Course for Composers

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This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 16 years ago by Saul Davis Zlatkovski.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

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August 27, 2010 at 3:10 am #149595

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

I am working on a course for teaching composers how to write for the harp. I would like a list of your pet peeves, and things you want them to know, so I don’t leave anything out. Please speak out!

August 27, 2010 at 1:46 pm #149596

kay-lister
Member

Hi Saul,

Just really drive home the fact that IT’S NOT A PIANO!!!!

August 30, 2010 at 1:46 am #149597

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh
Participant

1. We only have four fingers to play with, not five.
2. Write for the average-sized hand, not the exceptionally huge.
3. Just because your thumb and fourth finger can reach ten notes does not mean the intervals in the middle can be almost as big. Know the limits of the spaces between the middle fingers.
4. Don’t write extended ff passages in the top register.
5. Ditto for the bottom register.
6. When changing from one key to the next, don’t go straight from seven flats to seven sharps. Do it enharmonically and gradually, keeping in mind that bass notes will ring a long time and need to be muffled if they are in the path of a pedal change.

I could probably write my own book, but this should get things started.

August 30, 2010 at 3:15 am #149598

carl-swanson
Participant

There have been numerous attempts before to write a guide for composers and it has never made more than a small difference. There is only one way to get them to hear the harp in their head as it really sounds and to think like a harpist, and that is for them to take several months of lessons. I don’t think it is even necessary for them to gain any kind of proficiency on the instrument. It’s just important that they go through the motions and try to play something on the instrument. They will gain more from that then reading all of the instruction books available. They will quickly learn how the harp resonates and how it sounds different in each octave. No amount of reading can communicate the knowledge that can be gained by taking a few months of lessons.

August 30, 2010 at 3:24 pm #149599

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

There is no really comprehensive guide that would be useful to anyone. If I can cover enough ground clearly enough, it might accomplish that, and if it were used in schools, it would make a difference. Composers have never had a standard reference to use that was widely used. Chaloupka’s book has been out there, but I don’t know how much impact it has had. The big obstacle is getting professors to think it matters enough to make it part of their curriculum.

I have made a chart of chord spacing, though you may think some of the chords are too big. You could send me what you think are the limits, Liz. How the registers work is one of the harder things to explain. Perhaps you can help me with some of the orchestral areas.

August 30, 2010 at 3:25 pm #149600

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

I think playing the harp themselves can be misleading. Then they may do something weird, and if they can do it, why not any harpist? Getting it in their ear is the thing.

What pieces do you think they need to listen to and study to train their ear?

August 30, 2010 at 11:27 pm #149601

patricia-jaeger
Member

Saul, perhaps the

August 31, 2010 at 12:39 am #149602

rosalind-beck
Participant

Saul, Beatrice Rose’s book “The Harp in the Orchestra” cites many of my personal pet peeves, with which Richard Strauss’ music abounds.

August 31, 2010 at 12:57 am #149603

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

I tend to automatically cite Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Debussy as examples of mostly faultless orchestral parts.

Pat, I think the state of composition for the harp clearly belies your belief that those

August 31, 2010 at 12:58 am #149604

Saul Davis Zlatkovski
Participant

P.S., I have never met a composer who attended one of my recitals.
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