Tristitiae

Yes: I'm disagreeing that chromaticism is not idiomatic for the harp. (once you've picked through that hideous double-negative...) The technical restrictions only apply in extreme cases, such as direct shifts during a note decay and double-sided pedalling. In much of Wagner's music the harpist is changing pedals every quaver note. For a good harpist, pedal fluidity is a vital element of performance; and this piece is playable. Basically I'm saying that a harp is no more exclusively diatonic than a piano is exclusively chromatic. (also modern harps are known generally as "pedal harps" to differentiate them from a late nineteenth century development known explicitly as the "chromatic" or double-strung harp that Debussy famously wrote for, further proving my point.)

I love love love the open fifths on the ends of phrases, that's very authentic. Some of the chords seem a little awkwardly placed though, e.g. the last beat of the second bar and the first beat of the third bar: there's no real resolution and it feels like it meanders until the cadence. The second cadence point is really strong, though. I think that the words are great and that you've set them really well!

The one I'm studying at the moment for my HSC... the Telephone Aria from Menotti's opera, "The Telephone". It's scarily fun to sing - basically a coloratura ditz singing a one-sided phone conversation - but staccato between high A and C? A gliss running to a sustained high D, and then a chromatic run downwards? I know I'm not a coloratura or anywhere near good enough to be considered thus, so I don't know why I'm singing it - but it's so much fun! One of my other pieces is rather avant-garde; nearly completely atonal (ever tried singing one atonal melody to an atonal accompaniment?) and the voice part is half spoken and filled with odd quirks like note bends and Sprechstimme. It's just hard to get out of the classical mindspace and into this weird piece.

Thank you for your kind comments! I am afraid I have to admit that the only influence that I can see now was, at the time, a preoccupation with modulation to the relative minor via the IV chord. I wrote 3 or 4 compositions entirely the same, but the ^above is the only one I even tried to orchestrate. And then didn't even get that far. I am afraid that I don't actually know to new age music. Um. But yes, the piano part was basically to reinforce the chords because I think I hadn't even sat piano grade 1 back then. Bagpipes? Very inventive! But if new age/celtic is the direction which you sense, then perhaps I shall experiment. Thank you!

D C B | E F G A - harpists can only change one pedal per side at a time, but they can change two sides at once: i.e. F# + G# together are impossible, but F# + C# works. - surefire way to irritate a harpist: give him a score with pedal/lever diagrams written in. Every harpist has his own preference for how pedal changes work, where they are, and whether or not to tune notes enharmonically - for example, in the "Wolcum Yole" of Britten's Ceremony of Carols that I'm learning at the moment, I tune to G to a Gb to imitate the F#, simply because in the fast quaver figure, I'm less likely to fall off the strings and lose the note. - If you're writing in quick chromatic changes in soft music, you must remember to work around the fact that, simply, pedals make NOISE. Horrible, horrible noise. If you've just plucked a C and want a C# straight after, it's possible, but if the string is unmuffled, will make a horrid metallic grind as the pedal grip moves against the string. This applies to all octaves, so you can't escape. Enharmonics is the way out of this, as in most harp situations. - Don't forget that you don't have to write for pedal harp. Lever harps - also known as Celtic or folk harps - work on a different principle: the chromatic levers are up the top, so you can easily have different pitches raised or lowered in different octaves. Of course, changes are limited - because lever harps are tuned usually to C or Eb, you can only have the key signatures that fall in the diatonic scales of both those keys. For example, you can't have a non-enharmonic D#. Also, to change levers, the harpist must take his left hand off the string: good players can do it quickly and imperceptibly, but it's hard. And lever harps generally have a smaller range than pedal harps: my concert grand has 47 strings, my lever harp has 34. But lever harp is fantastic for harp jazz! We don't see enough of that around here. I hope some of that made sense! - t.

