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I mark where the thumbtip goes for either hand – that way you are sure of a solid support for the harmonic – rather than trying to find where exactly on the pad of the LH the mark is supposed to be. I have always used a normal permanent marker – fine tip, brown and even though a lot of the mark wears away through the thumbtip rubbing against it, the mark does remain in the winding of the gut strings.
There is certainly nothing wrong with the Salvi I own. I actually tried out over a dozen L&H but kept being drawn back to the richness of the tone in the Salvis. I would have gone for an Apollo but had the chance to try out the 50th anniversary model, the Scolpita and the Arianna a few days later and fell in love with the Arianna. I have never had an issue with her and other semi prof. harpists who have used it when loaned out to orchestras and for solo performances have never had a complaint. To be honest, I was expecting Camac to appear up there!
I would agree with the first part there but not with the second bit about Andrew Lawrence-King. I have most of his recordings and heard him live at the European Harp Symposium in Cardiff ’07 when I was working there for the week. His playing was faultless and the tone was excellent. I have heard others play the same works as he has and their tone was dire! I will see if I can find out which harps he is using on the recordings I have (& at that performance) because I’ve never heard them sound like you describe. What harp was he using when you heard him?
Hi, Thanks very much for your reply. It does look a very interesting and fun piece to play. I’m sadly having to leave looking at the piece for a week or so now due to having to prepare Benjamin Britten’s
My Salvi Arianna concert grand is called Alanna but I still haven’t found a name for my Paddy Cafferkey trad Irish harp – even though I have had (him) for
Good points. Also, whilst on dynamic markings – I was told by my tutors to remember that all markings for the harp are ‘soloistic’ markings so play slightly louder than they actually read. That does help as well.
We have two main ones and another for guitars/keyboards and such-like here in Aberdeen but we are known as the one to go to for classical music. All of us pass customers between each other if we cannot help them so it’s a pretty good system. It’s great for ordering harp music (esp the staff discount!) but can be a bit of a problem – bank balance wise – when new CD releases or a batch of new scores appear and I’m doing the stock-take!
Hi Carl,
Sorry, I hadn’t made that clear enough – I’m not saying to use orchestral repertiore instead of etudes but to use in conjunction with them. I agree that etudes are necessary for muscle memory and should not be ignored. What I was trying to say was to use the repertoire as variety in your practice (and I wasn’t meaning pieces like Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms or Oliver Knussen’s Flourish With Fireworks but those with obvious patterns – as mentioned earlier the Nutcracker & Swan Lake Cadenzas, Chabrier’s Espania etc) and to put the memory patterns you have built up through the etudes to use in pieces you have already played before looking at new ones. (though you should have an ‘arsenal’ of memory patterns at your disposal before attempting most orchestral works)
Hope that makes things a tad clearer
Hi, I know of plenty of works for clarinet & harp duet and of some chamber pieces with wind &/or brass but I can’t remember them offhand. I will look them up when I am in work on Fri/Sat as I am in a music shop & have access to most publishers and some other nifty catalogues. Is it just chamber works including clarinet you are after or would duets be any use?
Drop me an e-mail if you want with more info and I’ll see what I can bring up for you.
Fearghal
I agree with you there Saul. Regarding orchestral parts – the IMSLP is a good place to download from for free. Also, who here doesn’t keep even just a photocopy of works that they have played before? It is always good to revise these works just in case you are asked to play them again. They also make a nice change from looking over the same study books every time. Where studies tend to
Just a wee update – I am having issues getting the Breitkopf edition but currently have the Barenreiter Urtext edition along with the Nino Rota cadenzas and the Reinecke cadenzas – plenty of work for the Christmas Hols methinks.
That’s grand! Sounds like the Sea Symph – such a great opening (apart from the double handed gliss over the page turn). I love the Stainer & Bell performance copy – the only one here. I ended up with 20+ photocopied page turn assists – mainly since I was covering both harp parts on one! Never, ever try that – any hope of a rest or finger recovery for the next 70min is dashed!
I love the London Symphony – I had the luck of playing both the original and the revised versions!
