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By the way, I performed this with a New York chamber orchestra, and the audience literally gasped, as a whole, at the incredible beauty of the second-movement cadenza as Salzedo edited it.
Salzedo did not make extensive changes to the Mozart. If you look carefully, there are just a few measures where notes are changed to make it consistent with itself or to make it more playable. Moreover, his edits of the Reinecke cadenzas make them far more effective in performance and less Victorian sounding. His edition is the most consistent and tasteful. I have never heard a harpist play effective one-handed trills that match the flute. His two-handed trills allow the harpist to match the flute and to be thrilling instead of chilling and inept sounding. He added to the orchestration a pizzicato accompaniment there to replace the left hand. Moreover, he cut the horns melody that obliterates the harp solo in the third movement. His adaptation of the orchestration was not published, though, you have to get it from someone who has it. I would only use the original if I was playing this with a little ensemble, and then you have to find cadenzas to fit, with scores of them to choose from, and few of them effective for the harp. The Reinecke are completely in character with the Mozart, and the presence of glissandi does not make the Romantic instead of Classical. I think you should either use the Salzedo edition, or not, but don’t change it willy-nilly. It makes sense as it is.
The only, only change I make is to play the appoggiaturas as quarter notes and not as sixteenth-notes, but he had a reason to make them 16ths, too.You have to get the Salzedo editing from a student of one of his students, who has it in red pencil. His editings in red pencil are handed down from one generation to another, an oral tradition. It will be published eventually, and my editing should be available within a year or so. There is also another version of the difficult passage from Lucile Lawrence.
It’s laudable to have the desire to teach, but are you qualified? I don’t know anything about you, but if you don’t already have pedagogic resources, I suspect you are not prepared, and the last thing we generally need in the harp world is an unqualified teacher. Beginners deserve to have the best possible instruction. Too many harpists are damaged by having unqualified teachers. If there is no one in your region teaching, then you would be providing a service, but I doubt that is the case.
What you might do is host a group, like a harp circle, and that would give you some experience and insight that will help you develop. Otherwise, I would recommend studying with a major teacher so you are well prepared for teaching.I think everyone is grossly over-reacting to this, and no one should be encouraging someone to leave a teacher who is not clearly in the wrong and who probably needs the income. She has not said if the teaching was effective or not. It seems to me like this mother should step back. The teacher deserves a length of time and after at least a semester or so, then evaluate how your daughter feels about the lessons and if she has improved or not. A “nicer” teacher might not be effective.
I am careful to express myself in a supportive way in lessons, so that corrections are understood to have a positive purpose, but I am very direct and clear. I could imagine someone might take that as a negative, if they had a certain expectation or attitude that was different.
As for other comments, Bernard Zighera should rest in peace. He was a wonderful harpist and inspired me. All high-level teachers have faults, like anyone else, and we all take our chances with them. I did have one teacher who once made one rather unpleasant comment. But she was famous for making jokes, not nasty comments. I can’t think of even one teacher known for nasty comments in lessons. How would you know, unless you studied with her? Why do you say such things?
My teacher, Lucile Lawrence, was critical, but never nasty. She was a philosopher of the harp, always thinking and searching out valuable ideas. She had, to be sure, her own taste and views like any artist. She was incredibly inspiring, intelligent, and attracted many of the most talented and intelligent students of the harp. The one comment I have heard and made from every student after a lesson was, “She was wonderful.” I sometimes added, “Olympian.” She had a longer career than almost anyone, and saw and participated in making history. So you definitely can’t be talking about her. I have, however, heard people make nasty comments ABOUT her, which were totally uncalled for. Great people tend to attract that kind of jealousy and envy that causes negative comments.
Most performing arts students have to give up what they love just to work. Some reach such a high level of artistry that it is impossible to sustain it in the real world, or they prefer to leave it unsullied and move on. Others take what they have learned and apply it in other professions and become great successes. And some have dual careers. I know two harpists who are both harpists and lawyers. Practical matters get in the way, no matter how good one is.
The American Harp Society stays away from such issues, perhaps wisely. Being a member of the Musician’s Union is one way of guaranteeing a degree of professionalism and having a (too-low) set minimum fee. Since this problem seems to exist everywhere, what is needed is a Guild of Professional Harpists that sets regional minimums for types of gigs for members, and requires that members have at least a college degree in music with a harp major, and perhaps require an audition with some minimum playing standards.
That way, a Guild membership will be a guarantee to clients and members, and can have rules like not trashing each other, stealing gigs, and other behavior problems.
This is definitely needed for teaching. This way, those who cannot be members will get what they can from people who don’t care.
Maybe it won’t work. What does work is when harpists get together and agree on set minimums for weddings and such that will work in their region, and agree not to undercut each other.My mother was an acupuncturist, and she had an electroacupuncture device, with which she could measure energy levels by fluctuation in resistance or something like that. She consistently found improvement in energy after I played the harp. I would encourage you to do whatever is comfortable, even if it is just playing one note over and over, to feel the vibrations.
Why aren’t you taking lessons? A teacher will show you how to practice, and playing for a teacher is an essential part of improving.
I would be happy to offer you such lessons, but where are you located that you can’t find a teacher? I can’t believe there isn’t one within 60 miles of you. Perhaps you haven’t considered making the journey? Many of us made long journeys to have our lessons. I nearly got frostbite one winter going to my lessons.
That’s all we need. Electricity requires a power source, uses energy, and introduces the risk of fire, short-circuiting, electrocution. One of the great beauties of music is the fact that it does NOT require power other than human. We need to be in control of our instruments and our music. Digital music will easily become a crutch, just like tuners.
I think your main concern should be the quality of what the teacher is teaching. If the teacher is being strict in order to be clear, then your daughter needs to know that and grow up. You have to get tough at some point to be a musician. This is not a reason to leave a good teacher. You can ask the teacher to find gentler words, certainly. It just sounds like the teacher is very direct and clear-cut, and that is not a bad thing at all. Namby-pamby teachers who baby students along for years while they merely inch along in terms of progress do them no favor.
It seems like learning new pieces is getting more difficult, but improving old ones is getting easier.
For reasons of wear and tear, teachers may not let students play on their best harps. But if you are finding this detrimental, you should bring your own harp to a lesson. Sure it is frustrating, but you should also be used to the difference and develop the ability to adjust. But I certainly would criticize any teacher who is not changing their strings annually, particularly if they are making money from teaching. That is just plain rude, and sub-standard. I would not blame you for looking for another teacher, one who has a decent harp to teach on. Skype is no substitute for hands-on learning. But if those teachers never touch you to guide you, then I would be happy to give you video lessons.
Yes, any color that is the same as the strings is a nightmare. An alternative to a rug is a floor-cloth, ie. oilskin.
The other solution is a footlight, at the base of the column. If you line it up right (and tape down the cord so it doesn’t move), the column will block the bulb from your eyesight, and it will illuminate the strings, making them shine. Or spotlights from above may help accomplish the same effect.
