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I think one of the keys also, is establishing a mood. What does this song evoke in you, and what kind of mood would you want to play it in? That should indicate to you a type of figuration that can be constant, just changing notes to follow the harmony, and the hard part, of course, is a contrasting B section. It’s sort of proto-composing. If you arpeggiate the chords between the melody notes, you should be able to improvise on that for much of a song.
Heidi Lehwalder’s landmark recording with the Orpheus Trio is now available on line, at least, at arkiv.com, as a historic rerelease from Vanguard, and is quite inexpensive.
I would recommend listening to great jazz musicians and arrangers before delving into a lot of harp arrangements without knowing who does it well, who is doing pop, and who is doing it without really knowing the harp’s voice. There is a lot out there. And so many styles and types of jazz. Some of the big bands had harpists in them that did more than play glissandos. I got a Dorothy Ashby recording at long last, and while it had neat arrangements, her parts are not that clear, though stylish. You definitely need to develop a lot of technique to do it well. I heard a song from a Carol Robbins recording on the radio that had some good ideas in it and was well played. Watch out for pedal noise, and play rhythmically as well as melodically.
Thank you Julieanne, for that most perceptive and appreciative description of Miss Lawrence’s work. I had forgotten it had some of those characteristics. As I mentioned earlier, at Boston University they later worked out an elaborated version of the piece with lots of added voices as you describe, and boy did it detract from the piece. Baroque music performed in “period style” can be so tacky and tasteless, just like pop music today. Give many performers a chance to improvise and show off, and they’ll ruin your music for sure. I couldn’t stand the recording of the concerto with lute because I couldn’t get that darn lute part out of my head. It was convincing, but again, detracted so much from the poor harp. I don’t know what you’re talking about Evangeline, but the urtext editions of the Handel are easily available, and are probably all based on a manuscript in the British Museum. But it takes a lot of skill, learning and experience to edit/realize a baroque piece for harp, especially if you only have melody and figured bass. Miss Lawrence did have a fantastic sense of music and intuition into its psyche. Her edition of the C.P.E. Bach Sonata may vary somewhat from the so-called original, but it tends to improve it in the process. She knew what she was doing from her vantage point. Even though she defended Salzedo’s ornamentation, which improved with time, she studied it well, to her everlasting credit. She would have been so pleased to hear your comments, Julieanne.
I have met technicians that think it is okay to load the harp on its column. I don’t. They have not conducted tests that they told me of. What do they care if you have to replace the neck? They’re the ones you pay to replace it. The ones who said so are also fairly young and have not been in the business a very long time, or have not been reliable.
One experience with the harp undergoing torsion in the neck is enough for me. At the very least, it threw off the tuning. If you’re going to load it on the column, I say, figure out a way to provide structural support to its angle and knee-block, with a protective frame. You don’t want a big bump throwing the knee against the roof of the car. With the harp on its side, the pressure is somewhat equalized all the way around, but a lot goes on the column. On the column loading, you have the base protruding into the floor, which seems to me would increase the pressure on the bottom body frame and the sounding board, and transfer more vibrations and bumps there. I’m just old-fashioned, I guess. And no, they would not let copies be made of that tray.
I just received my copy of the Lawrence edition and am extremely
pleased with it. The solo-tutti contrasts are more clearly stated
through dynamics and texture. The dense textures are reserved for
important structural moments and cadences. This creates stronger
forward momentum in the formal structure. The clarity of Baroque
harmonies (without added sevenths, etc) and clean voicing of chords are
a relief to my ear in being consistent with the style. I did enjoy some
of the added inner voices in the Salzedo edition because he connected
gestures with linear motion and added some antiphonal effects, but the
absence of these also heightens the contrast between solo and tutti and
gives the concerto an overall increased delicacy, in my opinion.With so few masterworks from this period available for students it is
unfortunate to predominately use editions that do not teach correct
performance practice in terms of ornamentation and chord voicing. The
modern editions have aesthetic beauty, but at some point should
probably become more of a specialty presentation of the works and the
more stylistically accurate editions be the norm. Otherwise harpists
will not be as well informed as other classical musicians in regard to
early music.P.S. It seems like it has been ten to fifteen years that many people have been using smaller vans, which is not long in terms of harp lifespan and seeing wear-and-tear show up. As I said, I would choose extra care. I took enough risks with my harp, and it has had to have two neck replacements, a bottom-body frame repair twice, a new base and refinishing. I would add to any cradle something to cup around the knee-block and attach to the bottom of your cradles to hold the angle of the harp steady. My first teacher, Frances Miller, had something made for her wagon, that looked like the backside of a trunk. It was a wooden tray with sides, with hand holes on the sides, that would slide out and lay down, she would set the harp into it, pick it up and slide it in, and attach it with bungee cords to the wheelwells of her Country Squire. It was fantastic. Now if someone would make one of those available cheaply! No slush on the bottom of the harp, no scraping on the car. She had two made and that’s all.
The reason I don’t agree is that a neck replacement is not something that would show up immediately. It may seem like normal aging when in fact it has been hastened by on-column transport. Unless the whole harp is rigidly fixed in place, you are leaving its knee-block, the most vulnerable part of the harp, unsupported. I think it is far wiser to err on the side of caution. If you can move it in its trunk on the column side, that would seem safe. I would like to be reminded, does the higher floor of the van make it easier to load or harder than a lower station wagon floor?
As for the pick-up truck, you forgot to mention adding the chains, jacks and shovels to pack around the harp!
I think your work is pioneering, Sunita, and it would help me to use your books if you considered going both directions, and have a very bare-bones version of a song on the left page, and one more fully worked-out on the right page. It helps to have ideas of how to develop a song stylistically, especially if it is Sephardic, and then I could write out my ideas on the sparer page. One thing that would help in terms of lighting is to have the notes bigger or all the printing more bold. I would also appreciate a blurb describing the use and tradition behind a song, because it is so easy to pick the wrong one for the situation, especially if you don’t know Hebrew or Yiddish, or that an Ashekenazi family or a Lubavitch family would never use such-and-such, where a cosmopolitan family or Sephardic family would. Or Orthodox vs. Reform, Reconstructionist, Secular Humanist (no G-d words), etc. We’re so complicated.
What I have had is the most surprising last-minute changes coming from the rabbi. Rabbis are not necessarily well-trained in music, as are cantors, so you may need advice from more than one source. Klezmer music is another source for tunes, especially recessional and after. Simon Tov is indeed awkward with all those repeated notes in the melody. One solution is to play them as alternating octaves like in d minor: 414 (ddd)2(a)414 (ddd) with the fifth thrown in; use that as a pattern for the melody as it moves upward. Mazel Tov adf a-a-g#-a fed works better and they can be played in sequence, so you only have to do Simon Tov once.
Hi,
This is Sunita speaking, although it isn’t my email and it is a little bit after the discussion, but I thought that I’d clear up a few things.
I selected all
I decided to order a copy of the Lawrence inspired by your
recommendation, Saul. I am very glad to hear it can be played as a
solo. Balancing appropriate voicings and ornamentation
with the resonance of the modern pedal harp sounds like the best match
for my aesthetic values. I learned the Salzedo version, but would
prefer a more Baroque sound. He voices the chords for great resonance
and I can see what could attract someone to the lush quality of it, but
I prefer more focus on the performance practice of the time.
