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If you are having harp lessons, I would get in touch with the instructor now regarding the harp, and what music to bring to work on.
Cleveland and Buffalo, or Erie, are the closest cities. Chautauqua is, or was, dry, so you won’t be able to sip sherry between lessons. No alcohol permitted. The lake is rather cold, so the swimming is brisk, the waves can be big, and the water deep. The professional orchestra is quite wonderful and do concerts about three nights a week. I had a charming practice cabin in the woods. Bring mosquito repellent, or get some when you arrive. There are limited shops, and they tend to be expensive. It can be cool at night, and quite hot by day. You might want to make side trips to The Gorge-they’ll know what you mean-and to Mayville, a town full of psychics.
I would bring spending money for snacks and whatever. If you won’t have use of a car, you will be there for the duration. It’s a large colony, but enlosed by a wall, which can feel odd after a few weeks. It has many Victorian homes and long-time permanent summer residents. I hope you enjoy it.Working abroad is an option when an orchestra holds auditions in this country. Quite a few harpists worked in Latin American orchestras in the 1980s and 90s. Some work on cruise ships, and now we see positions in resorts in the Middle East.
My impression is that in many foreign countries, where schools and orchestras are state-supported, we Americans cannot get any jobs. Or, at least that was known to be true of German orchestras, and maybe still true with teaching positions. Very few are ever advertised, but the internet at least makes it possible to find out about them. Meanwhile, some of our positions are held by foreign-born harpists, as we are more open to immigration than the countries they came from. There is certain to be more government arts funding in European countries, at least until very recently. It is quite hard for American harpists to do well, I don’t think many people realize that. It is very competitive, the resources are unevenly distributed, the level of harp activity varies widely from one area to another, etc. Many people here wish to play harp and can’t afford one, or the instruction. Most students who inquire about lessons seem to only have enough for lessons or an instrument, but not both.Boieldieu was a very well-known and successful opera composer. He was not a harpist-composer, but he did write quite a few pieces using harp.
I suggest that you get a book on ornamentation, Mr. S. The most comprehensive reference is by Frederick Neumann, and it covers ornamentation in each period and style of baroque and classical music. Most editions from the years 1850 or so to 1990 or so print the ornaments incorrectly. They write appoggiaturas as grace notes before the beat, the first note of trills is written before the beat, but even if you simply read the Saint-Saens edition of the works of Rameau, I believe you will find by reading the introduction, that no matter how the notes are placed on the page, an ornament takes its rhythmic value from the following note, which means it begins ON the beat, and if it is coming from a higher note, it begins with the note above the melody note, not the melody note, with some exceptions.
Bochsa explains it clearly in the Universal Method, which also shows how late in the 19th century ornaments were still played ON the beat with the UPPER auxiliary note starting, ie. DCDC for a trill marked on a C, not CDCDC.
The two ornaments that seem to occur between the notes are a turn, and what I am currently calling a liaison, such as playing AB between a written G and a following C. This occurs in Gluck, for example. Turns are common enough.
Another good reference is the book by CPE Bach, the Art of Continuo Playing, which is also rather entertaining to read.
ALL harpists who play anything written before the 20th century must learn at least the basic rules of reading and playing ornaments to play music of those periods. If they do not, they will not sound literate to any musician or music lover who understands baroque and classical music, and I would not want to be in that position.
The only exception I would make to that rule is if you are playing a transcription by Renie, Grandjany or Salzedo, in which case you should do as they have written. But better to learn to make your own transcription, then, with proper ornamentation and registration. Many of Salzedo’s transcriptions do have correct ornamentation, depending on when he made them. The early French editions of the 20th century engraved ornaments in a misleading way, putting all the notes before the beat, even though the introduction says to begin the ornament on the beat.
There have been other threads on this subject. I think every conservatory should be teaching this to their students. To not know the difference between ornaments is to not understand the music very well. They have purpose and function, and are not mere decorations.
This is not an organized lecture on the subject, but I hope a spur to do one’s own investigations.
