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One of the interesting things I found was looking in old publishers catalogues and finding pieces that had gone out of print, and there is a reprint of an 18th-century Breitkopf & Haertel catalog that has several harp works listed in it. If one were to do a complete bibliography of harp music, one would have to search all those old sources. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone in Germany would unearth all those old pieces.
The Morceau de Concours is a recital piece, that’s right. But the one for flute doesn’t compare to the harp pieces, so it may have been retitled for sale. I would have to get it out and look at the explanation. My recollection is that it is a sight-reading piece. Maybe not.
Oxford University Press did publish the two that Miss Costello found, there should be dealers who still have copies, they are wonderful pieces.
I don’t think of it as demanding in the way that his Concierto Serenata is, but to perform it as well as a fine guitarist would certainly be quite demanding. The harp transcription by Rodrigo is available from harp music dealers, any music dealer can order it, I think it is a Schott publication.
I think the Owens transcription of the Sicilienne is the most playable and meant to be accessible. The tasty things he omits are very hard to do. I like my transcription from the score, but it is very challenging.
This leads to another question: were all of the harpists in the Casadesus quartet members of that famous musical family? Perhaps that is why the father composed 24 Preludes for viola d’amore and harp.
I think I saw the Honegger in the rental catalog. The Greek listing suggested that there might be library copies around.
A tip to harpists: there are many more pieces for harp to be found in rental catalogs of publishers. For instance, the Schirmer rental catalog includes the harp with orchestra arrangements of MacDowell’s To a Wild Rose and the Liadow
And another:
Prelude and Blues for harp quartet by Artur Honegger.
Actually, that is more like a tremolo or enharmonic trill. Bisbigliando generally means a triad played with both hands on either the same notes or different inversions that overlap. A famous example of it is in Chabrier’s Espana. There are also bisbigliando passages that travel up and down the harp, a famous example of which is in the Pierne Impromptu-Caprice which starts at the top and works its way down to set at the bottom. Hasselman’s Follets is all bisbigliando. The special quality of a bisbigliando comes from replacing over and over on the same strings, barely touching them.
Playing two adjacent notes is a trill, and a third apart or more is a tremolo. Playing a chord as an arpeggio over and over is also a tremolo.
Suppose a harp was built with such a strong body and neck that it had no column? Hmmm. You could sure call that a bow brand.
I think some brands are plated rather than solid. The outer wire on Bow brand strings should be, well not sterling silver, but mostly silver? Somebody posted about this before, either Carl, or Howard, or Bernhard.
Are they providing music for the Britten?
I believe, that if you really want to audition, according to union rules, you can show up and they have to hear you.
It is very much a part-time job, I suspect, and they only want local players, perhaps. Or have someone(s) in mind already.
I personally find the piano more difficult. My hands are well set for the harp, and the spacing of piano keys is much wider. I was never physically comfortable with some aspects of playing, and never learned that much in the way of using real technique on the piano. I do find, however, the harpsichord to be much easier, as the keys are spaced like harp strings, and the responsiveness is similar. But, boy, do they need tuning. We have it easy by comparison.
You make excellent points, Carl. One never knows where the conductor will be in the score. It is important that our rests and tacets not only match the score, but have cues of what is happening
Why do you think that only thickness would affect the sound? The difference between silver and an alloy with nickel would be elemental, so to speak.
