Carl Fischer has published a new collection, Marcel Tournier, 10 Pieces for Solo Harp, edited by Carl Swanson. Tournier’s greatest contribution to the harp world was the vast number of gorgeous compositions he wrote for the instrument. But as Swanson points out, many of Tournier’s pieces are problematic because they require considerable arranging and marking before you can play them. The result is that some of this music is not played frequently today or played mostly by harpists taught in the French tradition.
Swanson has selected 10 of Tournier’s most beautiful pieces and edited them so that they are more readily playable. The pieces are “Au Matin,” “Offrande,” “Vers la source dans le bois,” “Berceuse russe,” “La volière magique,” “L’éternel rêveur,” “Clair de lune sur l’étang du parc,” “Lolita la danseuse,” “Cloches sous la neige,” and “Jazz Band.” There is a preface that explains the goal of this publication, a little history, and some information about interpreting the music of Tournier.
Why should you get this book? Aside from the fact that Swanson has assembled several of Tournier’s most interesting pieces in a variety of styles and levels of difficulty into one convenient book, he includes all enharmonic spellings so that the music is printed the way it is actually played. He clearly indicates which hand is used to play each passage as well as some suggested fingering. Unlike most of the original publications of this music, pedal changes are included as well as pedal diagrams and pedal shorthand to make practice and memorizing easier. He includes a glossary with translations of all the French words that help the player to interpret the music correctly. There are also descriptions of each piece explaining what the music depicts and additional notes for performing and understanding the music.
In short, using this book to learn these pieces is as valuable as having a lesson with a teacher familiar with Tournier’s works. This book represents only about one-tenth of Tournier’s music, so let’s hope it is also only the first of several volumes that Carl Swanson will edit for us.
Josh Layne has a new, self-published book of seven pieces he transcribed for intermediate to advanced lever harp. The first four selections in Transcriptions for Lever Harp, Volume 1 are Baroque pieces written for keyboard instruments. The last three were originally for pedal harp. You will need at least 34 strings and a full set of levers, with the harp to E-flat. Fingering suggestions are included throughout.
The book begins with an explanation of signs. There are also notes on each piece just before or after each transcription. Lever changes are indicated by extremely tiny diamond-shaped notes, most of which likely would be missed were it not for the letter name and accidental with a line drawn to the diamond. Keep a highlighter pen handy, especially if you have less than perfect vision!
Two of the pieces, the “Aria” from Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Naderman’s second sonata,” require tricky lever changes with the right hand.
Layne uses some creative accommodations for lever harp. He moves the left hand up an octave (e.g., in m. 28 of the “Aria”) to make it easier and for clarity of sound. He omits some left hand notes or sometimes substitutes a chord for what was an arpeggio in the original (e.g., in m. 21 of the first Naderman sonata) to allow the left hand to move levers. Occasionally he omits notes to avoid an accidental altogether. There is even a spot on pages five and six of the first sonata where all the necessary lever changes would have been impossible, so Layne eliminated the lower lever change, but left the note in. The result was an octave where the upper F is sharp and the one below it is natural, all in the same beat. He suggests that if you don’t emphasize it, it sounds fine. He’s right—it goes by so fast it’s barely noticeable.
Layne moved the opening inversions in the prelude of the first sonata down by one inversion to accommodate lever harps that don’t go as high as a first octave B. Layne also includes only the first five of the 10 variations of Handel’s “Chaconne” from the Suite in D Minor HWV 448, and further takes the liberty of changing the order of variations four and five.
The audience isn’t likely to know the difference as a result of these resourceful remedies or changes, and none of these adjustments are objectionable unless you are a purist.
The rest of the selections not previously mentioned include J.S. Bach’s “Toccata in D Minor,” “Prelude no. 1” from the Well-Tempered Clavier (also Bach), and “The Last Rose of Summer,” by Godefroid. As a bonus, Layne includes the accompaniment to “Ave Maria” at the end, which is the same as the “Prelude” with a few minor differences. He clarifies that it does not include Charles Gounod’s lovely melody to “Ave Maria.”
The book is only available as a PDF at this time. If there is anything missing, it would be the suggested tempo for each of the pieces.
Layne’s inventive arrangements introduce some beautiful and previously unplayable music to the lever harp. •
Jan Jennings has been the music review editor for Harp Column since 1993. She is an active freelancer and teacher, and is the author of The Harpist’s Complete Wedding Guidebook and Effortless Glissing. Email her at
mail@harpbiz.com.
