Having just re-wound a harp that had its strings wound on to the front of the tuning pins, I wondered if there was any evidence as to which way the old harpers wound their pins.
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Here lies Lappin, harper’s king
Ann Heymann was probably the first person to spot the lyrics “Here lies Lappin” associated with Burns’s March, including them in her book Secrets of the Gaelic Harp (1988). Continue reading Here lies Lappin, harper’s king
Edith Taylor of Rahoy
I first became aware of Edith Taylor many years ago, from reading Frances Collinson’s book The traditional and national music of Scotland. After describing briefly the wire-strung clarsachs made by Arnold Dolmetsch, he writes:
Miss Edith Taylor, the first Honorary Secretary of Comunn na Clàrsaich, has one of these on which she once played for the writer at a B.B.C. ‘Country Magazine’ programme from Lochaline, Morvern.
Rose Mooney & Carolan
Back in 2013, I did my talk “Harps and Tunes: Matching instruments to repertory” at Scoil na gCláirseach in Kilkenny, and one of the harpers I talked about was Rose Mooney (from 39:24 in the video).
Scoil na gCláirseach
Last week was Scoil na gCláirseach in Kilkenny.
Great Uncle Victor
I knew about my Great Uncle Victor, because I have long had a photograph of my grandmother with her siblings as children. Victor is the wee boy front right.
Pedal harp in Irish harp tradition
Usually, the classical Anglo-European pedal harp is framed as the exact opposite of the Irish harp. But my recent visits to Hospitalfield house to see their 1830s Erard pedal harp have got me thinking about how these instruments fit in to the native traditions.
“Archæological” copies of old Gaelic harps
I found this project proposal I had written back in the Autumn of last year, but had never followed up on. Continue reading “Archæological” copies of old Gaelic harps
Erard Grecian harp
On Saturday I was at Hospitalfield house, near Arbroath. This amazing 19th century country house is now conserved and run as an arts centre. A recent project was to restore the Erard Grecian double-action pedal harp that has been at the house since about 1830.
Saturday’s event was an inaugural concert for the newly-restored harp, and I was asked to give the pre-concert talk on the harp and its place in Scottish music. Continue reading Erard Grecian harp
Verdant Works
Today I was at Verdant Works in Dundee. The High Mill of this 19th century jute factory is an interesting space for music events.
The video camera malfunctioned so there’s no video of the event for you. But here’s the complete audio: Continue reading Verdant Works