What's on your music stand? January 2019

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi everyone!

Well, another year is here, and this is an opportunity for another “Music Stand Thread”! What’s on your music stand these days? Please share what you’re working on. We can always use new ideas and inspiration!

[Jerusha Amado]

I’m currently working on original arrangements of “Christmas Time is Here” and “One Song” from “Snow White”. 98% of what I play professionally is arrangements that I’ve written.

[Philippa mcauliffe]

Thats what I call organised – getting ready for next Christmas. I have Les Annesses Grises by Tournier for the practice challenge, Liszt/Renie’s Le Rossignol, Bach Cello Suite No 2 transcribed by Victoria Drake which I love the Prelude of, a long project which is the Fantasie on Lucia di Lammamoor by Parish Alvars, the Debussy Sonate, Piazzola Cafe 1930 and Oblivion for flute and harp and also polishing the fast bits of Granada by Lara/Salzedo which are hard?impossible to get properly Spanish sounding at the marked tempo. (Plus Chopin’s Ballade no 3, Reflets dans l’eau Debussy and Beethoven Sonata Op 31 No 3 La Chasse on the piano stand).

[Jerusha Amado]

Wow–that’s quite a lot of work you have to tackle, but it will be well worth it! Which of these do you love the most to play?

[tanyanoel]

I do love reading these threads, always like seeing what people are working on!

I am working on Dussek’s Harp Sonata in C minor (so beautiful!), Au Bord Du Ruisseau H. Renie and Feuilles D’Autumne Hasselman. I am really enjoying these pieces and I can’t decide which I like the best, every time I switch to practicing the next piece I keep saying ‘oh this one is definitely my favorite!’. I think they sound nice at various tempos, so it is very rewarding for me that even as I practice them downtempo they still sound so lovely.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by tanyanoel.

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Tonya,

Concerning the first piece you listed–“Harp Sonata in c minor”–did you mean to list “Dussek” as the composer?

I love Hasselman’s “Feuilles D’Autumn”; it’s one of the first intermediate-level pieces I learned back in the day.

You bring up an excellent point, that some harp music sounds quite good at slower speeds. I have played pieces at a lower tempo as background music for gigs because I didn’t have time to bring them up to the recommended tempo and was reasonably certain that the audience was unfamiliar with them.

[Rachel]

I probably have too much on my stand at one time, but I’m enjoying exploring some different styles this month. Besides the HarpColumn challenge music (fewer choices for lever harp this year unfortunately), I have Lauren Scott’s new Adventures for Lever Harp (both volumes), Songs from Thrace (Elitsa Alexandrova; harpist and videogame music composer), A Walk in the Mountains (Kathryn Cater, her most recent book, more advanced that many of her previous volumes), Scottish Music Graded Exams (Grades 4 and 5) from Taigh na Teud, and one freebie, “Funky Blues” from the Harps Northwest 2018 JaNEWary challenge: http://harpsnorthwest.org.uk/events/janewarychallenge2018.html

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Rachel,

You listed some great-sounding books that are unknown to me! I went to Kathryn’s website and saw “A Walk in the Woods”. Is this the book that you have? Also, where did you find Lauren Scott’s music books?

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Jerusha Amado.

[tanyanoel]

Yes I did, auto correct changed it to DUSK! I’ll change it 🙂

[Philippa mcauliffe]

Lucia is my favourite. I will probably perform it for the first time in April. I have learnt several big Parish Alvars pieces but this certainly has some tricky bits as well as being long. There is a recording by Emmanuel Ceysson and a lovely you tube by Valerie Milot but I still cant work out quite how to do a long repeated right thumb section yet with tune taken by other right fingers. Valerie appears to do something different in that section! The grey donkeys has been more straightforward note wise but getting the donkey atmosphere needs some thought. I forgot that I am also slowly getting through Salzedo’s Whirlwind which will take a while to get up to speed and is rather a finger shredder with pages of glisses. But what a finale!

[Rachel]

Hi Jerusha, A Walk in the Mountains is Cater’s latest book, and it’s available at Melody’s (either digital or in print). https://www.folkharp.com/romantic-post-1820-present/4551-a-walk-in-the-mountains.html?search_query=walk+mountains+kater&results=112

The Lauren Scott books are available as digital downloads via HarpColumn, and they were also recently reviewed in the magazine. If, like me, you prefer paper, here’s each volume, with a video (or sound file) for each piece, so you can hear them before you make your purchase from Astute Music:
https://www.astute-music.com/store/p549/Adventures_for_Lever_Harp_Book_1_by_Lauren_Scott.html#/
https://www.astute-music.com/store/p561/Adventures_for_Lever_Harp_Book_2_by_Lauren_Scott.html#/

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Rachel.

[Christian Finnigan]

My music stand has a soulful poem and I love to sing it again and again.

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Philippa,

I’m not familiar with Salzedo’s “Whirlwind”, so I looked it up on YouTube. Here is a link to the video for anyone who would like to hear what it sounds like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZfmeP9Xvw

You have progressed so much over the last 10 years! Are you still in Adelaide and how is your mum doing?

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Rachel,

Thanks so much for the links! I will check them out. I just love Kathryn Cater’s work; it’s wonderful for gigs.

[Philippa mcauliffe]

Check out this version of Whirlwind too where you can see Alice’s hands…https://vimeo.com/32937680. the piece starts at 1.07 after the diary entry reading. I am studying advanced classical performance (harp) with Suzanne Handel at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide – about to start my second year. Just been to summer harp camp with Alice Giles for the 9th time – first a few days of how to teach the harp then masterclasses. My mother is fine thanks and working full-time but luckily she came to harp camp as our caterer as its impossible to find anyone good to do cooking locally there.

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