Which edition of the Handel Concerto do you play?

[Elisa Netzer]

I play the urtext version, because baroque music is too much important, is so beautiful, taht we can not

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I totally disagree. It is a magnificent piece in just about every edition, and each one shows it in a different light. To me, the Grandjany edition is very reminiscent of French Romantic Organ style, the Salzedo is very New York 1940s, etc. Consider also that those are written for modern times, modern harps, modern orchestras. Since Baroque music was written in times when performers would customarily improvise and embellish the music, I think they are more in the spirit than playing only the bare notes given by Handel. In any case, doubling octaves is quite normal, for that matter, anything an organ or harpsichord could do in that time is fair game, as the piece can be played on either instrument. To me, this is an unfortunate side-effect of the “period-instrument” movement, the thinking that it is the only way to play or hear the music-that is really a marketing tactic more than a valid philosophy. It was the dissatisfaction of composers even more than performers with current instruments that led to the constant improvement of instruments, as I understand musical history. You are of course free to play it as your talent dictates. I have studied the urtext and found it allows for quite a bit of variation in how to play it, because you have to realize the harmony, meaning you have to add inner voices here and there.

[Elisa Netzer]

i will be happy if you don’t be so critic. If i’m speaking about music power, power of the harmony, it means that i’ve some ideas, you can also desagree, but my opinion is not a consequence of ignorance. Of course i do some variations and i’m not saying that the urtext version is the only one that can be played, i just think that the other versions are beautiful pieces, but for me, the

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I guess you don’t value my opinion as highly as I do.

[kimberly-houser]

I play it as I learned it, with a Grandjany first movement with some things edited out and then used the Salzedo for the last two, also with some editions done to the trills and some of the extras removed.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I might be repeating myself, but in preparing her edition, Lucile Lawrence did go back to the urtext, retained as much as she could of Salzedo’s ideas, while keeping it to the original. She was quite knowledgeable about baroque music. Doubling the bass line in octaves is quite characteristic, and makes for a much better sound on a concert-grand harp. That is why her edition has such a simple cadenza, because some experts felt that is all that was done in Handel’s time (I don’t agree). So, while full sounding, it is an “authentic” edition.

[katie-lynch-koglin]

Barenreiter

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Have you seen Gertrude Pasveer’s edition? She takes a very scholarly approach to the urtext, and shows her edits compared with the original on separate lines. I highly recommend it. You can always fill in more,

[emily-granger]

I play the McDonald version, I don’t know how to get it I got it from her….

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Zabaleta made a recording of it where he played it as written in the “urtext”. It is very thin.

[antoine-malette-chenier]

I’ve always played the Grandjany version, as it is the most technically challenging, but I made some minor changes to it:

-I have cut out the ALL harmonics, as I feel it sounds too “anti-baroque” for me 😉
– I removed some notes, chords and ornaments and add some other in the second movement.
-I use P.D.L.T. and B.D.L.C almost all the time, to get a “lute-like” sound, and to help for voicing.
-I wrote my own cadenza! Send me an email if you want a free copy and tell me what you think of it. Grandjany’s cadenza is beautiful, but it is wayyyyyy too much unlike the rest of the concerto. Besides that, it is more difficult than the cadenza I wrote (for a competition where I didn’t have time to learn Grandjany’s one 😛 ).

You know what? All that reminds me of the debate about playing or not Reinecke’s cadenza for the Mozart concerto!

[antoine-malette-chenier]

My favorite recording of it was made by Harry Christophers & The Sixteen, for their recording of Alexander’s Feast. You can get it for 3 $ on Itunes. It’s worth it! If anyone knows who is the harpist playing, please tell me.

My opinion about the different versions of the concerto is that one should choose the way that appeals most to his hearth. Handel left spaces to be filled by the harpist, so let’s do just that!

[HBrock25]

I’m looking for a good version of the Concerto. Which are all the editions playable on the lever harp?

[barbara-brundage]

http://www.harpcolumn.com/forum/message-view?message_id=18523903

[jordan-thomas]

I learned the Grandjany verison, then the Mcdonald version. As far as cadenza, I made up my own.

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