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That is a lot of breakage. I would never use gut strings above the 3rd octave, and I don’t like them in the 3rd octave, either. I have tried them and lost too much clarity and sustaining power. It was like playing with mittens on compared to nylon. Unfortunately, Pirastro nylon strings are not of the same quality as they used to be. So the ideal string has yet to be made.
4231 fingerings are very important to master. It helps make the fingers even in strength and tone, and is necessary in many musical passages. It allows you to place all four fingers at one time, and grouping notes together by placing is part of phrasing. Notes played with the thumb tend to assume more importance, so 4231 equalizes the notes in a group, where 3131 would split them into pairs. Buzzing happens by placing not all at the same time, or by hitting adjacent strings, which won’t happen if you refine your position and press against the lower strings with the backs of your fingers. Learn the pattern, there are many more to come after you master it.
I finally figured out the difference in sound between Savarez strings and other strings. Their color is somewhere between that of gut and nylon. The tension is much higher. However, the big drawback is that they do not vibrate as long, so you are losing lots of precious overtones and aftertones. It sounds less like a harp, in other words. If they have to be changed after two years, there is no point in using them as good gut and nylon strings last that long. I think most people leave them on longer, and if the tension reduces over time, that is good. But, the higher tension means more stress on your body, and I am physically unable to play on a harp strung with Savarez strings.
I’m confused by your analysis, Tacye. Are you talking about soundwaves bouncing off of the gold or passing through it as they emerge from the column? But the soundwaves that vibrate in the column also return into the body and then emanate, so it is fairly complex, if you intend to somehow measure this. The ear is the best measure. But it would not surprise me if the gold is only affecting the higher frequencies, as it is the treble which noticably gains brilliance.
I believe you have to pay a lot extra to get naturally aged wood in your harp, at least aged more than two years. Yet, while harps may be made with younger wood, and take longer to age to a mature sound, new harps also have a fuller sound to begin with, which compensates for the youngness of the wood or how it is dried.
I will reiterate, Bach has many keyboard sonatas in both the slow-fast-faster and the fast-slow-fast format of movements. This piece resembles the other fast-slow-fast sonats more than the other slow-fast-faster sonatas. That is relevant. It is an Italianate piece, and that lends weight to favoring the fast-slow-fast format, and it greatly resembles the Italian Concerto by JS Bach, even more than other works by CPE Bach.
Gretchen, you are in no position to criticize me. I have a copy of the “original” score, and as I stated, have studied and performed this piece for decades. I know exactly what source they are talking about, and there is no proof of when it was copied or how accurately. In any case, that has NO bearing on how it should be performed. Music is art, not science. I studied the piece for over two years with Lucile Lawrence, and had much contact at the same time with Jane Weidensaul, who also published an edition at that time. So I know Miss Lawrence’s thoughts, at least some of them.
There was a second edition of the CPE Bach edited by Lucile Lawrence that may have been published by Lyon & Healy. There are many copies in libraries, as well.
How on earth could it be related to the Italian Concerto? Just look at the scores and listen!
It is not a matter of correct and incorrect. Grandjany, Lawrence, Zabaleta, and myself, made an informed, deliberate artistic decision to put the Adagio in the middle. I have heard it performed first several times. It is wasted. Having two Allegros both in AABB form one after the other deprives them of value, they negate each other. They need separation. It works better for the performer and moreover, for the audience. It is consistent with other works by CPE Bach, as well as his father.
The idea that there is a single, authentic original way to play something is a modern-age concept and alien to musicians of the past.
I can’t imagine why you would ask the Packard Institute.
If you’re going to compare Bach and Beethoven, you may find Bach to have been the “Beethoven of his generation,” but it belittles the significance of Bach, who was a great and influential composer, and Beethoven should not be treated as a sacred cow.
A less-expensive way to gain the advantage of gold, if you own a natural or walnut 23, is to have a gold crown added to the column. It’s enough to make a difference.
