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Oh, it did work after all! On Firefox, the attached file does not show up, but it does work on Google Chrome.
Song to the Moon by Dvorak is lovely. I have made an arrangement for solo harp and soprano (or flute, or violin). I have attempted to attach the PDF here, but it didn’t work. I could email it to you.
2014’s session will be in early July, and will be about ten days long. Watch our web site for updates in January. We will be in the VSO School of Music on Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
I use Sibelius software, and it will only write one circle above a harmonic chord, even if you want to indicate both notes to be played as harmonics. This creates a real problem of clarity! In this example, though, the bass line’s bottom notes are clearly too far away to be played as harmonics. So the answer is that the top note is a harmonic and the bottom note is not, in both lines.
Could it be a paronychia? It’s a type of infection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paronychia
Yes, it worked! Just click on the attachment at the upper right corner of my previous message and it should open.
Tchaikowsky wrote it as a triplet and a quadruplet. It is not correct to play it any other way. This is not a cadenza, but rather a harp part that has to mesh with the rest of the orchestra. A conductor would correct it, if it were to be played as a seven. As Erin points out, it could be conducted in 6, so a straight seven would not work. Re the question about Scene 10, I have attempted to attach a PDF of the first section of it. It is the edition that I learned from Judy Loman. It is still quite difficult, but with practice, it is possible.
I have always played it exactly as written, with a triplet and then a quadruplet. These notes should not be smudged into even groups of seven, since other lines have eighth notes which must line up with the beginning notes of each triplet and quadruplet.
I don’t know this piece, but perhaps you could listen to it and figure it out from there. There are some samples here
http://www.allmusic.com/performance/a-festival-of-carols-for-chorus-harp-mq0000839773
and you can buy the CD here http://www.frankferko.com/discography.htmlThere is an Intermezzo for flute and harp by Michael Conway Baker. http://www.michaelconwaybaker.com/compositionslistedbyinstrument.html#Harp
If you check Canadian Music Centre’s web site, they will have a catalogue of chamber music, with the instrumentation. In 1983, Frederick Schipizky wrote a very nice Quintet for harp, oboe, violin, viola and bass, which I premiered. http://old.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=score.FA_dsp_details&bibliographyid=8232&dsp_page=1 If you type “harp” into the keyword window, you will find a lot of things.
The classical technique (fingertips, high thumb) works much better for acoustic pedal harps, since strong articulation is necessary to bring out the tone. I have never played the harp with nails, other than for effects, so I am no expert on this sort of technique. But I think that it must be harder on the muscles and tendons to pluck in an upwards fashion than downwards into the palm. Without the harp, try bringing your fingers down into the palm, and then try your own technique, and see which one feels better. The important thing is not to play with tension or uncomfortable positions.
