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But they haven’t been built for years, I understand. They are all playing on old instruments, albeit with first-class wood. Now, if someone would figure out an improved construction method…………..Carl………………..it might be worth pursuing.
But, really, the question should not be popularity or familiarity. When you consider repertoire, you should have, hopefully, some sense of its greatness. We have a lot of repertoire that is not great, some that is great. Now which would you rather spend your precious time learning? Great or not-great? Which will benefit you the most?
There are quite a few concerti that are not too difficult and are, if not great, very good. I would include among these:
Saint-Saens: Morceau de Concert
Rodrigo: Sones en la Giralda
Albrechtsberger: Concerto
J. C. Bach: 6 Concerti
Dussek: Concerto in B-flat (two movements)
and perhaps Wagenseil, Eichner; and more romantically,
If you want to win the competition, do the one that you know the very best and can play most musically. The Mozart is huge. It is 30 minutes long, and is the longest concerto in our repertoire that I know of. Each movement is long and challenging. You do have all summer, though. It depends on how much you practice and how well you learn. The Mozart is a great piece, the Dittersdorf is good, the Boieldieu is good, and there are others that are similar. The Dittersdorf would be the most accessible, but is not especially flashy.
I saw him in concert, perhaps twice, and I am sure he did not leave it engaged. It encompassed so many strings, the harp would have been dead sounding.
Busser wrote several harp solos that are as well written for the harp, if not better than, as those of Pierne. The early pieces are in a similar style, and they gradually become more modern. I believe the titles are Ballade, second Ballade or something, Impromptu on Japanese Airs, and Prelude and Dance.
I could have sworn Renie was frequently referring to Loukine’s Second Ballade.
Busser wrote several harp solos that are as well written for the harp, if not better than, as those of Pierne. The early pieces are in a similar style, and they gradually become more modern. I believe the titles are Ballade, second Ballade or something, Impromptu on Japanese Airs, and Prelude and Dance.
I could have sworn Renie was frequently referring to Loukine’s Second Ballade.
Busser wrote several harp solos that are as well written for the harp, if not better than, as those of Pierne. The early pieces are in a similar style, and they gradually become more modern. I believe the titles are Ballade, second Ballade or something, Impromptu on Japanese Airs, and Prelude and Dance.
I could have sworn Renie was frequently referring to Loukine’s Second Ballade.
It helps to do an exercise that is related. Playing arpeggios such as c-e-g-b, d-f-a-c, e-g-b-d, etc. will help with some passages.
I think it is probably a question of neutrality, as a name has connotations that would possibly limit appeal as much as enhance it. Suppose Lyon & Healy had named their harps after presidents, or historical figures, like Boss Tweed, Tammanny, or movie stars, like Gable, Lombard, Chaplin, Swanson—oops, we have one of those!
All I can say is that if I invested all of my income from composing into a grant for a performer, it would amount to .
If I use the harmonics to tune octaves, they are tuned pretty normally. I am getting great results with my Korg ca-20 with a clip-on pick-up. The only string it doesn’t get is the 7th octave C. But I mostly use the Orchestral Tuner, though the batteries don’t last as long. I don’t go more than 5 cents sharp or flat at the top and bottom. The harp sounds quite sweet tuned exactly, actually, like ice cream, and if I flatten the bass it sounds more like sour cream. I happen to love sour cream, but the tones are more focused on pitch.
My question is, does the order of tuning help the tuner hear better? Should I go in a circle of fifths in each octave, or tune one pitch in octaves? Going by scale is definitely the slowest.
