Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Oh, you sure can! In fact, that’s why I became the librarian for the orchestra I play in: so I could get the harp parts ahead of time in case they needed editing.
Very well said, Barbara! Thank you.
Please do let me know if you ever venture up to the frozen wilds of Upstate New York. I’d be very interested to find out what you think of my Cousineau harp. If I can perhaps add a further inducement, I also have a good violin of the same age that I’ve had restored to that period…..
Hi Barbara!
Mostly I get that from the music itself. There are some passages (especially in the last movement) that are either very awkward or unplayable as written, on the single-action harp. While the single-action harp is certainly capable of chromaticism if it’s well thought-out (see P.J. Meyer Op. 4 sonatas), Mozart clearly wasn’t keeping the requirements of the pedals in mind at times!
Hi Barbara
There’s a huge body of work from the late 18th/early 19th centuries for harp and violin. In fact, many of the pieces are “accompanied sonatas” in which the HARP has the solo part, and the violin plays the accompaniment.
There are some good sources for these pieces, most notably Mike Parker’s editions:
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=4592142
(I’ve performed some of these in concert; they’re musically satisfying, fun to play, and audiences love them!)
and those from Ut Orpheus:
http://www.utorpheus.com/utorpheus/index.php?cPath=1_53_247
You can also rummage around in the online catalogues for places like the Sibley Music Library, the British Library, and the Bibliotheque National. They’re usually fairly obliging about selling photocopies of old music in their holdings.
For a better understanding of the harp of the period and the technique associated with it, you might want to get Mike’s book on the subject, “Child of Pure Harmony”:
http://www.parkerharps.com/Publications.html
It’s not too long, is easy to read, and brings together a lot of information from source materials.
Mozart didn’t like writing for the harp because he didn’t like having to keep the pedaling in mind, like so many other composers throughout history!
I beg of you not to refer to the single-action harp as “limited”. It’s a different instrument to the modern harp, and has different resources: greater clarity and a much wider range of possible tone colors being among the most important. Plus, do we refer to the oboe as “limited” because it can’t play chords, or the violin as “limited” because it can’t play a contra-bass C? All instruments have things they can and can’t do.
But enough ranting. Take a look at the original repertory, and have fun! There’s some delightful music there that deserves to be played and enjoyed.
Personally, I would play harp 1 and harp 1 only. If the conductor or anyone else asks you to combine parts, ask if the oboist is also going to play both first and second parts as well!
Sorry, but the harp being the one instrument that gets asked to combine parts is a pet peeve.
Check to see if it has bolts and washers from the bottom of the column through the bottom of the soundboard. Sometimes those washers will buzz and rattle, especially after changes in the weather.
You don’t say where you are, but it would be worth contacting Michael Parfett here:
http://www.michaelparfett.com/new08/sale.html
He’s one of the best in the business.
Paul
OK, here’s something that I personally would very much like to see researched: “Traditional Celtic Music as Arranged and Published for the Single-Action Harp in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries”. There is a wealth of music and information out there waiting to be organized, yet it’s a specific enough topic not to bog you down with mountains of vaguely relevant resources.
Just my 2 cents!
Paul
I’ve been doing some performance practice research using early 78s and reproducing piano rolls, and what has struck me is not just the upwards creep in tempi, but the loss of phrasing. It seems that musicians used to phrase things very broadly and deliberately, with a clear sense of both structure and breathing whether they were singing or at the piano. Now it feels like too much is metronomic, and the phrases and shape of the music get run together in a headlong dash!
If by “single pedal” you mean a single action, I’d be very interested in seeing it. By my count, there were at least nine different types of single action mechanisms used in the 1720 – 1820 period (crochet, bequille, fourchette, cheville mechanique, 2 kinds of sliding bridges, ring, rotating blade, and crank). I’d like to see how yours compares. I also believe there’s a ready market for a single-action pedal harp, if it can have a reasonably-priced mechanism.
I recently visited Pilgrim Harps and was very impressed with their work. I especially like the Aldeburgh model, both for sound and appearance:
Good question! I don’t play triple harp, so I can’t really answer it. However, I have heard triple harpists comment that the pedal harp is, in general, easier to play. The triple is a different instrument with different resources: a different tone and sonority, and the capability of a different kind chromaticism, rapidly repeated notes, and a variety of tuning temperaments.
I did try a triple last summer. It was certainly different, but not as difficult as I had expected. It helped if I didn’t try to look at the strings!
The concerto was written for the Welsh triple harp, a tall instrument, very lightly strung, with three rows of strings and fully chromatic. One difference between Haendel and Bach, is that Haendel was working in England, where the triple harp was well known, while Bach was working in Germany, where the most common form of the harp at the time would have been the hook harp (like a lever harp, but with wire hooks to turn instead of plastic lever to flip).
Before people start speculating on the tuning problems of the triple harp, I’d like to say that I have two 18th century pedal harps which are very lightly strung, and their tuning is much more stable than my more modern instruments, I think due in large part to the lower tension on the strings.
Hello Shari
There’s information on the Eastman Community Music School Harp Workshop here:
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/summer/youthadult.php
Hope this is what you’re looking for!
