[cc-chiu]

I agree! I really like the flute adaptation – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIF1CuNOVE (I never knew that the transverse flute could sound so beautiful… Prior to watching this video, I’d only seen little children play the flute. Somehow, I never thought that it was possible to get such a clean sound out of it!).

Anneleen Lenaerts apparently won a prize for the best rendition of the Bach Chaconne on the harp in a major competition, but I haven’t been able to locate her CD yet. (Her Chopin CD is on spotify – It’s great! I like Chopin music better on the harp than on the piano…)
I’m very curious, because the versions I’ve seen on Youtube don’t seem to convey what’s in the original. Perhaps it’s also because we can’t really modify the sound after we’ve plucked the string? A flute player can modify it with their breath, and violin players can do a lot by bowing etc, but as soon as we leave the string, the sound is just there.

[cc-chiu]

Another Andres fan weighing in… I’m currently working on Marche from Automates, Danses d’ Automne #3 (almost finished, YAY), Siciliana from Grandjany’s Petite Suite and The Minstrel’s Adieu (lever harp version). Actually, I’m

[cc-chiu]

Nice that you are doing qualitative research! Are you studying psychology or social sciences? Just curious :).

It is interesting that the harp is considered a female instrument because so many good harpists are male. It would be interesting to ask them for their opinion and whether they face criticism.

As for the fact that you need to be rich to play the harp – harps aren’t the cheapest instruments… Fortunately, cheaper models are becoming available now, but you can get a cheap guitar to practise some chords on for 40 euros, whereas a harpsicle costs around 300 euros and then you don’t even have levers yet. For that amount of money, a guitarist can buy a reasonable guitar which can serve him/her many years. And don’t even let me get started on the matter of pedal harps… As a child, you really need parents who are able and willing to pay such an amount of money (or who are able to take on a loan).
So no, you don’t need to be rich but you need to have some money to spare… which can be a huge deterrent for parents. After all, if your son/daughter doesn’t like the guitar or the recorder, you won’t lose as much money as when you’ve just bought a 2k student lever harp… I realize that violins and flutes etc. are also rather expensive, yet the starter models do come a bit cheaper than a harpsicle.

Regarding your research, I think it is important to keep track of all the topics you’d like to explore. You’re talking about 18th century iconography, that alone is an entire study in itself, after all, how do you determine that a certain prejudice is caused by certain pictures? You’d need to look into a lot of pictures and sources to determine a general ‘view of the harp’, which would also require a lot of art knowledge. I’d be very interested in such a study, by the way.

Also, in research, ideally you’d like to keep your own opinions out of it. After all, it sounds as though you have already formed your conclusion, while you are trying to research what people think and how it was caused. In my opinion, the goal of research isn’t to try and change something… Or you could research the factors necessary to get people to the harp. That would require another perspective however, then your main question is ‘what deters people from the harp’, which is more specific than ‘what do people think about the harp’. Your preliminary results don’t indicate that people are actually deterred from the harp, but if you have findings that point that way, you could also adapt your research line to that. (I assume you are familiar with the concept of iterative research? 🙂 ).

Perhaps this is also important to ask your focus group – how did they form their opinion about the harp, were they exposed to harps during weddings etc?

What was the composition of your focus group? Personally, I’d form multiple focus groups of various demography and see if there are any differences. Especially as you are also interested on the effects on the harping world, I’d try to include a focus group of harpists. Which might be quite hard to organize, but perhaps you live somewhere near a conservatory? You also might want to include professional musicians, as you mention that you found that non harpists don’t know what the harp is capable of.

However, at first, I’d try to keep everything as small as possible at first, as focus group interviews generate a lot of data. Perhaps you can distill a few common themes and work from there. The themes you mention are already very diverse and I’m not sure whether you will be able to fit everything in one research project. However, if you’re able to do this, it’s great!

By the way, is there any literature on this topic? I’m more from a life-science background so I don’t know which databases to search… 🙂

[cc-chiu]

Rutter music, awesome! I really like his choral works and I hope I’ll one day be able to play the harp part in his Requiem… 🙂 I assume you’ll be performing with a choir?

[cc-chiu]

For my lessons I’m working on Danses d’ automne #3, Rigaudon from Automates (all by Bernard Andres) and Gigue from Petite Suite by Grandjany. That suite is really interesting, by the way! The music is rather easy but it was actually written for pedal harp (I play it on the lever harp) so I get introduced to a lot of new harmonic ideas that aren’t usually present in music for the lever harp.

