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Sheherezade is a good suggestion, and Barbara Brundage has a great arrangement in one of her books. My book had two copies of the last page, so check that if you buy it. It confused me at first.
I believe the version of Pride and Prejudice recently shown on TCM was the 1940’s version with Greer Garson playing Elizabeth Bennett, and she was shown at a harp. Although I love Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, that version was, to put it mildly, grossly inaccurate and unfaithful to the book, going so far as to change major characters and rearrange events. Elizabeth never played harp in the book. She did play the pianoforte and sing tolerably well.
If you want to see a really good version, check out the BBC mini-series released in 1979 or 1980 with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul. Better yet, read the book. You won’t be disappointed.
Georgiana Darcy plays the harp in Pride and Prejudice but none of the movie versions I’ve seen have ever shown her doing so. She also plays pianoforte and has been shown doing that.
Jane Austen died in 1817 so any harps her characters played would have been prior to that date. Sebastien Erard received a patent for his double action harp in 1810 so it’s possible Miss Austen might have seen and/or heard such an instrument, but it would probably be a safe guess that most of the harps she would have encountered would have been single action, as there would have been so many more of them at that time.
The instruments seen in dramatizations of the novels probably depend on what the set decorator could get, so they might not be accurate.
Of her books in which harpists appear, Pride and Prejudice was finished in 1979 (published in 1813), so Georgiana Darcy’s harp would have been single action. Mansfield Park (Mary Crawford) and Persuasion (Louisa Musgrove) were written between 1811 and 1816 so those harps could have been double action. We’ll never know…
At the harp conference in Denver in 1988, Lyon & Healy showed a 23 that was gilded with white gold. It looked like silver but would not tarnish as silver would. The action plate and pedals were silver-looking (steel or chrome, I don’t know) and reflected like a mirror. The rest of the harp was finished in satin ebony (not shiny). The soundboard was natural and the decoration was like any standard 23. That was the only disappointment: the decal should have had silver accents instead of gold/bronze. The sound was incredible. I heard Harvi Griffin play it and several other harpists. It was $24K, more than a regular gold 23 at that time, but it was such a fabulous harp I’ve never forgotten it. I heard that someone from Las Vegas bought it but that was long ago. It was so lovely.
Warranties on pedal harps are usually five years, although I have heard it’s three years on some of the smaller ones. One doesn’t usually consider warranty in the matter of resale any more than for an automobile.
If a prospective buyer thinks lack of warranty is a deal-breaker, tell him or her to buy a new harp. People don’t usually refuse to buy a harp they really like just because of lack of warranty unless they suspect a potential repair problem or they’re chronic worriers. (I’m not implying there’s anything wrong with your harp.)
It’s highly unlikely your harp would require warranty work in the first five years. You could tell an interested buyer to have the harp checked out by a qualified harp technician to put his or her mind at ease. Maybe the buyer used the warranty issue as an excuse. You never know with some people.
I played in the pit for a local production of this show in ’95 or ’96. I didn’t want to do it after listening to the original cast recording because (I thought) it sounded creepy and I didn’t like the steam whistle. It turned out to be one of my favorite shows and great fun. Ironically, the harp was real and the steam whistle was electronic!
As to shrinking the pit orchestras, there’s a group in New York that puts on shows called Forbidden Broadway. The songs use melodies from popular shows with lyrics that are parodies and funny critiques/comments on the shows and/or performers. Their performances are available on CD.
One that really caught my ear was the opening melody from Sweeney Todd (“Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd”). The words tell of a production that was so scaled down that they called it “Teeny Todd.” At the end, the lyrics say:
“To think that one of his (Sondheim) shows today
No one can afford the original way…
It’s teeny,
It’s teeny Todd…
The smaller version of Sweeney.”
It all comes down to costs. It’s sad.
Even junior colleges are not hiring anyone now who does not have at least a masters degree, and if you want to stay on faculty or get tenure you must have, or be working toward, a doctoral degree.
You need another d in that address or you’ll never get there. It’s http://www.harpanddragon.com
A quick search on the Lyon & Healy, Vanderbilt and International Music Service websites showed this piece available at $21.95, $20.00 and $19.00. Do you think there’s any difference in the editions? Carl, from whom did you purchase your copy?
I have that Swing Time album and it’s great. Tell us about the arrangement of O Holy Night. Is it “straight” or jazzy? Is it published?
There are many analogies between harps and cars: they’re expensive investments from which you get the best value if you take good care of them, meaning proactive care. They don’t appreciate with age, just inflation. You generally get what you pay for, and sometimes you get a real deal. First-time buyers benefit from advice from experienced users but ultimately you have to weigh the information and make your own decision.
That being said, I think it would be a bad idea to ask people about harps that had to be returned. Those kinds of comments make bad feelings and are not helpful. I believe returned harps are very rare and I’ll guess in most cases it was for a reason (usually cosmetic) that was rectified, after which the buyer kept the instrument or chose another harp from the same company.
Harps don’t get “recalled” like autos; being almost completely handmade, there’s a lot more quality control than with mass production cars. Pedal harps have a five year warranty and many manufacturers will also give you a free first year regulation which should address any adjustments resulting from “settling in,” for lack of a better phrase. The major harp companies want you to be satisfied because happy customers are their best advertisement, and I think you’ll find they’ll do almost anything (within reason!) to keep you happy.
If you are wary of buying a new instrument, perhaps you should consider a used harp (often a good value) which has been regularly maintained. The harp technicians often keep records of the harps they service and can give you an honest and informed appraisal of instruments they’ve worked on.
