Turning lemons into lemonade…

[carl-swanson]

This is a horrible time we are going through right now, and my heart bleeds for all of the millions of people, in all professions, who are having a difficult time. For musicians in general, and harpists in particular, maybe this can be a time for re-grouping and learning new repertoire. My dear friend Catherine Michel wrote me recently that she is holed up in her house learning new concertos that she has to perform next year.

My newest edition from Carl Fischer is 10 Pieces by Marcel Tournier, and when this all happened, I initially thought of holding off releasing it until things got better. But then I thought that maybe this was something that harpists could use right now to brighten their day and make good use of their down time. So it was released a few days ago and is advertised in the current Harp Column magazine. I wanted to test out the shipping charges, so I placed several orders from my web site. Holy smokes does the shipping come down with more than one book in the order. The shipping charge for one book was $2.75, and the shipping charge for three books was $3.27, or $1.09 per book. I had my web designer put up samples of each piece that you can download, and this time I had 2 lines of each piece put up. So please, enjoy the lemonade!

[balfour-knight]

Hi, Carl,

How nice to see this post from you! I mentioned to my sweet wife that your book would make a great 44th wedding anniversary present for me from her, so guess what? She very lovingly ordered it for me, plus your new edition of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro! I can’t wait to see these wonderful new editions and play them on my French Camac Atlantide Prestige. This great music was written for harps like mine (and Erard harps, of course!)

I have been passing the time during this “shut-down” doing everything for Carol Lynn on her “honey-do” list, including getting her a beautiful bird-bath for our garden and building her a new bridge across our stream to our little island. She really wanted to do something special for me, too, so these new books will superbly “fit the bill.” Thanks so much for letting all of us know!

I hope everyone is doing well, and remember, “this, too, shall pass.” Maybe the world will soon return to normal.

Harp Hugs to all of you,
Balfour

[carl-swanson]

Balfour,

Thank you for your kind posting. I hope you enjoy this collection of Tournier pieces. I spent a lot of time on them, and am really happy that they are now presented the way a harpist needs to see them.

[balfour-knight]

Hello Carl,

I was so happy to receive my new books today! I have hardly put them down, I am so impressed with your clear format and editing–just what harpists need to understand this great music. Wow, what they sound like on my French concert grand! The notation is so different from the cluttered, marked up ones of my past, and the scholarship with which you edited them is so apparent. We all are deeply indebted to you for all your hard work in this venture. I give these new editions my highest praise!

Stay safe, and harp hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[carl-swanson]

Balfour,

You have just described the reasons why I decided to do these editions. It has never made sense to me that a harpist, harp student, professional or amateur, should have to do all of the work of “making the piece playable” before learning and performing it. My feeling, from soon after I started studying the harp many many years ago, was that what is printed on the page should give you all of the information you need to learn the piece, with very little need to figure anything out. The way the music is printed on the page should tell you instantly how to play it. So with each of the editions I have done so far, I have tried to make the printed page as clear and understandable as possible, without in any way inserting “my way of doing it” into the mix. All of the editions I have done so far ARE the original pieces as the composer imagined them, without anything added or taken away.

[balfour-knight]

Thanks, Carl! I wanted to add that I got out my older editions of some of the Tournier pieces, with all the “marks” and corrections on them, and after a few years of not playing these pieces, they become so difficult to play and relearn. Then, I opened your book to the same pieces, and read them off like a charm! Bravo! I could sight-read them as easily as I can sit down to the piano and play them, thanks to you. I just cannot say enough good things about these new offerings. Keep up the great work!

Best wishes,
Balfour

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