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I played background harp at a film premiere in London, and afterwards at the reception (which the production company was kind enough to invite me to – I had finished my performing duties by then) I was wandering around with a nice giant glass of red wine, having a great time oogling the stars (Jean Simmons was there, simply gorgeous in real life – even under less-than-kind lighting, I might add).
Judy Loman has recorded the Giga on a superb CD called The Genius of Salzedo, on the Marquis label.
The piece I mainly associate with Sergiu Natra is his Sonatina (which is on the Associated Board syllabus in the UK) but if you Google “Sergiu Natra harp” you will find a few other things as well (though their names seem to be in French rather than Spanish).
Try Deborah Henson Conant’s “New Blues” – it looks a lot harder to play than it actually is, owing to the difficult-to-decipher score. But it’s very hand-friendly, has no lever-changes, and is a great audience-pleaser.
One of the points Austen is making is in Mary’s extreme selfishness by demanding to have her harp delivered right then, when all available horses and carts were busy getting in the harvest – i.e. food for the people – by farmers whose living depended upon the success of their crops. (No social welfare payments in those days – if you went broke, tough.)
Sorry, forgot to mention: The reason I bring up Eliza is that I have always thought that she was the original model for the Mary Crawford character.
Nice Jane Austen page here (and no, that’s not where I got the above quote from! I copied it out years ago and loved it ever since):
http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/emharpld.html
And this page is interesting
http://www.jasna.org/bookrev/br192p16.html
because it concerns Eliza de Feuillide, Jane’s glamorous and charming but morally ambiguous cousin – who played harp.
The trouble Mary Crawford puts everyone in the village to, in order to have her harp brought down from London, is also well worth a read – and we think we have transport problems!
Speaking of GWTW (this really belongs in the old-movies thread), anyone notice the harp that’s being carried away in the panic in Atlanta, as the crowds flee before Sherman’s arrival?
There’s also another Austen passage – which I can’t find right now – about how useful the harp is for showing off a pretty arm or ankle. Will post it if I can lay hands on it –
Often the reasons young women played the harp in Austen’s novels were not musical. She writes:
“Miss Crawford’s attractions did not lessen. The harp arrived, and rather added to her beauty, wit, and good-humour; for she played with the greatest obligingness… A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself, and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man’s heart… Fanny could not wonder that Edmund was at the Parsonage every morning…”
Mansfield Park, Chapter 7
It appears to be available from Pilgrim Harps in England:
I’m not at home at the moment so I can’t look at the music to see if there are any metronome markings, but there’s a performance of Harpicide At Midnight on YouTube which can be found via their search box – possibly the other pieces are on there too. It’s worth a look. The rendition of Harpicide is more or less the speed I always hear it played, though Chertok herself takes it a little slower. (Catherine, correct me if I’m wrong on this! Writing from memory -) Certainly it would work at a more relaxed tempo, as long as it has some forward drive and energy.
These are GREAT pieces – you’ll have fun playing them. Best of luck –
Bonnie
