The American Harp Journal- Carl Swanson

[Sylvia]

Congratulations to Carl on the article about the Debussy Sonate. There are still two more articles to come in the next two Journals.
I don’t play recital music, but the article is interesting…and amazing. Looks like a tremendous amount of work is being put into this project!
Maybe people who are not Harp Society members could get reprints.

[carl-swanson]

Sylvia- Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. You can’t imagine how much work went into these articles, or how much the project grew as I worked on it. When I started this whole project about a year ago, I had no idea that it was going to grow to this size.

The best news is: Music publisher Carl Fischer is going to publish this version of the Sonate!!! We’re hoping to have it ready for sale by this summer.

[Sylvia]

I can, indeed, imagine it. When I started my master’s thesis, I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough, and it grew and grew as I did the research.

I thought there were people on this forum who played the Debussy, but they haven’t surfaced as yet.

[carl-swanson]

I’ve been getting emails and phone calls from people congratulating me on the article, and they’ve been absolutely joyous when I told them that this version of the Sonate is going to be published.

For those people who don’t belong to the American Harp Society who would like to see the article, you can go the the American Harp Society web site, then click on “publications,” then scroll down to “extras.” The whole article is there on line.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Thanks for this article, Carl! I just finished performing the Debussy Trio, having made those corrections after consulting Anton Sie, who had a sheet of errata. He had made this sheet after looking at the original manuscript. There was one spot where I was afraid to make the change for fear that people would think I was making a mistake (where the chord is supposed to be one beat later). I will be very interested to see your further articles. I will send you the errata sheet as well.

[carl-swanson]

Elizabeth- I would love to see that sheet. Thank you so much.

[eleanor-turner]

I would like to join the army of thrilled harpists to say a huge thank you, Carl. The flurry of excitement on reading the article is still going strong and i am still putting the changes into my part. I cannot WAIT to purchase the new edition. Also, I really cannot wait for the rest of the article – sorry to sound rude, but playing the Sonate a lot, I am actually now near DESPERATE for the rest of the changes. Is there any way I can purchase the rest of the article from you in advance of publication? Or do ANYTHING to earn a copy! My trio and I are absolutely chomping at the bit for the next section. Anyway, thank you so much for the clear, faultless presentation. Watch out – you’re giving harpists a good name! (I have also subsequently found your article on playing the first page of the Debussy Danses- again, illuminating and wonderful).

[carl-swanson]

Eleanor- Thank you so much for your post. That made my day! I’ve been getting calls and emails from harpists around the country about that article. It seems that everyone is really excited about it. And of course, everyone wants the rest of the corrections. Because of my agreements with the Journal and with Carl Fischer, I can’t release anything at this time.

I just signed the contract with Carl Fischer two days ago, so the project is now in motion. My contact there has said that they are aiming to have the whole publication ready for the two big conferences this summer, so that means sometime in June. I’ll keep you posted.

[carl-swanson]

There is someone else who deserves much of the credit for this article, and that is Elizabeth Huntley, the editor of the Journal. When I first contacted her about this, I told her this would make a nice little article, maybe one page or a page and a half, because I assumed that Marie-Claire Jamet’s list of corrections was all there was. Then, as I started proofing the Sonate myself, the list got longer and longer. In a panic I called Liz and told her the article might take up the entire Journal. “Don’t worry” she said, “That’s OK. We’ll deal with it.” The list kept getting longer and longer and she and I decided together that this would have to be divided into three articles.

As I was getting all the musical examples for the first article ready, I called her to say that we really needed to find a way to highlight the changes. “I already know the answer to this(no), but is there any way we could print them in red?” On her own she talked to the printer of the Journal. He said he could do it for an extra $600 and she told him to do it. She is very responsible for this article and the way it is presented, and for that I am eternally grateful. I wish that those of you who appreciate this article would send her a little note of appreciation. Her email address is: elizabethharp@juno.com

[Sid Humphreys]

The red corrections made it SO much easier to read! I actually enjoyed reading this article, so thank you Carl and Elizabeth for doing it in the first place and secondly making it clear to read! Mmmmwah!

[carl-swanson]

Sid- When I first talked to Carl Fischer, I said that I really wanted to have the whole Sonate published with all of the corrections in red. But I have since changed my mind. Several important harpists I showed a few pages to said that in 10 or 20 years no one is going to care about that, and at least one harpist said that, while the red is great for the examples in the Journal, she would not like to read a score with red markings on it.

[carl-swanson]

I just found out today that the new version of the Sonate, with all of the corrections from the manuscript, is going to be available sometime around the middle of June!!! I can’t believe we are nearing the end of this project. It’s going to be so satisfying to see the whole thing in print.

In addition to the music, there will be a preface: a shortened version of the first Journal article, an early history of the Sonate, talking about the first performances and the comments Debussy made to Pierre Jamet about the Sonate, a glossary of musical terms, and footnotes that explain differences between the manuscript and the Durand edition in certain places.

It will be for sale on my web site and I’m sure at other major harp music dealers. The designer at Carl Fischer sent me a copy of the cover the other day. It’s gorgeous and uses a painting by Turner on the cover. This is soooooooo satisfying!!!

[erin-wood]

I am looking forward to the new edition. Thank you for all of your work. I hope we will be able to buy it at the conferences this summer!

[carl-swanson]

The people at Carl Fischer have told me that they are still on target to have it available the middle of June. Michelle Abbott, the owner of Vanderbilt Music Co. is planning on having copies at the conference in New Orleans. If I’ve done this right, when I hit post, there should be a photo of the front cover.

[Jerusha Amado]

Thank you, Carl, for your wonderful contribution to the classical literature of the harp!

[Author]

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