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And one more reminder, the very point of many of our posts is that the gestures are in no way extraneous to the note production. The whole point is their integration. I was far more disturbed to watch a French harpist gesture and wave her arms about with gestures that were not integrated to the notes. And how about those harpists who rock their harps up and down while playing, like inducing motion sickness is more expressive? It always makes me think of a ship deck, bobbing up and down in the waves. I have seen them lose control of it too. It’s a bad idea. Or rather, tasteless.
Gefilte fish.
Other instrumentalists, not to mention singers, certainly do use gestures. Watch Artur Rubinstein at the piano. Pianists who use the space above the keyboard definitely get more sound. How string players remove the bow is a controlled gesture. Singers gesture to help their tone. I’m afraid you’re wrong there, or just haven’t been exposed to the right performers. Because the harp is performed in such a large space facing the audience, it is that much more visual and benefits from an esthetic approach. And remember that the gestures were developed with the aid of Nijinsky, the God of the Dance, so they go back to 1916 or earlier! Sure, many musicians don’t think about them, but they might be a lot better if they did.
That is the same advice Miss Lawrence would have given you. But you do have to re-learn old pieces, lest you slip back into old habits.
A “blind test” does not necessarily prove anything. Who was listening? There is an obvious difference between silver and nickel strings. Maybe they were using old silver strings. They are far brighter sounding.
As for physics, I remembered an example I heard from a physicist. When one object is divided in two and sent into an orbit, if something affects one object, the other object is also affected. I probably am not remembering it exactly, but it proves that there is a perceived delayed effect on objects in transit and it is possible to affect their transit after they have left. It’s like the difference between a pitch and a spitball. If you put a spin on the ball, it starts out straight and then curves its path. Also, regarding Salzedo, even if he himself played one way, it is what he taught that is more significant, because that was what he wanted others to do. I listened to the Angelaires recording, and the quality of their playing is magical, and on a much higher level than I anticipated or have heard in any other ensemble. They rehearsed all day for six weeks before touring, AND THEY PLAYED ALL OF THEIR TWENTY OR SO PARTS FROM MEMORY!!!! Isn’t that unbelievable? But they did it.
“And as far as raising extending the actual duration of the sound, any first-year physics student would laugh that out of court.
Most of my landmark recordings are on vinyl and not cds. The standouts are by Carlos Salzedo, Heidi Lehwalder, Costello, Otis, Wong, and of course, Zabaleta.
I have used a system based on dance classes in which the student prepays for a certain number of lessons to be used up within a certain amount of time, say 4 lessons within a 5-week period, after which it expires. We each have a card on which I can mark off each lesson as it is given. I find it difficult to get adults to pay for more than that in advance, and many don’t want to even pay one week in advance. It is difficult. If you are in a position to turn them away, you have more leverage. Any dance studio, if not by the semester, will sell a ten-class card with an expiration date. If you look at one, you will see how you might design one of your own and print it on card stock so it is durable. The alternative is to simply write out a receipt when you receive payment, keeping a copy, and noting the number of lessons it covers. It is easy to get confused. Week-by-week students have no incentive to make up missed lessons, unfortunately, and care little for your time having been set aside.
I have started on such a project, but it will be a long time in finishing it. I haven’t seen anything I would really recommend. I think composers should start with Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy and perhaps Puccini; and make sure of what they know will work, and start from there. Most orchestration books give bad examples it seems, like in Walter Piston’s, every example is an exception, like Stravinsky’s Orpheus, and not a good example of writing for the harp. But even in Tchaikovsky and Debussy there are errors of judgement. I think Rimsky did the best overall, and has many pages of wonderful writing. Ravel, also, took some chances and made some errors, as well as Strauss, so I think composers should be guided carefully through those scores. I think they should be required to take a full-semester course in writing for the harp only, as it would seem to require at least that much study. I might suggest they try writing parts for existing works such as Rite of Spring, which should have had harp and certainly could. There’s nothing like walking in another composer’s shoes.
I meant to say, that specifically, Miss Lawrence taught me to open/release my left hand after playing the
There is more to this than is meeting the eye, so to speak. The basic gesture is what you describe, rising up in relation to the floor, not the strings, so at an angle to the strings (forward). The idea is to draw the sound with you, to sustain it more. The advanced player may release the closed hand back to the position it was in and draw upward and down. It is not about making a fist and keeping it at all times. That is for beginners, to develop a good habit. It depends on the music when you would want to release the hand and how much. You want the hand to be relaxed, not clenched. You don’t want to release as you hit the top of the gesture because that looks like something else. The only teachers I know of to teach releasing were Lucile Lawrence and Edna Phillips. Salzedo may not have continued to teach that in later years, or no-one stayed around long enough. If you watch the video of Lucile Lawrence, or have the one where she performs with the Firestone Orchestra, you can see some of this in action. Professional technique can be different from what is taught. You see here not necessarily closing her fingers, but the movement is still there and complete, very controlled and very strong. I don’t think the fingers should ever be extended straight out, except perhaps an elegant pinkie. You should be so connected to the sound you just played that if you shake your hand, the sound will beat/vibrato. (This is not impossible.) I like to think of falling, not raising, that you want to fall effortlessly onto the next note, which causes, perforce, a preceding raise that is equally effortless.