The instruments sit admirably in your hands! I'm a little doubtful about the placing of some of the syllables, and a few melisma notes are possibly too long for the high pitch. It would have been nice to hear, as well, more of a recapitulation rather than restatement in the last "Pie Jesu" section, with more of the orchestra returning, a la Faure? But lovely, by all means. The "pie jesu" motif fits perfectly.

I certainly am impressed by the overall sound of it, but it's ... not much fun, is it? Concertos are rather thought of to be challenging pieces, but playing a monophonic arpeggiated and rather harmonic line is pretty boring for the performer.

I disagree. I think it's a very lovely and evocative piece, and from a brief reading of the score, it's not too difficult. if you've seen Faure's harp music, or Debussy's parts for it in his orchestral scores, you'll notice that the chromatic quality is intense - this was a nearly explored feature of late Romantic music, after all. And unless there are two pedal changes on the same side of the instrument at the same time (as you say, 3 on the left, 4 on the right), it's playable. Difficult, but playable. Most of the accidental paraphernalia in this piece seems to be indicative of accidentals in other octaves, which is why it looks overloaded - there doesn't appear to be more than two pedal changes per figure, and even the more difficult can be ironed out quietly and if need be, enharmonically.

It's lovely! But there's one section about half-way through where the harp has a little figure on a repeated E in quavers and semi-quavers - unless you had a break in the left hand, or had the F tuned to a flat to produce the note enharmonically, it's impossible to play it that fast. It would turn out all weird and muffled. If you brought the second note down a couple of tones so that the E could be played by the thumb and the second finger bounced off the second note, then it would be possible. Or if you just diminished the rhythm. Also, a lot of the quaver runs and jumps don't really fit the harpist's hand. Do you want me to have a close look at it, so the harpist that you give it to doesn't stare at you with wild eyes and then cast himself out of the nearest window?

Une larme. By Mussorgsky. After having played piano for 4 years? I am truly... tragic. But, am learning Britten's "Interlude" and "Balulalow" (try saying that 10 times fast) on harp. And, am actually managing it! Which is weird, because they're Con entrance pieces and I've only been learning for a year. But, I guess I don't play very well, so it all evens out. And I'm singing the Telephone Aria and Song of the Black Swan, both by Menotti, for my HSC. SO in love with my repetoire!

I'm addicted to contemporary Australian composers, so - Graeme Koehne. (I want to go and study at the uni of Adelaide because he's chair of composition there! Even though I hate composing.) And Andrew Ford! Because he wrote the piece that made me fall in love with atonal music, and he replied to the email that I sent fangirling him <3

Oh! Oh! And I almost forgot! Mussorgsky's "Une Larme"!

Music that makes me so happy that I could die to it: Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Arvo Part: Cantus in Memorium Benjamin Britten Faur

One of a group of pieces I dashed down after being inspired by Oscar Wilde's poetry a couple of years ago. Submitted it for my year 10 composition. Nearly failed. I can't quite see how it's that bad. Can I perhaps have a little criticism on it? mp3: requiescat - eSnips, share anything (recorded the day I wrote it. I was 15, I think, which is why I sound like a boy soprano. I still do, sort of. Odd story: every time I tried to play it back, after the first bar everything turned to oboes, so I turned it into a synth effect for this recording alone.) Not quite sure how to make up a downloadable score. Help? Tread lightly, she is near Under the snow, Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow. All her bright golden hair Tarnished with rust, She that was young and fair Fallen to dust. Lily-like, white as snow, She hardly knew She was a woman, so Sweetly she grew. Coffin-board, heavy stone, Lie on her breast, I vex my heart alone, She is at rest. Peace, peace, she cannot hear Lyre or sonnet, All my life's buried here, Heap earth upon it. req.mid req.sib

I'm so loving this. I suck at criticisms, but - if it's not too impertinent - would you let me have a shot at recording it? I'm a harpist and a singer who can work a little bit with a pan flute, and I've got a multi-tracking program handy... Please? <3 t.