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Speaking of harps in movies, I came across the end of a film called “Four Daughters” made in 1938, which had a harpist in it. Unfortunately, she was obviously not a real harpist, but the harp itself was a beautiful gold Gothic model, maybe an Erard. The story involves a family of musicians, but wouldn’t you know, the main character is the violinist.
The trio is called Trio Verlaine. I think the easiest thing to do is to go to their web site and order the CD that way, or contact them for more information as to where it might be available.
I can vouch for the wonderful playing of both Heidi and Lorna. Heidi plays second harp with me in the Vancouver Symphony, and she is not only a superb, strong player but an unbelievably good sight-reader as well. She does a lot of performing and recording with her duo, and they commission quite a lot of new works as well. They have just recorded a trio CD which includes Lorna’s husband David Harding, a wonderful violist.
Carl, I enjoyed your article in Harp Column, and it was great to have the examples shown as well. Do you know the Six Etudes by Schmidt? The last one is fantastic for stabilizing the wrist and placing correctly, and also works as a concert piece.
Students appreciate knowing that their teachers had to go through some of the same struggles that they face. I have never forgotten what it was like to be a beginner at the harp, but a few years of studying flamenco dance certainly reminded me. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that a task is impossible; well, sometimes it really is, but often all that is needed is time, talent and tenacity. When a teacher reminds their students that they were a beginner once, too, it helps the student see that they are on the same journey where others have gone before. It’s like hiking and finding a little cabin on the trail; you know you’re not lost.
In an ideal world, it would be the best choice to have a solid foundation of technique before tackling repertoire. However, in many cases, this choice is not available, usually because of money issues. It is still possible to polish and adjust technique while learning pieces. The important thing is to work on studies and exercises every day so that eventually the muscles are trained to work in the most efficient and relaxed way. When researching a school, I agree that it is a really good idea to contact the teacher and get a sense of their philosophy, expectations, what method they teach and whether they are willing to work with students from any school of harp-playing, etc.
The Syllabus for the Royal Conservatory of Music has the pieces for lever harp marked with an asterisk in their lists of repertoire. (A new one is being published
Carl brings up some very good points! If you are not sure that your skills are up to the level necessary to participate, I am sure nobody would mind if you audited instead. You could ask if it would be all right if you could jump in and participate if the level is appropriate for you. As long as you pay the fee that goes along with your level of participation, then I don’t see how there would be a problem. I have given workshops where the attendees have a wide spectrum of skills, so I ask the beginners to do easier things than the more advanced players. I always give out hand-outs so that people come away with something they can digest later if it’s too overwhelming all at once.
There is a lot of excellent advice here! When you are applying for universities, see if there is a good harp teacher on faculty at the music school, and if not, see if the university is situated in a city where there are some good harp teachers. My advice? Take a course in Biology for now, but take private lessons on the harp, or maybe the university will let you take harp as an elective. All music schools require an audition, and the applicant has to be at a certain level. Otherwise, they will be unable to handle the workload once they get there. I have a good friend who majored in Engineering and then immediately got a job in a symphony orchestra after graduation. Another one graduated with a degree in Music Education and then was hired in a top-rank symphony orchestra in Europe. A music degree in Performance not only demands a high level of playing ability and hours of practice once you are accepted, but also has other courses such as history, theory, composition, which require your time. I should confess that I started university with only about a year of harp, but I had been playing piano and flute since I was quite young, and had all my Royal Conservatory theory and history courses before I went in. I did my audition and was accepted as a flautist, then switched my major later. When you get out there to perform, you do not want to be wondering how your technique will hold up and be quaking with stage fright. Your other options, if you really want to study music: take a course in Music Education or Music History or Composition, but not Perfomance.
I see what you mean. I have just never had a student show up wearing anything like that. If there is too much exposed skin in contact with the harp, it is not very good for the harp’s finish. It is reasonable to ask them to put some cloth between themselves and the instrument. A couple of large square scarves could be kept nearby for such an instance and then they could be told to please make sure they wear the kind of clothes that protect your harp. The same thing applies to long nails. They damage the harp and the strings, not to mention they clack on the strings, so I keep a nailclipper close by in case a student comes with their nails too long. I was once on the Parent Advisory Council at my children’s school, and we discussed creating a dress code, since some of the kids were wearing eye-popping outfits to school. Yet, some parents on the PAC insisted hotly that their child had a right to wear whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. We ended up with a compromise, but at least we got some guidelines in there. My point is that you have to tread carefully when you wade into the parents’ territory.
On lightly strung harps, it is possible to play three repeated notes (a fast triplet) on the same string by strumming the string with a succession of alternate fingers, such as 4, 3, 2. Many Scottish harpers can do this technique. On South American harps, the same string can be strummed backwards and forwards with the front and back of the same finger. However, pedal harps are strung much more tightly, and the strings do not speak as quickly. It is still possible to do the same techniques but the results are not very satisfactory. If you really want to repeat a note that has no enharmonic, you could do octave trills, or have nothing else in the bass clef, so that the left and right hand can alternate. Aaron Copland uses a repeated note that has no enharmonic in one of his orchestra pieces, and it’s just the right speed that it can be done with one hand, by placing the thumb on the note above and playing the second finger.
When I first heard Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, that did it for me. I was a flautist at the time, and played this piece as part of an audition. Right after that, I switched to the harp. However, it took several years before I mastered the harp part! I know it’s not Mozart’s finest work, but it has a lot of charm, and it was the first time I realized that a harp could play intricate melodies.
