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I agree, the harp can get really abrasive-sounding. It’s possible to get a big, full sound without yanking. The problem stems from the direction the string is pulled, as well as the amount of force. If it is pulled to much sideways instead of downwards, it can twang on the disc prongs or the groove of the nut. Other instrumentalists play long tones to improve their tone; harpists would benefit from playing very slowly and paying careful attention to how the tone changes depending on which direction they pluck, how much finger they use, how high or low the thumb is, how much curve to use, how the curvature may change as they get into lower registers, etc. The ear should trump everything. If it sounds bad, then change the technique.
Sherry, I totally agree with you. However, if the orchestra is determined to play the piece in spite of not having the right complement of musicians, at least the harpist doesn’t have to suffer a nervous breakdown trying to play two parts.
I only did the first page of Mercury before I ran out of time. I have never tried to play this piece with one harp. There would be so much missing! Even if they have to hire a keyboard player with the “harp” setting on, that would be better than leaving out so many lines. Maybe you could suggest that to them.
Yes, the Mirage Quintet has recorded Tournier’s Quintet recently, with Erica Goodman playing the harp. It is available on amazon.com.
This is the European excerpt list from Lieve Robbroeckx’s panel discussion at the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam. As you can see, there is some overlap with the North American list.
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Violin Concerto no 2
Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique, L’Enfance du Christ, Harold in Italy
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Bruckner: Symphony 8
Debussy: La Mer
Debussy: Prelude à l’ Après Midi d’un Faune
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor cadenza
Dvorak: Scherzo Capriccioso
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Franck: Symphony in d
Mahler: Adagietto
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto no 1
Ravel: Piano concerto in G cadenza,
Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso
Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye
Ravel: Tzigane cadenza
Smetana: Vysehrad cadenza
Strauss: Don Juan
Strauss: Heldenleben
Strauss: Salomes Tanz
Stravinsky: Symphony
Stravinsky: Petruschka
Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the flowers cadenza
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake cadenza
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty cadenza
Verdi: La Forza del Destino Overture
Von Weber: Aufforderung zum Tanz
Wagner: Tannhäuser
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Wagner: Isoldes Liebestod
Wagner: Die WalküreIt worked this time, though the site did not recognize that I had typed in the validation code, so I had to re-do it three times. I wonder whether some interfaces are problematic.
Well, I tried…but the validation numbers weren’t showing up on my screen, so I couldn’t complete the vote.
I heartily endorse all of the above, and especially the use of a riser. It amplifies the sound, and it also helps you see the conductor over the tall violinists’ heads!
I should add one more thing: when you are part of an orchestra, you have no choice about the tempi. A large part of the job is finding ways to go ridiculously fast when the part was written with no understandiong of the instrument and was meant to go at a slower tempo anyway. I have learned to practice everything at least two metronome markings faster than what is indicated, and even then sometimes it’s not fast enough. That’s when you have to have to go to Plan B and have an edited version up your sleeve.
In order to get a piece up to the correct speed, you need strength, endurance, agility, and good fingering strategies. These things take time to develop, though some lucky people are stronger and faster to start with. Practising etudes and technical exercises every day, watching carefully for inefficient habits, will help enormously. If you practice a section slowly, relaxing between every note, that will help you build tone and finger independence, and then you can take a tiny segment of the phrase and play it as fast as you can, to get the fingers accustomed to going quickly. When starting to learn a new piece or orchestra part, check the tempo and try out the fingerings at the correct speed to make sure that they are appropriate. It’s easier to play faster after you have memorized a piece, and easier again after you have had it in your repertoire for some time. There! That’s my two cents’ worth!
I LOVE the library cards idea! Thank you, all for the excellent feedback so far, and thank you, Saul, for that brilliant suggestion.
I LOVE the library cards idea! Thank you, all for the excellent feedback so far, and thank you, Saul, for that brilliant suggestion.
I LOVE the library cards idea! Thank you, all for the excellent feedback so far, and thank you, Saul, for that brilliant suggestion.
I have the score and harp part from Luck’s Music Library. Also, Basel, I cannot locate my Rota cadenzas! I loaned them to someone, and they were not returned.
There was one more mistake in the harp part: no tempo marking for the fourth song! It is “lieblich lebhaft”. In other words, it clips along! I did my own edition to eliminate some of the pedal changes, (including staying in a flat key when the original goes to a sharp key and back), and split the last bit of the last song between the two harpists. A word of warning: there are various recordings out there, but they vary enormously in tempi, so don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Choose the fastest tempi to practice with and you’ll be safe rather than sorry. These are gorgeous songs, and it is a pity that they are not programmed more regularly.
