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Elizabeth, you are very kind and generous to share your many years of orchestral knowledge with harpists on HC. Thank you. I always appreciate what you have to say.
Check out the Facebook site for Delta Harp. Masterclass coming up soon on how to play the Delta. The harp is made in London. Will be interesting to find out how it compares with the DHC Lite. And, no price anywhere. Let us know, Bill.
I just received an email from Barbara Brundage about her lever harp arrangement of Claire de Lune. She said this is basically the Couer version but in D. She also said she “had to get a little creative at the key change.” The original key is Db. If you go to Sylvia Woods’ website http://www.harpcenter.com, you can see the first two lines. Like the Couer edition, the piece starts with double harmonics. Personally, I like the harmonics played up an octave as regular notes.
BTW, I did not realize that Marcel Grandjany made a transcription of Claire de Lune published by Lyra Music.
David, you are such a great guy to keep making these orchestra parts readable and then sharing your hard work.
BTW, I like your arrangement of The Lord’s Prayer better than the one by Salzedo. Hope you will do more arranging. I know you have some music you planned to get published.
I know Barbara and have her must-have Classics on Requests books (lever or pedal). She tries to stay as close to the original piece as possible but make her arrangements playable on lever harp…I wonder how I missed her Claire de Lune? I checked and it is an intermediate arrangement. Available from most harp vendors.
I guess the level of difficulty depends on your definition of ability levels. This version is not as complicated or difficult as Salzedo’s and seems to be more true to the original piano arrangement. I consider this intermediate/upper intermediate, leaning more towards upper intermediate. But, I don’t want to scare anyone from learning the piece.
I see from your photo that you play lever harp. I think with only a little rearranging in a few places and dropping some notes (mainly in chords) that this is playable on lever harp for a proficient lever harpist.
I will add that this version starts off with harmonics. I simply play the beginning up an octave. I think it sounds better that way.
I think the best arrangement is by Victor Coeur. It is published by Editions Joubert in a Debussy collection titled “Pour la Harpe.” In the U.S, it is available at Vanderbilt Music.
Even more the reason to contact Salvi harps. You don’t want to buy someone else’s problem. My Aurora looked exactly like that. I now have a matte ebony Apollo and am so happy with it. Not as stiff as the earlier Salvi’s. Have you tried playing the harp?
My experience with Salvi’s is that they are very strongly built. I sold my 35 year old Aurora four years ago and the only repair needed was to be re-riveted. I would call Salvi Harps in California and ask about the soundboard. I cannot figure out any reason for an Aurora to have a soundboard “strengthened” unless there is some underlying problem. If so, you probably wouldn’t want to buy the harp. With the information you given, if possible, I would have a harp tech make a pre-purchase inspection. You may also want to talk to the harp tech who last regulated the harp. Make sure you know the harp has been regulated and strings changed on a regular basis.
Also, Salvi has redesigned their soundboard and they have the “new concept soundboard.” It is a big improvement. With the euro being so low compared to the dollar, it may be wise to consider buying a new harp, if you are going to buy a Salvi.
Watch some tutorials on youtube. Josh Layne and Hannah White have some excellent videos. Using pedals is something that needs to be shown, not described. It would be worthwhile to have one or two lessons, though. Otherwise your practicing will simply reinforce bad habits rather than move you forward.
That is hardly “a lot of breakage” especially when this is for two harps. I do not like the sound or feel of nylon strings on a concert grand harp. Anyhow, the topic is about Premier strings, not how or what strings to use on a harp. I am very happy with my harp set up and you with yours.
I have now had Premier strings on one harp for a year and the other for 11 months. Fabulous strings both in terms of sound and durability. I had 5 strings, mostly in the first octave break with in the first month or so. Last week a 2nd octave G randomly broke. So that is 6 broken strings on two harps in about a year. I replaced one 2nd octave C that looked suspicious, too. My harps are used a lot.
I changed the strings recently in anticipation of the harps getting regulated next week. The strings on one harp were just starting to sound a bit dull – to me, anyway, but the strings on the other harp still sounded good.
BTW, I used to keep the old upper register strings and ones that could still fit through the holes as spares but since I don’t feel the need to worry about breakage, I have stopped doing that. Also, for the past several years I have sent my used strings to harpist Patrice Fisher for her Guatemala harp project. I bought smalll plastic bags from a craft store and repackaged the strings. On the larger strings, I reused the string bag. It’s nice to know those expensive strings will continue to be used. I get a tax deduction, too.
PS/ The newest Premier still had a slight tacky feel like my first ones. After a couple rubdowns with a microfiber cloth and some playing, it went away.
Oh, too bad about the harp – probably the person selling read this thread about the price:) There will be another harp and I’ll bet it will be a pedal harp. Thanks for the update. Maybe you can still give your daughter a tuning key in anticipation of her own harp. Keep us posted on her progress.
Thanks, Sylvia. I have ordered from Kalmus the only orchestra version I could find. The string versions I found mimic the piano accompaniment. I was hoping someone has played the Ave Maria with a chamber orchestra or string ensemble. It is time consuming and expensive to guess what might work. The program is in mid-January.
