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Christian- As far as her technique is concerned: What you are seeing is classic French technique. Very relaxed and supple. When I went to see her before the concert at Symphony Hall, I did get to see some of the music she was playing. While I didn’t look at it closely, I believe it was all written out and that she was not improvising anything.
While we were talking, the singer for the evening, Mario Pelchat, came in and asked Catherine if she would go over his big song with him. He was uncomfortable with it because he was used to singing it in French and I guess Michel LeGrand wanted him to sing the English version this evening, and the words didn’t fit as well. So I turned pages for Catherine as they rehearsed. Again, everything seemed to be completely written out. There were no chord symbols at all. I suggested to Mario that he sing the first part of the song(the one from Summer of ’42), the most difficult part for him, in French and then switch to English for the middle part, then sing the last phrase of the song in French. He tried it and it was to die for. Just gorgeous. But he must have run it by Michel LeGrand who turned it down. Because in the show he did the whole song in English.
Nate- I would not encourage you to buy anything until you have been studying for about a year. By that time, you will have some specific ideas about what you are looking for and what kind of sound you like. If you can, rent for 6 months to a year. A good teacher can help you make informed choices when it comes time to buy. Where are you located if I may ask?
Is there some compelling reason you are not going to study with a teacher? Studying any instrument without a teacher is asking for trouble. No amount of verbal description or pictures can convey good basic technique. And you will need that no matter what type of music you plan on playing. A good teacher will pick teaching materials, exercises, repertoire, etc. that meets your particular needs. I think that working on your own without guidance will leave you frustrated and discouraged.
I’ll email Catherine when I get home to see if Michel LeGrand has any plans to publish any of this stuff.
The best way is to just do it. Lots of it. Particularly in a situation where you just have to keep going, like playing duets, playing along with a record, etc. Good sight reading involves several different skills. One is the ability to look ahead of what you are playing so you have an idea of what’s coming up. The second is the ability to see patterns so that you read not just individual notes but also harmonic progressions, scale patterns, etc. The third is to be able to remember, just for a second, what you just looked at so you can play it while you are scanning ahead. The best sight readers are the ones who do it all the time, like symphony harpists and also pop harpists.
Christian- Michel LeGrand has arranged a lot of his music for Catherine. A lot of it with orchestra. I hope that some day it will be published. I think it would make a great addition to the repertoire.
What I like about her trill is how she slows it down at the end. That’s hard to do with a two handed trill.
I’m amazed by all the cadenzas that were written by contemporary composers. I’ll have to look for them. It’s a shame that Mozart didn’t write cadenzas himself for this work.
Cute story Patricia, but I sincerely doubt that he played the harp. I’ve never heard any documentation that he did. And all the 5 finger patterns in the flute and harp concerto kind of confirm that, don’t you think?
I’ve always used the original version. Everyone knows the changes that are required to play it on the harp, as well as the trick fingerings. It’s an awkward piece for harp because Mozart of course was a pianist, and it fits piano better than harp.
I would suggest you find a good harpist or harp teacher who plays the original and get him/her to teach it to you. There may be edited versions out there that have those standard changes written out(the broken octaves in the left hand at the bottom of page 1 are played as straight octaves on the beat, as one example). Stay away from the Salzedo verson at all cost. That is about as close to the Mozart as the earth is to the sun.
As for the cadenzas, there are many many cadenzas available. The Reineke cadenzas are the oldest and really the best composed, even though they are very romantic. I find that many other cadenzas that try to stay closer to the style of Mozart just sound wooden and amateurish because they were written by well meaning people(harpists) who were not really composers. At least Reineke was a real composer.
Ian- If you come to Boston I’ll take you to see and play the Art Nouveau harp. It’s in the Boston area.
Tacye- Patricia’s suggestions are all good and you’ll have to choose the ones that fit you are your situation the best. I would add that studying the music away from the harp is an excellent way to relearn the piece without the muscle memory taking complete control. Sit at the kitchen table and look at one page at a time. Make mental notes of what’s going on in the piece, particularly where pedal changes are(and are not!). Analyze chord progressions and key changes. Just play the piece mentally as you look at the music. Figure out “repair points” where you can pick up the piece and get back on track if you mess something up. Most importantly, look at the beginning of the piece and tell yourself, out loud, what key the piece is in, what the pedal setting is, and where your hands get placed on the strings to start the piece. Under stress, you can freeze up and forget this! Lastly, after you have done this a few times(studying the music away from the harp), try “playing” the piece mentally, visualizing the music and seeing the pedal changes in your mind.
Tacye- Patricia’s suggestions are all good and you’ll have to choose the ones that fit you are your situation the best. I would add that studying the music away from the harp is an excellent way to relearn the piece without the muscle memory taking complete control. Sit at the kitchen table and look at one page at a time. Make mental notes of what’s going on in the piece, particularly where pedal changes are(and are not!). Analyze chord progressions and key changes. Just play the piece mentally as you look at the music. Figure out “repair points” where you can pick up the piece and get back on track if you mess something up. Most importantly, look at the beginning of the piece and tell yourself, out loud, what key the piece is in, what the pedal setting is, and where your hands get placed on the strings to start the piece. Under stress, you can freeze up and forget this! Lastly, after you have done this a few times(studying the music away from the harp), try “playing” the piece mentally, visualizing the music and seeing the pedal changes in your mind.
Tacye- Patricia’s suggestions are all good and you’ll have to choose the ones that fit you are your situation the best. I would add that studying the music away from the harp is an excellent way to relearn the piece without the muscle memory taking complete control. Sit at the kitchen table and look at one page at a time. Make mental notes of what’s going on in the piece, particularly where pedal changes are(and are not!). Analyze chord progressions and key changes. Just play the piece mentally as you look at the music. Figure out “repair points” where you can pick up the piece and get back on track if you mess something up. Most importantly, look at the beginning of the piece and tell yourself, out loud, what key the piece is in, what the pedal setting is, and where your hands get placed on the strings to start the piece. Under stress, you can freeze up and forget this! Lastly, after you have done this a few times(studying the music away from the harp), try “playing” the piece mentally, visualizing the music and seeing the pedal changes in your mind.
