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Aside from the interest as a harp piece, as a piece of music, my ears found it most welcome, as it has many moments of “truth” in it, of beauty and uniqueness, new musical ideas to appear in the world. In that respect, I think it is a seminal work.
Zabaleta’s changes are a good example of professional necessity. He is clearly working very hard in this performance.This is a greatly under-rated piece. It is one of Rodrigo’s finest concertos, and I think it is quite complementary to the Concierto de Aranjuez (for guitar). It is difficult to figure out how to play, as the way it is written does not help. I finally found a simple approach to the third movement that makes it much easier to digest.
It is indeed remarkable how cleanly Alice plays, given the unforgiving presence of digital microphones placed far too close to the harp. We hear the strings and not the resonance. It seems she is also coming to resemble Edna Phillips! It’s also worth noting what is the same and what is different when you have two (or more) harpists from the same training/schooling.
Heidi does have relatively long fingers, not too thin, but what is distinctive is that she always closes them, or virtually always, all the way into her palm. That way, they do not get into each other’s way. I was privileged to see many of her performances, and they were by far the most inspiring I ever saw, and I saw quite a few harpists perform in New York City. It’s no wonder she won the Avery Fisher Prize. Before Yo-Yo Ma.
Buzzing comes from not placing cleanly enough or at the wrong moment, unless your fingers are hitting the strings they aren’t playing. That’s corrected by altering position. It helps to put space between the fingers instead of having them smack dab against each other. Try to have some air in between. Depending how painstakingly you want to practice, if you want to learn the notes first, and the fingerings, then make sure you go back and eliminate the buzzes. Listening to yourself play on a recording is a sure way to embarass yourself into doing the extra work.
When I studied with Chalifoux, one of the main things she did was to get me to relax while playing. I was too full of anxiety and trying too hard. Her students tended to have a physical perfection in their playing that was enviable. She was very good at seeing what one was physically doing and if it could be corrected. She also had some ideas of her own, like a low thumb position that could close very quickly, and hooked to compensate for the shortened movement, but I didn’t like how that sounded (or looked). She also used, herself, a lot of wrist movement. I think it gave her a crisper articulation that worked well in playing with the Cleveland Orchestra.
What was most amazing was how, when she taught me Scintillation, she taught me everything about it, especially the moods and how to convey them, right from the first note. We played just the first two bars, until I got them completely and exactly right. Then we proceeded chord by chord. That was a new method of learning for me. It was very much about doing it, and doing it the right way. Miss Lawrence was generally more conceptual and intellecual in her approach, and about powerful and lustrous tone quality, as well as style. I am so glad I got to study with both of them. Two incomparable masters. Except for Lynne Palmer, who was a third.Some people do not know how to listen to overtones/aftertones, some have low standards, and anyone who cannot hear the difference needs to clean out their ears or take more lessons. That may sound harsh, but the difference is so obvious to me, and when they first came out, and we were trying them in school, everyone head the same thing. It’s the difference between a dull-looking nickel and a shiny dime. It’s the difference between silver and pewter. It’s the difference between full sunlight and wearing sunglasses.
Moreover, even though they may not look tarnished, the nickel-plated strings still have to be changed just as often as silver/copper because they get so dulled over time.
A recording is not a test. Use your own ears! Silver strings are brilliant, especially when new. Yes, you have to be careful when ordering, because what may be called “standard” is not that, just most popular. As far as I’m concerned, standard stringing is still nylon strings (preferably Pirastro), gut strings in the third-through-fifth octaves (or fourth and fifth), and silver/copper or bronze strings. Some things are not meant to be changed.
The most unfortunate thing is that Pirastro stopped making heavy-gauge nylon strings which were vastly superior. What they sell now is their medium-gauge, which is only slightly thicker than D’Addario’s, and not much better, if at all. I think they don’t even have the same quality of nylon as before. I have too much trouble tuning them. The heavy-gauge meant a solid pitch, no bending of the strings, a fuller tone, and staying in tune much longer. As for nylon strings vs. gut, if you play low on the strings and pull harder, you can mimic the sound of gut. The fact is you don’t need nearly as much pressure to play nylon strings, but they will give you whatever you tell them to. Nylon strings give the harp that glamorous sound in the treble, where guts are muted and dull-sounding.It is necessary, whenever possible, to practice thoroughly on the day before a performance, and on the day of, preferably in the space in which you are going to perform. You should at least touch on all the notes you are going to play. If it is a piece you have performed many times, you may be secure enough without it. But surprises happen. When you start playing a piece you are used to practicing and suddenly realize you have not played it before, that day, panic can set in and anything can happen. The most important thing is to establish the tempos you want, and to check the projection of the instrument in the room. You can also be surprised by what you hear. In a large space, particularly with a very high ceiling, you will be surprised to find high notes lasting as long as low notes, which can entirely change your timing and phrasing. The whole balance within the instrument can be altered by the space. The room becomes part of the harp. Or you may find the bass projecting far more than the treble, which means you have to lighten up on the left hand. So, even if you know the music, there are other things to check on. You should not have to check on the notes at the last minute. Page turns, yes.
The best reason is tone quality. Tarnish-resistant strings have a duller sound, with less overtones that only gets more dull-sounding with age. They are a lousy crutch for people who get color dependent. There are the brass/bronze “tarnish resistant” strings as an alternative to copper. However, despite a brighter sound, it is rather hard to see them among the silver except in very bright light. So what I did was color mine red and black in the upper area with Sharpie magic markers. It worked pretty well enough. I don’t think there are that many manufacturers of wire strings, but I don’t know for certain. I do know that thicker strings give better tone, more body and character. I do not endorse nickel-alloy tarnish resistant strings for any purpose. I have used them. They are definitely inferior. And perhaps the worst thing is the false dependency they create when one becomes too used to having them. Even if you only use them for Cs and Fs, the drop in tone quality is noticeable compared to only using silver and copper or brass/bronze. No strings should buzz.
As a composer, you would not use the designation “Da Capo” if you wanted repeats to be played. Da capo comes from Minuetto da capo, which decrees (permanently) that after the trio, the minuet is played again without repeats. That is a fundamental classical form. It is not varied, or it becomes something else.
I believe the main thing you should do is lower the tuning to relieve the stress on the sounding board and frame. If you are going to play it occasionally, then perhaps just a semitone. And in a very humid environment, nylon strings should last longer.
