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I saw Candide with such an orchestration, and it truly “sucked.” But the production wasn’t that good, either. The best production of the ones I have seen, including the Bernstein revisions, was by far the one done by Minnesota Opera company. It had a small, but full orchestra, and was wonderfully witty. I wouldn’t go see it again, unless it was something like that production. It certainly needs the harp. Doing “A Little Night Music” without harp would be equally tragic.
However, there are many harpists who are sufficiently trained, but go into other careers. They should be filling such posts. And it is good exposure for a professional as well.
As far as I know, it is an industrial secret. They are made of different material, have a different surface. And if you play low on the string, they do sound quite the same as gut. What’s best is if you can get the heavy gauge strings.
I don’t know if that was the last one, but the last print catalog they did was too big for the older binder I had.
I doubt anyone has recorded it. His music is old avant-garde, and maybe even graphic notation. Marcella DeCray used to play that kind of thing. You might find it in the AHS tape library.
I’m running through all kinds of things, thinking about the future. Today I was in love with Deux Pieces by Robert Casadesus, and the Ballade by Damase for harp and strings.
http://www.pentacle-thebook.com
I’m waiting, too! It should be ready soon.
Oils are risky because they soak in, and can ooze out while playing, leading to greasy strings. Bag balm and the cream I mentioned are very absorbable.
Harp Connection has a truly great 23 for sale right now. They are calling it Bionic.
Wouldn’t it be better if you bit your nails? Biting the part you need is not helpful. You don’t need a break. The skin is always growing. You can use a lotion with urea to help shed the old skin. If the skin is bothering you because it is tight, the lotion may help. I prefer nivea soft now, or bag balm, but my skin is soft to begin with. Yours might be hard. You may be practicing too loud too much of the time. A Russian harpist I know did that and had hard surfaces to her callouses. You could sand most of them off, then rebuild them carefully, with no glissandi until they are strong.
Wire strings start to dull around six months.
I use my printed ASCAP and BMI catalogs. Unfortunately, their websites are not yet searchable by instrumentation.
I would like you to investigate all the manuscripts of Prokofiev to see just how many pieces he wrote for harp. Don Henry once hinted to me that there was another one yet unpublished, so he must have seen it somewhere.
You could write a thesis about the Concerto for Harp by Boris Tishchenko.
You could write a thesis about the Russian elements in the Concerto for Harp by Nicolai Berezowsky.
You could search for other historic harp music in the libraries. You could write about the symbolic role of the harp in Tchaikovsky’s ballets, operas and symphonic music.
You could write about the influence of the Party on the lives of harpists in the early 20th century, how they were affected by the Revolution, or the lives they lived under
