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Good to hear from you all, my friends! I even looked at a video of a man playing a Venus Paragon, and it was obvious that there were no discs on the lower two strings. I wonder if the original prototype of this model did indeed have discs on every string, or if sweet Roslyn got it wrong. In any event, her book is wonderful anyway! She personally autographed my copy in 2007, so it is a treasure!
Have a great day,
BalfourI found something related to this topic that sounds very interesting! Some of you may own, or know of, the book Harps and Harpists, by Roslyn Rensch. On page 216 under Venus harps, she makes reference to a large harp called the Paragon, “with an extended soundboard and a handsomely carved column designed in French Gothic style, 47 strings with FULL MECHANISM action on ALL strings!” Do any of you wonderful harp fans know if this was true?
Have a great harping day,
BalfourWell, this is definitely one for Carl Swanson to answer, I think! This particular Erard model may be able to use standard pedal harp strings, but Carl could tell you for certain. I wish you all the best with the stringing.
Sincerely,
BalfourWell put, Biagio! I am quite spoiled with having so many strings on both my lever harp and my concert grand pedal harp. The more strings, the better, although having 49 strings on the new Salvi Reus does sound a bit much, don’t you think?
Cheers,
BalfourHi, Charles! I love that you are also an organ builder! In another “lifetime”, from 1982 until 2002, 20 years, I built my own nine-rank tracker pipe organ. We will have to compare notes! I now perform almost exclusively on harp, but I did a masters degree in organ performance way back when, and still stay in shape playing my own pipe organ. Thanks for all your wonderful posts.
Best regards,
BalfourThanks, Emily, for these good points! I do want to add something about the tempo of this particular Prelude in C. 112=Quarter is specified at the top of the Schirmer (Czerny) Edition, and in my old copy, a wonderful former teacher of mine has marked that out and written “60—80!”. In my educated opinion, shared by many others I am sure, 112 is much too fast for this beautiful piece. It would just sound like a Czerny exercise, which I have played many of, ha, ha! I perform this Prelude on both lever and pedal harps frequently, and many have told me after hearing my rendition, that it is more beautiful on harp than they have ever heard it on piano or other instruments, so I must be doing something right, don’t you think? 🙂
In my Urtext Henle edition, there are no tempo markings of any kind on any of the preludes and fugues. I quote from the Preface: “The present edition, which refrains from all editorial directions that hamper the player, restores to the Well-tempered Clavier the freedom of interpretation proper to the music of the Baroque period. Johann Sebastian Bach also hardly ever specified expressly the tempo and dynamics of his works but left this to the intelligence and stylistic sense of the performer.”
Reading further: “Since recent Bach research has shown the so-called Volkmann autograph to be the most authentic source, a number of readings that stemmed from other manuscripts have been altered in the present edition to accord with this source.”
Andelin, you are certainly an accomplished-enough harpist to play this Prelude very well, so I wish you all the best in perfecting it. Don’t go too fast but enjoy the beauty of it, and use plenty of expression. Even though Bach obviously did not play or write for the harp, he certainly did for the very expressive Clavichord, but I believe this piece is more beautiful on the harp than even on the clavichord! (I own a beautiful clavichord, so I know first hand, ha, ha!)
Best to you all,
BalfourUpdate to this “old thread,” ha, ha! Josh Layne did it–check out his Harp Tuesday episode about this lovely piece. He also has a Youtube video of him playing it on lever harp! Way to go, Josh, my friend!
Harp Hugs,
BalfourAndelin, have you tried the Prelude on your pedal harp with just using sharps? I have been playing it all week that way and it is extremely convenient! There is not any place where you have to use two pedals with the same foot, either at the same time or in quick succession. It is remarkably spaced out for the feet when you just use sharps. Rhett Barnwell wrote it this way, too. His version can be played on both lever and pedal harps. He and I both love the lever harp C tuning, ha, ha!
Let us know how you are progressing.
Harp hugs,
BalfourCarl, that is exactly why Bosendorfer added the extra notes to the bass end of the piano! I am one who actually does use all the notes at my disposal on any piano or harp, since I play by ear and improvise freely. It does not matter that printed music doesn’t make use of these extreme notes, I make use of all the resources available.
MusikFind, that is very interesting about the Ravel–I never noticed that before. I just end the glissando on an appropriate note, judging by ear and sound what that ending note should be. This also works well on a harp that does not have all 47 strings.
Thanks, my friends. Hope you all have a great day!
BalfourThanks, Emma. At 75.5 inches, this harp would just NOT fit in my car. At 96.5 pounds, my sweet wife said I’d have to get another assistant for moving it.😃
Harp hugs,
BalfourI love all these posts, my friends! I wanted to add that the top G on a concert grand harp usually does not have discs, either. A few models do have mechanism way up there, but not many. I have never found that the lack of mechanism on these three notes bothered me, but I have wondered WHY they don’t have discs, so Carl and Emily answered that perfectly! Thanks!
Emma, I will just have to look up that new “monster” harp!
You all have a wonderful day!
BalfourBrook, thanks for all your kind words! Good luck on the Kroll version of this Prelude. I remembered after I posted on here, that Rhett Barnwell has a dandy version of this Prelude in his book Basically Bach (Seraphim Music). It is the original Bach version, but Rhett made it LOOK very simple, just for harpists! He is a genius at this, so check it out. It also includes the “extra measure” which will accompany the Ave Maria perfectly. If you desire to play the “original Bach,” just leave out that measure when you play it.
Hope his helps!
Best wishes to you all,
BalfourStimulating discussion, my friends! I learned the Prelude on the piano from the old Schirmer edition years ago, and it accompanies the Gounod “Ave Maria” perfectly. I also own the Urtext version, supposed to be Bach’s original, and know all about the “missing measure.” There was also another blog about this a while ago that someone may remember and direct us to. That was also a very enlightening discussion with plenty of music history thrown in!
But, Andelin, going back to your original questions—I tune my lever harp in C Major, therefore, no actual “flats” are possible. I changed all the flats in this Prelude to sharps because I had to with this tuning. Before you begin the piece, sharp the lowest E on the harp to make F natural, and sharp the lowest F to make F sharp, as you will need both in the piece. (You will get to the place where this occurs and realize you need this!) I also play this Prelude with only sharps on the pedal harp, since sharps can be held down with the foot, not latched (or hooked) in their slots, until you don’t need them anymore and they will go back up by themselves, as the pedal springs return them. If you use flats, then your foot movement is more difficult when you need to change, as you have to move down to latch a natural or sharp.
When you play the Ave Maria with your son, Grant, either on lever or pedal harp, I believe you will find the “extra measure” works out perfectly. If your lever harp is tuned in F, B flat, or E flat, then you will need to rethink all this. Maybe some of the arrangements folks have suggested will do the trick!
Thanks everyone, for these wonderful postings! Have a great day.
Harp hugs,
Balfour
