Historical Harp Conference Itinerary

Sunday July 23, 2023

• 9.00 coffee and registration

• 9.30-10.30 Session 1: Historical Damping Techniques for Harps and Psalteries with Bill Taylor

  • Detailed techniques from Welsh and Irish sources for playing gut- and wire-string harps using fingernails and damping can be used for interpreting a wide range of repertoires, from medieval to modern styles. They are also appropriate for reconstructing techniques for playing psaltery, the lesser-understood cousin of the harp.

• 10.30-11.30 Session 2: 19th -century Welsh and Irish Harps: Authentic Revival or Invented Traditions? with Nancy Hurrell

  • In the 19th century, Welsh and Irish harps were perceived as revived versions of true ‘native’ instruments; but were they actually newly invented traditions? Movements to promote national harps and music at festivals struggled with the contradictions of embracing modern harp designs and allowing the inclusion of classical harp repertoire.

• 11.30-12.00 coffee

• 12.00-1.00 Session 3: Modes & Moods with William Jackson

  • Exploring how different forms of ancient Scottish and Irish scales and modes might relate to the practice of modern music therapy, for instance how variations on a simple musical theme might be employed in a therapeutic setting to move from a single vocal sound into a shared conversation and interaction.

• 1.00-2.30 lunch

• 2.30-3.30 Session 4: “The King of the Harmony”: Continuo and its Modern Evolution with Adriano Sangineto

  • This session deals with the role of harp as a leading instrument of early harmony, the so-called “continuo”. A bass line can change the mood, lead the rhythm and give different nuances of a tune to become one of the main factors responsible for the aesthetics of music.

• 3.30-4.15 Session 5: From Orfeo to Orfeo: Harps for Seducing, Harps for Healing, Harps for Shouting! with Mara Galassi

  • Discussing the role and development of chromatic harps in baroque opera during the 17th and 18th centuries, including triple harp in Monteverdi’s Orfeo in 1607 and hook harp in Gluck’s Orfeo in 1762.

• 4.15-5.00 Session 6: Harp Construction from 1607-1762 with David Brown

  • Notes on different aspects of the construction and stringing of Italian double and triple harps, Welsh triple harps, chromatic German Davidsharfen, and hook harps.

• 5.00-6.00 Triple Harp Playing Session with Christa Patton

  • Christa Patton leads an informal session, inviting participants to play triple harps and to ask questions.

• 8.00 pm Evening concert, featuring:

  • William Jackson, Adriano Sangineto, Christa Patton, Nancy Hurrell and Mara Galassi