Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
My performance garment of choice is a traditional Nepalese tunic. It’s made of plain, heavy black cotton with a slightly brushed nap to it. It has a plain band collar and buttons almost invisibly down the side. The sleeves are loose, and have no buttons to click against the body of the harp. It also has a small concealed pocket that’s just the right size for a tuning key. That and black trousers and I’m all set.
When I got a tuxedo, I got a shawl collar jacket (looks better unbuttoned), and had the whole thing tailored to accommodate the requirements of playing.
Once I got caught playing Mahler 4 in a jacket that was too tight across the back for me to reach the lowest strings in that last movement solo. Never again!
Hi Zoe
Those are appogiaturas rather than grace notes in the modern sense. As in Baroque performance practice, they should be played on the beat, take roughly half the value of the “main” note, and often slightly emphasized to make the most of the dissonance and resolution.
For an excellent overview of harp performance practice of the late 18th century, get a copy of Mike Parker’s book “Child of Pure Harmony”. In it, he brings together a lot of information from the many harp method books published during Krumpholtz’s time.
Hope this helps,
PaulCondition does indeed count for a lot! I have harps that are 200+ years old that play just fine, albeit after restoration/conservation. Something that’s worth bearing in mind is that if you’re looking at a harp from before 1940, you should do some research on how they were meant to be strung. Putting modern strings on an old harp can lead to some big problems!
To Laura:
Not to worry. Vanderbilt now gets all their gut strings from Bow Brand. The Burgundy strings are just factory seconds with some slight visual imperfections.
Hi Kate
Any chance you’ll be at the Edinburgh Harp Fest? I’d be happy to meet you there to talk more about your research (18th century harp is my special interest). If so, you’ll be able to find me or leave word for me at Michael Parfett’s table.
Paul
Hi Kate!
I’d be very interested in learning what you find out about how the harp was regarded in the 18th century.
Thanks,
PaulHi Shannon
Google again, this time putting just
sweetland harp
in the search field, not in quotes. It will bring up a lot more information, including at least one older post from here. Let us know how it goes!
Paul
Hi Denise
You can order the shipping boxes, complete with packing materials, from Lyon & Healy.
Best,
Paul
Do please keep us posted. When he is settled somewhere, I’ll sort through my music library and see what I’m ready to part with. If he wants any of it, I’ll happily ship it off to him.
I hope he had insurance. Long story short: some years back one of my harps was destroyed in a vehicle fire. It was a tough time, but I was able, with the help of friends and colleagues in the harp world, to replace that harp with three that I prize and cherish just as much as I did the one that got burnt.
Moral of the story: sometimes, when you least expect it, something goes right.
I would not buy this harp without trying it in person. The whole layout of the instrument is very unusual, and it would be difficult to know if you’d be comfortable playing it unless you “try it for size”.
Could you perhaps make the card two-sided, with English on one side, and Arabic on the other?
I’ve also found that using an ivory or pastel colored card stock helps make the card stand out in a stack of the more usual white cards, and more memorable to potential customers.
Dear Daniel
As a charter member, past president and current secretary of the HHS, please accept my apologies for any lack of responsiveness on our part. I was not made aware of your inquiries.
You may want to avail yourself of Laure Barthel’s book ‘Au Coeur de la Harpe au XVIIIeme Siecle’.
Here are some links to articles on Beat Wolf’s website:
http://www.beatwolf.ch/hochbrucker.htm
http://www.single-action-harp.ch/downloads/Restoration%20Louvet%20harp.pdf
http://www.single-action-harp.ch/downloads/The%20Louis%20XVI-harp.pdf
There are also pictures of an early Louvet at
Click on ‘Harps’, then scroll down and click on ‘Antique and Used Modern Pedal Harps’, then scroll down to find the Louvet.
The earliest extant pedal harp would probably be either the Hochbrucker described in Wolf’s article, or the one in the Kunsthistorishes Museum.
I’m not certain about the earliest French harp of any kind that can be specifically dated, but I do know that Mike Parker built a copy of a French triple harp that was dated 1710.
I hope this information is useful. Please do let me know if you have any more questions.
Thanks,
Paul
I would strongly advise you to turn down this job. The Brahms songs are very difficult. It’s unlikely that they could be learned to performance standard in just four weeks, and to attempt it is to risk serious injury. The organisers of this concert should have planned further ahead!
Say, I haven’t seen Sure Carole DeVale in years! She used to come to the Historical Harp Society conferences. I’m sorry to hear she’s having problems with her harps. I really should get in touch with her.
I’m surprised to hear that people are having problems mustering an audience for period harp recitals. I’ve had good attendance at the concerts I’ve given here. Maybe it’s a regional thing. After being snowed in all winter, Rochesterians are happy for any excuse to get out of the house!
The idea of compositions with measures that could be shuffled persisted for a long time after Mozart. There was even a machine, The Componium, built that could do that, if you wanted to listen to it for hours while it worked through all the possible combinations.
I play in the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. It’s a community orchestra made up of players of all ages (youngest is 15, oldest is 93) and skill levels (hobbyist to professional). We play at least 12 concerts a year, with each program performed twice, once for the general public and once for audiences who are not otherwise able to attend live concerts: nursing homes, residential hospitals, and the like. It’s a great group of people!
