Harp Cadenzas?

[Liz]

Hi all,
I am working on a piece right now (for orchestra) and was wondering what pieces have a harp cadenza, or rather prominent harp part so I can study that for inspiration.
any thing is helpful
thanks

[Alison]

I would always introduce the Nutcracker cadenza first, but assuming you are familiar with that and not looking for a concerto cadenza …. this is tricky and pretty, quite a stretch for the RH: a ‘cadenza’ within the Saint-Saens Fantasie for Harp and Violin, the score seems to be on imslp, on pages 13,14 and just into 15. The page turn was maddening on my original part.

[kreig-kitts]

Because so many of the cadenzas (I’m looking at you, Tchaikovsky) have long stretches of cascading arpeggios, I looked at some pieces I’ve played in our concert band recently for inspiration for you.

Copeland’s “Quiet City”, for string orchestra and winds or for small wind ensemble, includes an interesting harp part. The harp is not featured except by virtue of it being a small ensemble, however it serves an important role in helping to define certain attacks and also provides an important texture to the background, and the harp has a very interesting tremolo in the bass strings toward the end that would only be useful in a thinly scored section but is quite effective.

“Pines of Rome” has a beautiful harp accompaniment in the third movement Nocturne as well as a solo using harmonics, plus brilliant glisandos in the first movement.

Michael Daugherty’s “Niagara Falls” is a very interesting and fun harp feature, largely because it is a very loud and raucous piece. After some solo arpeggios and glissandos that are eerie (think Hitchcock – the piece is partly a tribute to American Film Noir) rather than delicate, followed by pages of very loud glissandos using picks, which enables the harp to cut through the very loud happenings around it. The parts are only available on rental but I believe you can purchase the score separately.

[Liz]

Thank you both for the suggestions!

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

If you are composing, then I would look at Salzedo’s cadenza for the Handel Concerto, the cadenza in the Villa Lobos Concerto (though it is extremely long), the Reinecke cadenzas for the Mozart Concerto, Salzedo’s cadenza for the Berezowsky Concerto, the Ginastera Concerto, the Harry Somers Suite… sometimes it’s easier to find bad examples. You need more than just arpeggios and chords or it may sound like an orchestra part. Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro probably has the single most influential cadenza of all.

[Sylvia]

What about Lucia?

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

There are lists of orchestra excerpts required in auditions.

Here’s the list from St. Louis Symphony’s harp auditon:
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
BERG Violin Concerto
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique
BRITTEN The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8
DEBUSSY Afternoon of a Faun
DEBUSSY La mer
MAHLER Symphony No. 5: Adagietto
RAVEL Alborada del gracioso
RAVEL Tzigane
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major: Cadenza
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol
SMETANA Vysehrad (The High Castle), from Ma vlast
STRAUSS Death and Transfiguration
STRAUSS Dance of the Seven Veils from Salomé
STRAVINSKY Symphony in Three Movements
TCHAIKOVSKY Nutcracker Suite No. 1
WAGNER Magic Fire Music from Die Walküre

Here’s another list, which shows some of the same pieces:
Bartok- Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, Violin Concerto No. 2
Berlioz- Symphonie Fantastique
Britten- Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Bruch- Scottish Fantasy
Bruckner- Symphony No. 8
Chabrier- España
Debussy- La Mer
Donizetti- Lucia di Lammermoor Cadenza
Dukas- The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Mahler- Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 5
Ravel- Alborada del Gracioso, Daphnis and Chloe (complete ballet), Mother Goose Ballet, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Tzigane
Rimsky-Korsakov- Capriccio Espagnole
Strauss- Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Ein Heldenleben, Salome’s Dance
Stravinsky- Song of the Nightingale, Petrouchka (combined part), Symphony in Three Movements
Tchaikovsky- Nutcracker (cadenza and excerpts), Swan Lake (cadenza)
Verdi- La Forza del Destino Overture
Wagner- Das Rheingold, Magic Fire Music, Liebestod, Siegfried’s Rheinfahrt, Tannhauser

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