As for the opening of the Boieldieu, since we do not have an urtext edition, it is hard to say if the turn leading into the trill should begin on the beat or just before. What is more rhythmic? If you do it before, keep the beat that has been established. I think the first two notes should be played just before so the trill begins on the upper auxiliary on the beat with an accent. If you are doing a one-handed trill for some reason, then starting the whole thing on the beat will reduce the number of beats/alternations that you have to put in the trill.Why I don’t like a one-handed trill: it lacks the freedom, flow, brilliance and flexibility of a keyboard trill or one on most other instruments. I have not heard many harpists who could do one that well, and I find it physically risky. A two-handed trill, on the other “hand” allows for complete freedom of execution. One may vary the speed, the tempo, the number of beats/alternations, the dynamics, the texture, the reverberance, all those wonderful things, and I am known for my trills, if I may say so.
Some music where trills should start on the upper note on the beat: Handel, Bach, Scarlatti, Dussek, Spohr, Naderman, Bochsa and others of those periods. A triple meter piece such as a rondo may be an exception, in which a “snap” is called for; in that case you play a very short grace note with a strong accent on the melody note. For Parish-Alvars and later, you might start on the beat with the melody note or some other arrangement.
With 20th Century composers who are writing in a classical style, it is tricky. I look at the musical function. Is the trill there for dissonance and accent? Then on the beat with the upper note. Is it there for melodic decoration? Then on the beat with the melody. What are the other instruments doing? In Halffter’s Sonatina, there are different ornaments happening in different instruments, so the conductor should coordinate everyone for unity.
I talk to my harp to tell it what kind of tone I want. Establishing command is part of directing the wood’s response to your playing. Seriously. Studies have shown that wood fibers realign themselves differently according to whom is playing, so by talking to my harp, I think I establish clearer intention, and it focuses my intention. As a result, my harp has changed, and become a stunning instrument.
Moving across country can be done by truck. I would get the large cardboard box from Lyon & Healy, if that’s what would fit, and find a trucking company that will take it in one vehicle, no transfers, with temperature control if in the summer. If it has to transfer once, in Chicago, that would not be too bad, as the boxes are well padded.
It certainly does test one’s endurance. When you know it securely, you should be able to play the notes more easily and increase the tempo then. Composer’s tempos are what they hear in their head, and minus the acoustics and effort. So, shaving 20 numbers is quite normal. I believe the left hand under the trill is played by the strings, so you don’t need to duplicate that. A two-handed trill is the only trill on the harp that sounds like a trill should sound, except for a four-note trill. The ornaments should be played on the beat and beginning on the upper auxiliary, ie. not as written, but in the baroque-classical manner. The piece is all melody, and needs to sing just as a lyric soprano or coloratura would. The left hand does not have enough to do for my taste. The orchestration is simple but exciting. It is a very energetic piece. The Dussek concertos are a finer alternative, if one is needed.
Thank you Sarah, for all that insight. Indeed, my bedroom has 12 foot ceilings and a small recess in a wall that gives it a nice bit of echo, but there is too much ambient noise and a very tall window that would be hard to block off completely.
I would not mic close to the hands because you pick up all kinds of finger noise and attack, and that is not the sound of the harp. The best recordings I have had so far have been at least six feet away from the harp.
I would never use a click track. Music is not meant to be metronomic. For overdubbing, or studio work, that’s different.
I have a chapel to record in, just have to select an engineer now.There are many who want to be a harpist, but does the harp want them?
To be an artist of the harp requires many hours of daily practice, probably three or more by high school, the finest instruction, and five hours daily practice from age 18-35 or so, a selective repertoire—not too little, not too much, impeccably prepared and of impeccable quality; taste, discretion, I think dignity, but more than anything else, artistic sensitivity and intellectual interest. I think some harpists fall short there, they are happy to be able to play the notes and never delve any deeper. We have enough of that already. So when someone says they want to be the best, what does that mean to them? To be a Casals or a Rubinstein? To be a (fill in the name of a current harpist)? An orchestral job is a fine thing, a unique challenge that suits people oriented to ensemble playing. It used to be that being a soloist was a higher calling for a unique individual with an artistic vision. But to do it as a career now is to face the unknown. It isn’t impossible, but it does require convincing a lot of people along the way, and a lot of resources, especially financially. Unless you are young enough to get hooked into a lot of scholarship and competition opportunities.
So, it is one thing to think of yourself as a burgeoning star, it is quite another to actually be one, to do the work to become one, to have the luck to succeed, and to have the network to support it.
There are some alternatives, such as having a chamber ensemble or duo that tours. Working abroad is another.
