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Too funny, Krypto! I was not aware that Mozart apotheosized any Key, but C Major is certainly central to the pedal harp. On lever harp, you can tune in any Key, but C is still my favorite there, also.
Have a great day!
BalfourHi Krypto,
If by chance you were asking me, the Deborah Friou book is for either type of harp. All the pieces, exercises, and etudes are in the Key of C with only one exception which requires one sharp. An entire chapter is dedicated to Triads and Inversions, with Arpeggios.
Hope this helps you to attain your harp-playing goals.
Best wishes,
BalfourCatherine, you are not alone in this copyright problem. I have heard the same from Angi Bemiss and Sylvia Woods, among other arrangers. I hope you can persevere and get those published, and I deeply admire all of you who do this work. Thanks and thanks!
Best wishes,
BalfourGreat advice, Carl. I also recommend the book HARP EXERCISES FOR AGILITY AND SPEED by Deborah Friou. It contains many exercises on chord inversions.
Cheers,
BalfourThanks so much, Philippa! I am looking forward to watching your new video when I get somewhere with Wifi. My little tablet we use at home does not have enough GB’s to watch videos, but I will be somewhere I can watch it in a few days. Your playing is so lovely!
Best wishes,
BalfourWay to go, Carl! I am happy and excited for you and am looking forward to you posting a sample here.
Best wishes,
BalfourHello Philippa and everyone,
The video that Philippa posted above is a NEW ONE! At first I could not access it, and I went back to an earlier posting by Philippa, got that video to work and enjoyed watching it again, piano and harp. But it kept “bugging me” that I could not access the new one, so I kept trying and lo and behold, it worked just now. It was a CMA Young Artist Awards ceremony in Australia, and Philippa played Scarlatti, Faure, and Donizetti beautifully on her harp. It was such a pleasure to watch, Philippa, I wanted to “set the record straight,” as it were.
Hope all of you can watch this video. The cellists and guitarist are great, also. I won’t tell you who won, ha, ha! You will have to see for yourself!
Cheers and harp hugs,
BalfourThanks, Philippa, that explains it! I noticed just now that my Atlantide has at least a dozen different sizes of discs, so it would be a good idea to have some spares. Hope you can get some where you live.
Best wishes,
BalfourDear Catherine, I’m so glad you figured that out! I also remember seeing some of your beautiful harp arrangements at the Atlanta Harp Center. Hope all is going well for you.
Best,
BalfourHi Carl,
I think my favorite is “The Eternal Dreamer.” It is so satisfying to play it from your edition with all the pedal “reminder charts” so that you can check at those points to see if you have all the pedals in order! The expression in this piece makes it so gorgeous.
I also love “Offrande” because it is so slow, contemplative and peaceful. “Berceuse russe” is another calm, reflective piece. “Bells in the Snow” is so beautiful and ethereal in its dissonance, especially effective with the harmonics on the lower strings. “Au Matin” also has been a long-time favorite of mine and now I am trying to regain my technique to play it a little faster.
I have played through all of the book now, slowly of course, and have enjoyed every minute of it. The clear printing of the scores is easy on the eyes, with pedal changes large enough to see at my age, ha, ha! The glossary of French terms is also most helpful, so that you don’t have to make constant reference to a French-English dictionary. I cannot say enough good things about this book!
Catherine, my wife and I were discussing how we think we have met you in Atlanta. Maybe it was at the Atlanta Harp Center, or at one of my Atlanta concerts?
It is so good to read all the postings, everyone.
Have a great day!
BalfourHi, Philippa,
Thanks for your post. I enjoyed watching your video again–very nice playing on piano and harp, an inspiration for all of us during this “shutdown” time.
I have never broken the pins off a disc, in all my years of playing and regulating harps, but unfortunately, it could happen. On Camacs, it is best to loosen the disc screw two full turns, leaving the screwdriver in the slot of the screw, then tap the end of the screwdriver with your hand or the tuning key until the disc separates from the spindle. A light “snap” will be heard, and the disc will be free. This is fully explained in the manual on p. 19. Liza Jensen also uses this method instead of placing the screwdriver between the pins (prongs) of the disc to free the disc from the spindle.
I hope all this information is helpful. Thanks for all the other posts, everyone.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourCarl, I know you could do this, just like I could, but my “old age” can do without it, ha, ha! It is so much more enjoyable to practice and play all that beautiful French harp music that you have been editing. Thanks again for all that.
Best,
BalfourCarl,
There was a nice article about this in a former issue of Harp Column, I cannot remember the exact one. Anyway, it sounded so troublesome and complicated, I could not imagine doing it myself! You are brave to get into this technology, I must say.
I consider it remarkable that you obviously wrote out by hand your wonderful new editions that are published by Carl Fischer. That has always been the traditional way, of course, but I hate to put pen to paper so much, that my harp arrangements are only simple ones for students and hobbyists, published by Angi Bemiss, Simply the Harp in Atlanta, GA. Angi is a genius at doing my hand-written ones and her own arrangements on computer, but I do not know which system she uses. I do know from watching her do it that it would be very frustrating to me, though!
Wishing you the best of luck with this,
BalfourHello Jujubee,
I am the proud owner of a Camac Atlantide Prestige, for me, my dream harp. To answer some of your questions, I have found that most harp technicians here in the USA can service all different brands of harps. Bear in mind that there just are not too many harp techs, period!
You seem to have researched most of the Camac innovations, and you may wish to read about them on the website of Pacific Atlantic Harps in CA. Yes, if you are mechanically minded, you can regulate your own Camac harp. (L&H harps too, but they are a little more complicated). A Camac harp comes complete with a very nice toolkit and manual of instructions. The company also has very good customer service and their head technician, Liza Jensen, lives in New York City, USA. She is most helpful.
As for the other items you mention, it really is up to the individual. We all have different tastes, so my advice is to try all the harps you can before you make your purchase. Be aware that it sometimes takes most of us several harp purchases before we find our dream harp, though, ha, ha!
Wishing you all the best,
BalfourI just found a couple of photos of a L&H Lyric at:
affairsoftheharp.com lyon and healy lyric harpHope this helps! I have never seen one in person. I agree with the excellent advice Biagio posted–see the harp in person and have someone there who is very knowledgeable that you can trust, such as the harp teacher.
Have you considered a rent-to-own option? Not knowing where you are located, I cannot say what shop or company is near you, but I can recommend the Virginia Harp Center along with the Atlanta Harp Center, owned by the same nice folks.
Best to all of you,
Balfour
