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I’ve lost strings during solo performances, orchestra performances and, most often, in show pits. For solo performances I agree with Elizabeth. I stop, change the string, explain what happened and joke around with the audience. The strings that go in pit orchestras tend to be the very high nylon ones from using a pick on the glisses. Often I can wait till intermission to change them because you don’t actually articulate them and no one’s going to know they’re missing in a gliss.
Orchestra breaks are more challenging. If possible, I replace it immediately. I always have my string bag next to me. I never leave it backstage. I have string replacement time down to about 90 seconds. If I don’t have time, I try to use an enharmonic or skip the string. As to tuning, now that tuning keys are rubber-coated, I use an ergonomic key and I just put it on the tuning peg for the new string and give it a crank whenever I have a couple bars of rest. I’ve never had the tuning key fall off.
The worst break I ever had was a 3rd octave C which went about 8 bars after the cadenza in the Waltz of the Flowers during a full performance of the ballet. It broke with a loud bang, luckily covered by the French horns. If you’ve played it, you know that the next piece up is the Grand Pas de Deux which is harp arpeggios for days and it runs on muscle memory meaning that suddenly skipping the C in arpeggios is not easy. I dropped out of the rest of the Waltz, pulled the new string out of my bag, installed it, tuned it up during the applause after the Waltz and hit the downbeat on time. The tuning didn’t hold well, but at the speed of the arpeggios it was not too noticeable and at every measure rest (there aren’t a lot), I gave the tuning key a crank. After the ballet the French horn section (seated next to me), gave me a round of applause as they had sat there watching the whole string-changing production. I never want to go through that again.
I charge $400 for the Ceremony of Carols. That includes one rehearsal with the choir, preferably NOT on the same day as the performance, within my regular playing area (roughly a 50 mile radius around my house). I charge additional for more than one rehearsal and for anything beyond my 50 mile radius. Most choral directors know that the Ceremony of Carols is a challenging piece for harp and that you need a very good harpist to play it well so I have never had a problem being paid my rate. Frankly, you should be paid more for church choirs that are inadequate to the vocal parts because it will make it ten times harder for you to play well.
Following up Tacye’s comment, I think the attribution of the theme to Mozart is completely false. This set of variations appears in a group of “Four Favorite Airs Arranged for Harp” by Dalvimare but as she points out, it is a pas de trois from the opera Achille et Deidamie. Also in that set of four is a duet from La Clemenza de Tito by Mozart and I think that’s where the misattribution came from.
The opera “Achille et Deidamie” was an opera tragique written by Andre Campra and debuted on Feb. 24, 1735. My guess is that with the way compositions where arbitrarily dropped into other works during this period, it’s probably something by Campra but unclear whether it was specifically for Achille et Deidamie or just an add-on.
Thanks, Gretchen. That’s really helpful. And thanks for the quick answer. Did Josh happen to discover what the original Mozart theme was on which Martin Dalvimare wrote the air? I’ll go check IMSLP also and see if there’s any further info.
I appreciate your help.
The school harp I used back in the early 70s was strung completely with red strings, black and green for the Cs and Fs. I was hired to play a reception – dimly lit banquet room with dark red carpeting with a jacquard pattern. All the strings disappeared. As an emergency solution, I laid my harp cover inside out on the floor to the right of the harp. Problem mitigated and luckily no nearby traffic.
I also require that I move the instrument – drop off and pick up if it’s in the local area. I don’t charge the monthly rental rate but more of a “nuisance” rate, generally $125 – $150 for a short local gig like someone coming in to play a relative’s wedding. I think a monthly rate is a bit exorbitant since a rental fee includes the risk of exposure to damage and there’s a big difference between the risk of 30 days and the risk of 4 hours. Charging the same fee as what you would get for your own performance seems overly burdensome. I don’t look at it as lost income (if they didn’t have a harpist in the family, they probably wouldn’t be hiring a harpist) but rather as gravy income for minimal risk. My experience renting harps when I’ve been in a distant city has been very amicable and reasonably priced and I feel I should return the favor to other harpists.
Thanks for the connection to the NYPhil archives site, Sylvia. I found the parts. I just needed to know the level of difficulty to figure out if my students could handle them.
Thanks for the info on the other Shostakovich symphonies, Clint. I’m sure that will come in handy in the future.
Andres’ “Parvis: Cortege et Danse” is terrific fun. For a completely different style, Tournier’s “Quatre Preludes” makes a nice contrast. And for two harps, rags are a nice addition. Susan Jolles has a Joplin suite and there are a number of versions of “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer”.
My daughter and I load our two harps flat in a Honda Odyssey with no problem. My gold 23 goes in first, flat, all the way over to the right, as far in as possible. Her 30 goes in next, all the way to the left with the knee block resting on the column of my 23 (with a thick blanket between). Plenty of room left for 2 dollies, stools and gig bags. It’s worked well for years now.