Did you know that the gilding of a harp serves an acoustic purpose, not only a decorative one? The whole harp resonates, including the column and crown, and thus the tones gain the coloring of the brilliant, dark qualities of gold. That’s why gold harps have such glitter and glamour, it’s not just the looks.
Getting back on track:
Did you know that the elaborate carving of the column is not decorative, it serves an important purpose. It helps disperse the soundwaves emanating from the harp so they fill the room. A column with no carving will allow the soundwaves to travel directly outward in more of a straight line, which means you rely entirely on the acoustics of the room to disperse your sound. If you play an 85 or 30 or such harp, you should probably face straight out to the audience, not at the traditional angle. I believe the many sides of the Salzedo model column are sufficient to create dispersement. I hope that the fluting of the 100 would also do so, but it may not be quite enough.
It has been years, if ever, since I have had a Bow Brand gut string be false. The Burgundy strings may be a little less focused, after all they are discounted for a reason. I had much more trouble tuning Classic gut strings. Bow strings have a very clear pitch. I would not trust a technician who makes universal pronouncements like that. Moreover, my Bow strings are lasting over two years without fraying or falseness! Note that I only use them in the fourth and fifth octaves. Using gut in the first octave strikes me as pointless.
My best idea so far is to use a vocal collection of sight-singing music, as it is hard for a young harpist to sight-read both hands at once. After going through such a book and encountering all sorts of music ideas, then it would make sense to move into two-hand music. Hymns are good for that, as well as much easier harp music.
There may have been several other operas of the same title by other composers in the same period, just as Rossini and Paisiello both composed operas entitled “The Barber of Seville.” Classical, mythic subjects were used over and over again.
Glinka’s Variations on a theme of Mozart are an interesting example, in that he rewrote the theme instead of taking it literally from the Magic Flute.One can be making a mistake in assuming a manuscript represents a composers final thoughts on a piece. One should also examine any correspondence between the composer and publisher, as the composer may well be giving changes verbally to the engraver or making changes as it is engraved. There also may have been other, later copies of a manuscript that were lost or destroyed. It is important, as Carl Swanson knows, to consult harpists close to that time to see what first- or second-hand knowledge they may have of a work. Cynthia Otis and Sara Cutler, as the harpists of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, who have performed La Valse innumerable times, would be worth consulting.
The score on that website was created specifically for it and has no bearing on the original. The “original” of the Solo for Harp is a copy, so it is not necessarily exactly as CPE Bach wrote it. All the major harpists in the 20th century played it in the musically “correct” order of fast-slow-fast, from Grandjany to Lawrence. It conforms to Bach’s other works that are comparable, and to what may well have been its role model, JS Bach’s Italian Concerto. CPE has other sonatas in the slow-fast-faster mode and they are quite different in character, where the fast-slow-fast sonatas are quite similar. It is therefore wrong to say it is “correct” to play it in the slow-fast-faster format. And that is presuming that after playing the first Allegro, one can play the second even faster. It is fairly obvious that the piece was written as an ideal, and one might well wonder if this aforementioned harpist would have been able to play it for the composer, as it takes years to learn now, not to mention to also realize it.
The major editions are the Grandjany, which eliminates the ornaments as I recall, Zingel’s which includes the original ornaments and figured bass with minimal suggestions for realization, and Lucile Lawrence’s, who strove to make it full and open in sonority with the ornaments in place, working from the so-called urtext. I don’t believe Zabaleta’s was ever published. The urtext has been reprinted by an academic publisher. I have prepared one of my own which is now complete, if anyone dare try to learn it. I found Jane Weidensaul’s edition to be inaccurate, unmusical, and not very playable or enjoyable. When I undertook to learn the work for my master’s recital, at Miss Lawrence’s behest, I examined all four editions and found hers to be most justifiable. And, as a benefit, she explained her reasoning to me. My edition is more full-bodied, based on my extensive studies of his music and this work, and on continuo playing, figured-bass realization, and study of his father’s music, as well as that of Handel, whose solo and concerto precede that of Bach, though not for pedal harp. I don’t know how soon I will publish my edition, but if someone wants to learn it now, I can make a copy available.