I hope I will be able to start on the Minstrel’s Adieu (I’ve already tried a few pages of the lever harp version) soon!

[cc-chiu]

I realize I should have been a bit more clear – I’m struggling with slides that involve thirds. (for instance, going down from g-b to f-a). My teacher said it wasn’t the thumb that was causing the problem but she couldn’t offer a solution apart from ‘practice practice practice’. So far, that hasn’t really yielded results (this isn’t the first time that I encounter such slides and I’ve never managed to do them well), so any tips are welcome :).

[cc-chiu]

Actually, there are two types of slides – the irish ornament and the playing technique mentioned above :). The discussion is indeed about 1-1-2-3-4 fingerings and can also apply to 4-4-3-2-1 (also to 3-3-2-1? Never seen it, I think).

[cc-chiu]

Interesting topic! I’m also struggling with slides (I’m working on Danses d’ Automne #2). For me, the problem is caused by my second finger (on the right hand), somehow it’s too slow, causing an ‘arpeggio-like’ sound. So I’m also very interested in tips!

[cc-chiu]

An online-only subscription sounds great! Though I agree that the resolution of the file should be pretty high, otherwise it won’t read comfortably…

Will it also be possible to order digital older issues?

[cc-chiu]

I agree! Especially as I haven’t had lessons for a while it’s hard to prevent getting bored due to playing one piece over and over again…

At first, I thought the Rondo was really difficult but I just took it slowly and now (two months later…) I feel I’m starting to ‘get’ it. Especially the part after all those chords in the second inversion (I don’t have the sheet music with me) is rather rythmically challenging for me. However it’s far from being up to tempo, now I can finally play it around 120bpm on the quarter.
I think the rondo is an excellent example of a piece that doesn’t look too hard when you take a brief look at it, but when you start playing it, it’s like WOW! Maintaining a good consistent speed with that alberti bass definitely didn’t come naturally (though I’ve got to admit, this is my first piece with an alberti bass 🙂 )

How about your experiences with the Rondo?

[cc-chiu]

I’m currently working on Danses D’ Automne #2 and #3, ‘Rondo’ by Bochsa (in pieces classiques #5) and ‘Flying to the Fleadh’ as arranged by Grainne Hambly. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a lesson for several months – I was supposed to get a new student-teacher but she hasn’t contacted me yet….

As you see, it’s very difficult for me to stick to just one piece :). I’d love to start on the new sheet music I ordered a while ago (Handel concerto for lever harp, Minstrel’s Adieu) and I’m already thinking about ordering more (Arabesque 2 for lever harp, Amarantes by Andres just to see what it looks like) —- but at the moment, I can still restrain myself :).

[cc-chiu]

The site doesn’t really let you download anything, it says so on the bottom (in German). Apparently it’s mainly meant as an ‘information database’ in other words, they’re just making money from the advertisments. It does appear to download something but those are just website elements (what also happens when viewing a normal website, only usually you don’t get to see a ‘loading’ bar).

I’m indeed getting more and more convinced to just order the sheet music and see/try what it looks like… 🙂

[cc-chiu]

Isn’t there a customer protection law that states that a product should be reliable? For instance, if I buy a new car and eventually, the warranty expires but suddenly it falls apart, the company will still need to provide compensation because they didn’t provide a ‘reliable’ product. You buy a car and expect it will last quite some time and won’t suddenly fall apart. Under that law, you won’t be protected against leaky tires but you can expect the product to be structually reliable for a reasonable amount of time. If it falls apart after 25 years, it might be a little different :).

From what I’ve heard, harps aren’t supposed to fall apart that *at all* so even if your warranty doesn’t cover it, it would be rather unfair if they didn’t replace the harp – as it wasn’t a reliable product.

But I guess the laws in the US are a little different…

[cc-chiu]

Too bad 🙁 Thanks for looking, though. I’ve now seen quite a few promising excerpts but I’d love to know what it sounds like.

[cc-chiu]

Is anyone aware of a recording of Amarantes by Bernard Andres? I couldn’t find it on youtube… Our local music store doesn’t have it in store and I’d like to either see the sheet music or hear the music before

[Author]

Posts