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I just remembered that my first gig was in a department store, at the perfume counter, I think. You might try local stores.
You are in a tricky position. Contacting the harpists who have jobs and asking to sub is a way to get known, but you will have to expect to audition for them first. Less than five years is a very short term of study, to be honest, and you may not have quite enough repertoire yet. Customers may easily stay two hours over dinner and dessert. The kind of place I would think you could play in is a coffeehouse or cafe, very casual, and you might consider doing open mic nights in such places to get experience. One thing you want to be able to do is not look like you are depending on your music to play. You want to be able to read it so well, that you only have to glance at it from time to time, and be able to smile and look around the rest of the time. Your playing should be smooth and rather effortless. The pay tends to depend on the size of the place, how many tables, the pricing. You will need to get tips.
I think if you look again, you will find she is referring to the Deuxieme Ballade by Loukine. You might want to learn the solos by Henri Busser, which are available. You can order the Loukine, if you really want to.
I think if you look again, you will find she is referring to the Deuxieme Ballade by Loukine. You might want to learn the solos by Henri Busser, which are available. You can order the Loukine, if you really want to.
I think if you look again, you will find she is referring to the Deuxieme Ballade by Loukine. You might want to learn the solos by Henri Busser, which are available. You can order the Loukine, if you really want to.
That’s great that you are advancing rapidly. Using contest lists as a guide for repertoire can be a trap. Many times they will ask for pieces you might never normally do on a professional recital. What you play says as much about you as how you play it. At your age, you should begin forgoing the repertoire by harpists and learning to play as much music by serious composers as possible, I think.
I would recommend Handel’s Theme and Variations, and Concerto, and the Harmonious Blacksmith. Beethoven’s Variations. The Spohr Fantaisie would be excellent. Debussy. The Faure Impromptu. High-quality transcriptions of the masters. Stuff like that.
I’ve seen it in libraries, but couldn’t read the tablature. I think, as you say, the Mudarra is the only one that mentions harp, and Sam Milligan has it in Medieval to Modern.
Wallace McManus appears on recordings by Charlie Parker, so he must have been in studio work and/or jazz. The list doesn’t differentiate between married and maiden names, so it is a little confusing in some cases.
What I would like to see is a list of Salzedo’s students elsewhere, but that may be impossible to compile. Juilliard has no records that far back.
It may be worth pointing out that in the Salzedo school, the normal way to play a descending two-fingered aeolian flux (glissando) is to play with the thumb in normal position, and the second finger curved under as if you were going to play a harmonic, and using the back side of the finger, the nail to play, so you are actually combining a normal aeolian flux with a falling-hail aeolian flux. If you play with your fingers pointing up as many European harpists do, you get the wrong kind of sound, and don’t have a smooth turn-around from up to down. The sound of that two-fingered glissando is suitable for other things, not Salzedo’s music.
Sliding onto the next string and not playing it is our formerly secret (thanks, Jordan) way to play a glissando/aeolian flux clearly with a distinct top note that is integrated with the lower notes. Ending with the left-hand thumb on the top note produces a glissando with a loud top note that is not part of the glissando, or the phrase. I’ve rarely heard anyone do it so well that all the notes are phrased together. Sliding onto the next strings allows full control of all the notes with one hand.
The fugue is absolutely the hardest variation. Except for the trills, maybe. Or the Papillons. Or the Bourree. Or the . . .
If you are really stuck, someone who is ready to change strings that are old but not broken could send you the used ones for temporary use. Nylon strings should be changed long before they break, every twelve months at least, if you play an hour a day or more.
