Connecticut College New London, CT
Friday, July 22
3:00: Arrival and Registration:
5:00: HHS Board Meeting
6:00: DINNER
7:30 Harp Film Festival!
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Saturday, July 23
9:00 Coffee/Daily registration
9:45 Welcome: Christa Patton, Director
10:00 Paul Knoke: The Single-Action Harp:
A history of the single-action pedal harp from its beginnings to the present
10:30 Paul Knoke: Single-Action Repertory and Technique
An overview of single-action solo, duet, and chamber repertory, and some differences between period and modern techniques
11:15 BREAK
11:30 Nancy Thym: Harfenjule (literally – “wandering harp ladies”)
Street harpers, history and repertoire in German speaking areas during the 18th century
12:15 LUNCH
1:30 Thilo Viehrig: Lyre Technique
Medieval depictions of lyre players (usually King David) show one hand of the player touching the strings in the “playing window” from behind while the other hand strums or plucks the strings from the front of the instrument. In this way, some strings are stopped or damped, so that they do not sound, while the open strings sound when the other hand strums across all the strings. The player must think in reverse to a harp: the strings which should NOT sound must be touched. Alternating damping and plucking in the left hand and strumming and plucking in the right hand offers a myriad of varied and complex musical possibilities. In order to experiment with this technique, instruments will be available to try out and for purchase. It is also possible to use this technique on a small harp.
2:15 Nancy Hurrell: Striking Harps in Castles and Museums
Historical harps examined in private castles and museum storage facilities in England, Ireland and Scotland. Decoration, innovative design, historical significance and evidence of restoration are seen on rare harps in private collections and storage facilities including the V&A, Horniman Museum, Royal Academy of Music Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, and the National Museum of Ireland.
3:00 BREAK
3:30 Judy Kadar: School of Paumann 1452 – Fundamenta, Pausae and Applications
Conrad Paumann was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians of the period. The virtuoso organist and multi-instrumentalist is credited with inventing German Lute tabulature. He wrote many pedagogical works and polyphonic compositions. His relevance to the 15th Century harp performance is the topic of the presentation.
4:15 Christa Patton: Dit de la Harpe by Guillaume de Machaut
Dit de la harpe, a nod in the direction of courtly and chivalric poetry sung and played on the harp. Machaut describes the nature of each string as it pertains to the qualities of his lady. Included are Bonté, Loyauté, Honnesté, Verité, Noblesse, Gentillesse, Largesse and an avoidance of Honte or pride, that quality most detested in a lady of the fourteenth century and after. This lecture will focus on the harp as an instrument of presentation in the performance of 14th century Lays, and on this poem as well as lyric texts set to music by Machaut as instruction to Ladies in their comportment as love objects.
5:00 HHS Board Meeting
6:00 DINNER
8:00 CONCERT: performed by members of the Historical Harp Society and guests
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Sunday, June 24
9:30 Coffee/Daily registration
10:00 Chiara Granata: Un’arpa grande tutta intagliata e dorata”
New documentation about the Barberini harp
Read by Christa Patton
10:45 Julia H Schröder: Surprising Harp Consorts in the 16th and 17th Century
The haut playing with the bas: New evidence that the harp was played with early trombones .
Read by Judy Kadar
11:30 BREAK
11:45 Annual Membership Meeting
1:00 departures and goodbyes……