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Hi Brook,
I’m also an organist by trade, and to me some Bach works on harp and some just doesn’t. I don’t think the d minor really works well, but then I prefer my husband’s version which is sort of fashioned after the Stokowsky orchestral version, which is pretty huge and magnificent. That’s the way I like it, and the harp just isn’t going to cut that sort of version.
Briggsie
That was fun to read. It always astonishes me how differently our ears work/and tastes are from one another. Congratulations on your beautiful bubinga Dusty. I played one once, and I really really loved it, while at the same time, at the AHS Conference in ’08 here I played a bunch of them and really was not impressed. The bubinga was hugely better in my opinion. I would never have walked away from the Salvi Ana. That’s the sound I particularly love…..but then I’m a pedal harpist, and to me that’s the sound and feel I go for.
Norris harps intrigue me. They are beautiful and have the most clever levers. I always wanted to try one, but as they are in Scotland, and I am here in the states, I doubt that will happen unless I run into one around here somewhere.
Briggsie
Verlene Schermer wrote some interesting hymn arrangements.
http://www.verlene.com/hymnes.html
Briggsie
I’m so craving an Atlantide myself, but it’s not going to happen. I like my Athena, but every time I play Kerstin’s Atlantide, it makes me want one soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad. I still sit at mine though and hug it and wonder how I got so lucky to have my very own nice pedal harp…..so the greedy thing needs to stop for me. LOL…..
Kay, WOOT WOOT!!!!! You are really having harp heaven, girl!!! I’m happy to read this.
Thanks about my mom. It was her time…..but it’s hard for me to accept it.
Thanks Sherry. The chancel choir director where I play and I were talking about how much fun it would be to do some of the movements from Ceremony of Carols, and my harp teacher assured me it would work for me now….so we are just plugging along. This evening I was working on the little nasty run at the end of Wolcum Yole, and I bygum almost played it at tempo — once. LOL….It’ll come though. I just want to learn all the movements so I can actually play it when needed somewhere.
I sure do miss my mom a lot though. She really was my best friend. We were always close. She was my first music teacher. We always shared the music thing…..and I was closer to her than my other siblings who had moved away. It was hard watching her fail, and I prayed for God to take her, and when she passed, it was a blessing for her, but it sure was hard for me.
Maria, to tell you the truth, I don’t even remember a rude attack from a strange woman. HAHAHAHAHA……shows you how important it must’ve been.
Hi Jennifer, thanks…..I’m not sure if there are levels of difficulty listed, but some of his collections are harder than others. One of them is really really easy — and I forget which one…..and Charades has some in it that are pretty easy. All of them in the collections are like little etudes. This collection seems a little harder to me — but it’s not really that difficult.
All the pieces in the book are various spices or edibles. Pistache sounds like an exotic Spanish dance. It’s marvelous. You can youtube it.
I have Vanderbilt Classics on mine. They are nearing the 3-year mark now, and I can feel thin spots on some of the strings. I couldn’t go more than 3 years. This is the longest my strings have ever been on my harp. They’ll be changed as soon as the cash flow gets slightly better here. Laura, I only put Pirastros on the top octave. I could never afford Pirastros on the whole harp….yikes! But for the top where the tiniest sound is, I find Pirastros ring the best.
Hi Friend!
I start at the top, because those are the ickiest for me to do, and I want to get that part over with. I do one at a time. I use Pirastro nylons at the very top. After I finish the top octave, I move to the bottom and start from the bottom up one at a time. I know you know that I like the silver/coppers at the bottom, and I get those at Vanderbilt Music. I just keep going up, because it gets easier and easier once I get through the big honkers and move up. I just keep going one at a time. I usually pick an empty day to do it because it takes me a long time, as I keep going back and tuning as I go up. I stretch, then tune, stretch then tune, then go back and tune up again and again. It does take a couple of weeks to get it all to settle. I see this as justification to have 2 pedal harps so that there is always one which is settled and stays in tune — but so far haven’t convinced my bank account of this. 🙂
I have a B.Mus. in organ performance/church music (which included study of the harpsichord to the point of playing continuo in orchestras), and vocal music education,
His music is WONDERFUL. From the very first on my harp, I was able to play his beautiful compositions, and now after 6 years of intense study and moving into advanced music, I can STILL enjoy learning challenging Andres’ pieces. I totally LOVE his
I took a much-needed break — mom died, job responsibilities, etc. But when I went back we worked on tone production, hand position……it was a good time to look at those things after having a 6 month break from studies. I worked really hard at it all. I can feel and hear a huge difference in my playing. I’m working on Hasselman’s La Source, Andres’ Pistache and am working my way through the movements of Ceremony of Carols.
I really have the best harp teacher anyone could ever ask for.
Briggsie
