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Check out this web site: http://www.shawbumanis.ca/repertoire.asp. It is about the harp
duo of Nora Bumanis and Julia Shaw. In their repertoire list is a large selection of double
harp concerti!You are doing fine! You are absolutely right to start each practice session with technique.
Do be careful to take a break after an hour, then finish up your practicing after that. Your
muscles and tendons will love you for it.Sorry, the title is not quite right. It is “Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music”
by Frederick Neumann, by Princeton University Press. And I just looked at it again, and
found that there really is not much on medieval and renaissance music.
There is a long discussion about the differences between Salzedo and Grandjany
techniques somewhere else in the Discussion Groups. Have fun reading through the
tremendous number of opinions!
I learned about a marvelous book from Cheryl Ann Fulton. It is Neumann’s “The Art of
Baroque Ornamentation”. I recall that it starts off with medieval practice, then continues on
to the baroque era. It should be in university music libraries. (It is a large, expensive
book.)
Don’t worry! Nobody can sight-read well when they are still beginning an instrument.
Good sight-reading comes from having excellent muscle memory, so that you can look
right at the page and not look back and forth at your hands.
You are right; it is awkward as written at the speed that many violinists take. At number
40, I play downward sevenths, starting on the same notes as written, then in the next bar,
downward A7, B7, up B7 twice; next bar, up C7 twice, downward E7, upward F7. These
three bars repeat, then next one: downward F7, downward G7, G7, A7. Next: Same
downward A7, down B7, up B7, up B7, all starting on the same notes as written. It is
almost exactly the same as the written part, and it is so fast and covered that nobody will
know you have faked it. It sounds much, much smoother and more rhythmic this way. It
DOES require memorization, though, because of its speed.I always sing the melody to whatever orchestra part I’m practising (if I know the melody!).
Same for any chamber music. It is a great tool for becoming more tuned in to what’s going
on around you, and it really helps your phrasing.The song from “South Pacific” that has “How you gonna make a dream come true” is
“Happy Talk”. I also heard a rap song on the radio where they sampled another song from
“South Pacific”. It was “There is Nothing Like a Dame”. I can’t imagine, though, that either
of these would work well on the harp. As for what the kids are lsitening to nowadays,
it’s…wait for it…oldies! Any good stuff from the 60’s on. David Ice has made a harp
arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, “Fields of Gold” by Sting, and “Longer
Than” by Dan Fogelberg. They’re available from Vanderbilt Music.I know Manon Lecomte from our days together in National Youth Orchestra (1973). I don’t
know whether she teaches Suzuki or not, though. Jennifer Swartz is the Principal Harpist of
the Montreal Symphony, and studied with Judy Loman. Margo Morris and I played together
once with the National Ballet. Margo, I believe, plays second harp in the Montreal
Symphony. All very fine players!
Here’s a question for all you hilarious harpists on this thread: Were any of you told that
you have to keep your heels on the floor when changing pedals? I sit on a riser in the
orchestra, and it magnifies the sound of my heels, so now I tip-toe around the pedals in
quiet passages. I have heard that some competitions will deduct marks if you don’t keep
your heels on the floor. Is this true? (“Time wounds all heels”: Ann Landers.)In response to the question, does anyone use 4-finger trills: yes, Judy Loman does these
superbly. I think it might be necessary to have a fairly long fourth finger to make these
work.
I have written three short pieces for lever harp, which form a suite. They are: Spring in
Vancouver, Fall in Vancouver, and The Downstairs Spider. Spring, in particular, requires
advanced technique. They have been performed by Joanne Pearcy’s and Wendy
Humphreys-Tebbut’s students during Canada Music Week, and I have performed them on
three occasions, all to very warm response. If you are interested, they are $10 for the
suite. My e-mail: evolpe-bligh@telus.net.
I love the Hindemith Sonata, and I also vote for Tournier’s Grey Donkeys. I did these
pieces, years ago, on a recital, along with Salzedo’s Quietude, Iridescence, Whirlwind (and
the other one in that suite whose title slips my mind). The problem with a lot of harp
repertoire is its showiness coupled with lack of musical content. We tend to forget that the
audience may not be so enamoured with the harp that they can forgive sappy, repetitive
themes and boring harmonies.
Nancy Allen’s recordings are a good source of excellent choices of solo harp repertoire,
just to mention one excellent musician.
