which were the distinctive features of Anacreonte’s poetry.

The instrument became so popular that it was considered a status-symbol, which could not be missing in a noble family (also Maria Antonietta, Empress of Austria, played the lyre-guitar…!). In that convivial environment of high society salons, the instrument was associated with the “gentle sex”: it was an instrument thought to be played mostly by women because of its graceful shapes. In that epoch, many famous painters portrayed women in an ancient Greek costume, playing the lyre-guitar (for instance, Jean Dominique Ingres painted Luciano Bonaparte’s family individuals, among which a lady with a lyre-guitar).

The Luciano Bonaparte family - J. D. Ingres - 1815

In “acoustics”, it is possible to obtaine whit lyre-guitar a full and concentrated sound different from the one of the contemporary “romantic guitar”.
Even the keyboard is quite different: the length is the same as the number of keys but while in the guitar the joint between neck and board coincides with the 12th key, in the lyre-guitar coincides with the 19th.
Thus it is possible to exploit better the whole length of the keyboard as no board hampers the fast motion of the left hand beyond the 12th key.
On the other side the left hand is not completely free as on the lyre-guitar for the presence of the arm underneath the keyboard: it is wise to favour with the mouvements of the player the shape of the instrument arm.
Of course, a young girl's tiny hand moves better...!
Here is why to facilitate the left hand movement in the following century we will find lyre-guitars called “half-lyre”, without the lower arm but also void of their historic and musicological meaning.

For the same reason we will find at the end of the XVIII century and throughout the XIX the famous lyre-guitar by Luigi Mozzani that has no history or musical value to share with the neoclassic lyre-guitar and with a short like life-span: 40-50 years between the end of the XVIII century and the first half of the XIX century.

The instrument I'm playing now has a wide fir soundingboard and flamed maple bottom and side bands.
The keyboard is in ebony with 19 metal keys and has 63 cm diapason: the arm endings are connected through a decorative brass bar, to resemble better the original lyre.
The central sound hole and the two on the side obtained in the arms are half-moon shaped: the same ornamental decoration is in the headstock case.
There were several kinds of lyre-guitar in different shapes often with neoclassical decorations: the arms could be curved as in the lyre-guitar or look like ancient imperial columns topped by facing eagle heads or very ornated capitals. The headstocks might look like imperial crowns, family coat-of-arms, Greek-romanic style embellishments.
The board was often decorated in any possible way: inlays, mythological scenes, floral drawings...
Almost all the instruments had at the bottom a more or less decorated pedestal to allow an elegant support on the floor.

As the lyre-guitar may obtain a remarkable sound, besides being at its best with a soloist repertoire, is fit to play in cameristic ensembles, to accompany voice, as a duo with a violin or a flute, in a trio with voice and violin or flute and even to play with a string orchestra.
The original and sophisticated repertoire includes very expressive music by important composers in XIX century.
Ferinando Carulli, Matteo Carcassi, Mauro Giuliani, Francesco Molino, Fernando Sor, Salvador Castro de Gistau, Pierre Jean Porro, Etienne Jean Battista Pastou, Antoine Marcel Lemoine, Alois Franz Simón José Molitor… compose for lyre-guitar.

«The expressive horizon of this music is strongly related to the convivial, amiable, joyful disposition of the music at the XVIII century end. In the texts there is a constant reminder to stereotyped love situations or pastoral scenes and overall there is a tender and emotional feeling typical of the corteous style of the XIX century middle years». (Mario Torta)

About 1815 the instrument destination begins to desappear from the front page of the method books. The instrument wanes or best it is “not fashionable” by the half of the century to give again life to the guitar.

The high musical quality project I present owes its originality to the rediscovery and revaluation of a forgotten instrument and repertoire. Until now, despite the lyre-guitar’s incredible artistic and historical value, it has not been contemplated by the general public and often by musicians themselves.