This past Sunday I had the pleasure of playing for the wedding of some of my dear friends. They selected a beautiful venue for the ceremony - the enchanted garden of the Lavender Inn in downtown Ojai, California. Tucked away behind a tall fence on a quiet side street, it is casually elegant and private. With the eerie light of the annular eclipse that occurred during cocktail hour the ambiance was perfect for harp music in a garden.
What a beautiful bride and handsome groom - Mazel Tov to you Lisa and Scott!
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Last week I played Leonard Bernstein’s
Chichester Psalms with the SBCC Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir. What a dramatic piece of music! It took me several rehearsals to get used to the crazy chords and bluesy notes. Bernstein composed the two harp parts first and then composed the rest of the parts around them. It was nice to have the harps placed centrally and in front instead of being buried in the back of the orchestra behind the trombones - especially because we had such a nice view of the conductor and the rose window in the First United Methodist Church where the concert was held.
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I have the good fortune to play frequently for events at the San Ysidro Ranch, located in the hills above Montecito. From the gardens there is a beautiful view of the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other and no matter the time of year, something is always in bloom here. I played for a recent wedding at the Ranch and even though the clouds were hanging low on the hills, everything was perfectly lovely. The overcast weather made the flowers seem brighter and the wedding couple didn’t have to squint into bright sun for the photos. Best of all, the florist spread a romantic carpet of rose petals for the bride -- and the harp!
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Last Friday most of the world watched Prince William of England marry Kate Middleton in a fairy-tale perfect ceremony. Besides all the normal happiness and joy associated with such an event, there was also some raising of harp-consciousness among the general public, thanks to Will and Cate’s request that the Royal Harpist play for their reception back at Buckingham Palace.
Claire Jones currently holds the position of Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales, a traditional post that Prince Charles revived in 2000. Her job is to entertain the Prince’s guests on special occasions and she does so on a beautiful one-of-a-kind gold harp given to the Prince of Wales by Italian harp maker Victor Salvi. Lucky girl!
On the very same day, I played for Afternoon Tea at the Biltmore Four Seasons in Montecito with my own gold harp. Many of the guests wore hats nearly as eye-catching as some that were featured at Will and Cate’s wedding, so with that - plus the sparkling chandeliers, pots of Darjeeling tea, cucumber sandwiches and scones with cream and strawberry jam - I felt as if we were celebrating with Prince William and his new bride, albeit from several time zones away.
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Q. How many conductors does it take to change a light bulb?
A. No one knows... nobody has ever watched a conductor long enough to find out!
That seemed to be quite true during our symphony orchestra rehearsals over the last few months while working out Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Bach and Grøndahl. At any given time I would bet that only two-thirds of the orchestra members were actually paying any attention to the conductor -- and it sure sounded that way. However, at our concert two weeks ago everybody (even the brass section!) miraculously focused and we gave a solid performance of some challenging and beautiful music.
Granted, ensemble playing is a real juggling act. The players must read the music, listen to the rest of the ensemble without being distracted from their own part and keep their eyes on the conductor for cues all at the same time. It’s true multi-tasking.
For the harpist this presents an even bigger challenge as most of the other musicians don’t have to look at their instruments in order to play them. The eyes of the harpist are always moving between three points: the conductor, the page of music and the strings in order to see where to place the hands.
Some things that make this easier:
1) Memorize the music when there is an especially busy passage. When there are too many notes or pedal changes it can keep your eyes glued to the page. Memorizing the tricky section frees up your eyes so you can glance between the conductor for the downbeat and your strings so you can find that next big arpeggio.
2) Place the music stand close to the harp and high enough that the conductor appears just at the top of it from your line of sight. This way, you don’t have to move your head to take in everything. You can read the music and see the conductor at the same time with peripheral vision.
3) Listen! Get some recordings of the pieces you’re learning and play them frequently in your car while you drive, while you’re washing dishes, anytime. Your ears will get familiar enough with the music so they can begin to inform your fingers. You’ll feel more confident about entrances and won’t have to rely on the conductor for every cue.
Feeling pleased about the Tchaikovsky cadenza.
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