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I don’t think they survived moving to Michigan, as I never heard of them before. And once Henry Ford starting making his Model G Harp-mobiles, it definitely put them under.
I have observed him performing on it. It had a bar across the wire strings covered in felt, like a piano, just under the neck, and when he pressed the pedal, it would abruptly dampen the strings. He could not use it often, as you can’t be pedaling pitches and operate it at the same time. It is much more abrupt and total than muffling by hand, and I found it startling. I didn’t like the effect it had on the sound. The 8th pedal was in the middle of the right and left pedals, I believe. I suppose he could operate it with either foot. If the bar were round instead of flat, it might have had a more natural sound, if you could apply it delicately, like a pianist. I don’t know of any other harp being built with one. It was built for him by Obermayer, I believe. The harp did not have a great tone quality, overall, so I wouldn’t think of it as a great object of desire. Perhaps his family still owns it. I believe they live in Puerto Rico.
The Concerto for Harp by Boris Tishchenko is for pedal harp and a scordatura troubador harp. Very interesting piece.
Some of the movements of Hovhaness’s Suite can be played on a nonpedal harp. Perhaps the most outstanding work of all is Alexandre Tcherepnin’s Quatre Caprices Diatoniques. Lou Harrison composed several pieces for nonpedal harp. Salzedo has many that can be played on nonpedal harps, especially a larger one, such as a Prelude.
The Salzedo model was designed by artist Witold Gordon, upon ideas or sketches by Carlos Salzedo. The harp suits his esthetic and embrace of art deco/moderne principles of streamlining, classical proportion and elegance with fine craftsmanship. The Salzedo model was only designed to be made in natural finish. The original design, especially in comparison to other contemporary models, had the widest sounding board at the bass, and with its straightened sides, had great projection. It actually combined the qualities of a traditional French straight-sounding board harp with the width of the lovely pear-shaped 23 and its pear-shaped tones.
That puts me in mind of the exceedingly rare Himmelhelfer Harp, that had miniature fingers instead of discs. The pedals were actually shaped like narrow feet, so they were especially easy to pedal. They had a ram’s head on the columns of their deluxe model, and the next-lower-priced model had a row of angels strumming, for some reason, zithers, not harps. The harps were unusually tall for their time, over six feet, yet not very big in any other respect, so they had an unfortunate tendency to tip over when left unattended. I believe Carl Swanson may have restored one of these, or so I heard. They were made in Cincinatti, by Ludwig von Heffelfinger and his partner, Karl Himmelfarb-von Liederkranz. It is believed that the harps were nearly named Heffelfarb-Liederkranz. Probably a good thing they were not. They manufactured as many as 150 of these harps, before going bankrupt over warranty repairs. (They used soft pine in construction.) If you find one, you’ll be the first to know it.
That store closed, sold to another owner who has the shop only in the suburbs, and I never got my stock back. They said it was never unpacked, but I don’t believe them. Whatever you had with them is probably a loss. They still have the same name. I tried to order something through them and they never followed through.
That store closed, sold to another owner who has the shop only in the suburbs, and I never got my stock back. They said it was never unpacked, but I don’t believe them. Whatever you had with them is probably a loss. They still have the same name. I tried to order something through them and they never followed through.
That store closed, sold to another owner who has the shop only in the suburbs, and I never got my stock back. They said it was never unpacked, but I don’t believe them. Whatever you had with them is probably a loss. They still have the same name. I tried to order something through them and they never followed through.
Tell her how much you charge for weddings and see how she reacts to that. That will answer your suspicions. Perhaps she intends to pay. Or tell her you can attend but you’re not sure if you can bring the harp with you.
