new works for harp and electronics

Jakez is used to my calling him and saying "you know you're coming to Munich from Beijing via Paris at the start of September?  Well, in London on the Thursday...".  Sadly, this time the travel gods were against us - but we are very grateful to Alex Rider for being our London correspondent, and sending me this review of Elizabeth's Scorah's recital of many new works for the blue harp.  

The Big Blue: New Works for Harp and Electronics: Elizabeth Scorah, Harp

September 10, 2009- Royal Academy of Music, London

As many harp students will know, there is a lot more to presenting a performance exam than a mere succession of pieces, arranged chronologically and delivered to a panel of passive, dehumanized adjudicators. Far from it; now there is much emphasis on having a concept, of making a presentation that will excite and entertain the intellect as well the ears. The idea of a ‘programme’ means that the pieces are given cohesion and context, things that breathe life not only into the audience experience but into the playing as well. The laterally thinking student might find also that the occasion is given a greater sense of meaning beyond the fulfillment of an academic requirement: the reward being a sense of a satisfaction equal to a ‘good mark’.

Currently studying for a Masters degree in performance at London’s Royal Academy of Music under Karen Vaughan, Elizabeth Scorah sought a way in which to enliven her exam performance Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane and Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro. Ravel’s luscious septet and Debussy’s subtle concerto-type work are beautiful but undeniably often-heard exam fare, and today’s harp student can be hard put to set them in a rich new context. France’s illustrious history of harp-design seems to have provided the answer: it is well-known that the competing efforts of the houses of Erard and Pleyel resulted in the creation of these works and this gave Elizabeth an idea. Camac today continues this tradition of harp innovation, and the Big Blue electro-acoustic harp has become synonymous with the cutting-edge .  So, when Elizabeth approached Jakez Francois in hopes of using the Big Blue harp in her exam, the result was an ambitious and intriguing recital concept: one that juxtaposed traditional repertoire with several new and specially commissioned works for the blue harp.

Elizabeth presented her large and enthusiastic audience with no less than five world premieres by composers John Chambers, Alfie Granger-Powell, David Snell, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Gareth Wood. Wood’s Minstrel  - an evocation of an ancient bardic scene - was approachably tonal, richly figured with chords, arpeggios and a well developed sense of the harp’s sound (unsurprising, given Wood’s long association with the Academy’s harp ensemble). David Snell’s work Reflections was also a soundly harpistic and sonically idiomatic offering, with an array of richly variegated timbres. Ayanna Witter-Johnson;s delicate and elegiac Forbidden Harmony made use of oriental motives and pentatonic constructions, again a familiar palate for the harp that made an impression largely through Elizabeth’s  sensitive and warmly coloured execution.

Although these works were performed on the blue harp, they made relatively minimal use of the electronic possibilities of the instrument,  in contrast to the bare sonic landscapes, and organic gestures of John Chambers’ It Spirals up from the Sea, and the considered constructions of Flux Stasis by Alfie Granger-Powell. This difference lay in not only the clearer demarcations between the traditional and the avant-garde, but also in terms of concept.  In their programme notes, Chambers and Granger-Powell describe creative processes which envisioned specifically the capabilities and construction of the Camac electro-acoustic harp, and for that I feel were the more successful additions in terms of the performer’s concept.  

Fortunately, Camac loaned not only the blue harp, but a stunning Atlantide Prestige concert harp for the Debussy and Ravel. From an audience point of view, having the acoustic harp enhanced the sense of contrast between the acoustic and electro-acoustic harps, whilst Elizabeth’s realization of the works demonstrated style, commitment and a sweet sound quality( as well as benefiting from the enthusiasm of her ensemble).  "It was like Christmas being let loose on the Big Blue" says Elizabeth, but what about her many collaborators? "Everyone has shown so much love, the ensemble, and the composers".  Composer John Chambers writes in his programme note of his excitement about writing for the blue harp, and how his piece was “structured very strongly around the new sonic possibilities it presents.’’

An endorsement indeed, and one which Elizabeth should consider building upon. It would be interesting to see her, and indeed other harpists, further exploring the capabilities of this instrument in this way, unhindered by the undeniably high stakes of a masters recital. For, perhaps in an another setting, the boundaries could be pushed much further. 

Alex Rider

Photo:  Yvonne White