Jane Austen & Harp

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Speaking of GWTW (this really belongs in the old-movies thread), anyone notice the harp that’s being carried away in the panic in Atlanta, as the crowds flee before Sherman’s arrival?

[David Ice]

Hi Bonnie,

Yes, th GWTW blooper of the gold L&H harp is one of the best known harp “bloopers” as well as being one of the best known historical bloopers in the film as well.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Nice Jane Austen page here (and no, that’s not where I got the above quote from! I copied it out years ago and loved it ever since):

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/emharpld.html

And this page is interesting

http://www.jasna.org/bookrev/br192p16.html

because it concerns Eliza de Feuillide, Jane’s glamorous and charming but morally ambiguous cousin – who played harp.

The trouble Mary Crawford puts everyone in the village to, in order to have her harp brought down from London, is also well worth a read – and we think we have transport problems!

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Sorry, forgot to mention: The reason I bring up Eliza is that I have always thought that she was the original model for the Mary Crawford character.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Sorry, I will go away after this I promise – but I couldn’t resist sharing another link.

[diane-michaels]

I just watched the new Masterpiece Theatre version of Mansfield Park last night.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

One of the points Austen is making is in Mary’s extreme selfishness by demanding to have her harp delivered right then, when all available horses and carts were busy getting in the harvest – i.e. food for the people – by farmers whose living depended upon the success of their crops. (No social welfare payments in those days – if you went broke, tough.)

[erin-wood]

I enjoyed the harp in the soundtrack as well last night!

[catherine-rogers]

The good news is all of the versions are now available on DVD. If you want to hear Mary Crawford “play” the harp, get the long one (1983) with Sylvestra La Touzel as Fanny Price. Yes, one does miss a lot when they condense these major works into 90 minutes! Some parts don’t make a lot of sense because so much character development is left out. That’s why the books are so much fun!

Here’s a link to some more complete versions:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1364519&skuId=6662186&type=product&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=6662186

[unknown-user]

Yes, I also live in the country and certain times of the year are just flat out, mostly around November when ‘Treeing season’ (I.E. the Christmas tree cutting season) is on (A major business around here). You couldn’t hire any menfolk for love nor money, they (men and women both for that matter) are all ‘treeing. And I agree, harps are wonderful, but food and survival does trump.

My fondest memory of P+P is not with the harps, but with my memories of one of the fellow students in my first year English class. He hated it so passionately, all the Austens’ ladies’ temper tantrums were nothing in comparison to his reaction to the book. I found it quite amusing. The wrath of Achilies to Greece, the direful spring of woes unnumbered was merely a passing breeze compared to his wrath against that book. I enjoyed it well enough.

[unknown-user]

I was disappointed to see the harp sitting there, unused, throughout this version of Mansfield Park.

[unknown-user]

In those days of yore, there was little, if no distinction between music for harp and piano. Beethoven complained of this and was the first to try to write pianistic music that could not be harp music. Harpists, like many today, would have played anything they could. Bear in mind, also, the tradition of people gathering to play music with whatever instruments they had and playing whichever part they could, so a harpist then may well have been playing string quartets if they were missing a string player. The harp was also a continuo instrument, so they would have accompanied any solo instrument in their sonatas and suites.

[Anna Bradford]

I *did* find out in discussing the most recent Mansfield Park with our friends in the UK that Masterpiece Classic cut out the scene of Mary Crawford playing the harp when they aired it in the US!! (unless I completely missed it–which would be shocking as I didn’t move from my seat). So disappointing!!! Perhaps it will be included in the DVD version, one can only hope.

[Anna Bradford]

I so appreciate all the responses from all! Very interesting indeed. Speaking of Pemberley….I posted the same question to the folks at Republic of Pemberley http://www.pemberley.com/bin/regency/regency.cgi?read=49017 and got some very helpful responses as well.

Including a book “Patrick Piggot The Innocent Diversion. Music in the life and Writings of Jane Austen” which discusses, as you mentioned, Jane’s modeling of Mary Crawford on Jane’s cousin Eliza…as well as Eliza’s possible acquisition of a book of harp music entitled “Feuilles de Terpsichore, ou journal: compose d’Overtures, d’Airs arranges et d’Airs avec accompagnement. Pour la Harpe'”.

Of course, much is conjecture but interesting to think about nonetheless…

[Janna B.]

The 1980 version of P&P?

[Author]

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