Sunday, 15 December 2013
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Spotlight on Helen Winter - guest artiste on our new album!
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| Helen Winter - Soprano |
We thought it would be fun to get to know Helen a bit better and find out how she found the experience of working with four harps, so we asked her a few questions....
How did you get involved with 4G4H's new album?
I had been working with Eleanor Turner and we wanted to record some tracks together. Ellie thought about the idea of working with all the girls on a project and we thought that a Christmas CD would be most popular and interesting to work on.
Have you ever worked with harps before?
Only one, with Eleanor.
Was there anything that suprised you about the music that you were recording?
The way we all worked so hard to get it right and the laugh we had doing it. I love the girls, they are fab to work with and we all get on so well which is perfect on these types of projects. I was honoured to be part of it.
The
arrangements that the girls had written themselves were really beautiful. They wrote perfectly for my voice. It was also quite
tricky in places.
What was the most challenging thing about recording with four harps?
The
most challenging thing was the rhythms in some of the carols, and also being aware which harps were
communicating with me whilst I was singing. It was vital that I always
knew who was my supporting part. It is so different performing with four
harps than performing with a piano. The girls are so gelled as one. They
know exactly what they need from each other all the time and for me to suddenly come
into a close knit group like this, was like a thorn in their side. I
also had to try and become one of them and know that each part was just
as important as my vocal melody - sometimes I was even used as part of
the accompaniment!
What was the most fun thing about recording with the group?
The way we all worked so hard to get it right and the laugh we had doing it. I love the girls, they are fab to work with and we all get on so well which is perfect on these types of projects. I was honoured to be part of it.
Do you have a favourite track from the new CD?
I think out of my songs, In the Bleak midwinter is my favourite, although I love the others too. I am looking forward to hearing all the other tracks they did on the album as I haven't heard them yet.
What other projects do you have in the pipeline at the moment?
Away
from music I have a love of animals. I am a trained Rodentologist and
keep guinea pigs as this is what I specialise in. I work alongside the
Cambridge Cavy Trust helping people with sick guinea pigs. I also have a
beautiful cocker spaniel who I adore spending time with, she also sings
along with me and my pupils.
Currently
I am working on a Poulenc opera which is happening in London on
November the 30th. It is a one act opera, 40 minutes long, all in French
and only one character in it: me! It is quite scary, but I am really
enjoying doing it.
What do you enjoy doing away from the world of music?
What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
Talented, beautiful, hardworking, great-friends (making that one word :)) and my fifth word: bonkers!
Spending time at home with my wonderful husband and my family. I love the sparkle and happiness that surrounds Christmas.
Describe 4G4H in 5 words
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| Official release date: 2 December |
Monday, 21 October 2013
Monday, 9 September 2013
Group member Harriet speaks to the Journal ahead of our concert for Hexham Abbey Festival on 27 September
Girls with harps descend on Hexham
A novelty of this year's Hexham Abbey Festival is a harp quartet. David Whetstone talks to founder member Harriet Adie
Musical groups often come in fours and quite often with strings attached. But
what those strings are usually attached to are guitars or maybe the
instruments of the string quartet – violin, viola, cello.
Harps seldom turn up en masse. In the orchestra it’s usually a lone exotic beast amid herds of violins and cellos, its contribution an understated ripple of refinement rather than an attention-grabbing roar.
A harp quartet, then, is a novelty. And judging by the success of 4 Girls 4 Harps since the group was formed in 2000 by young women studying at the Royal College of Music, there is a public appetite for its sound.
“We’re pretty unique, certainly in this country,” agrees Harriet Adie – whose gandma, since you’ll be wondering, once established that there is no family link to Wearside-born Kate, the BBC broadcaster.
“When we first started we were the only professional harp quartet in the country. “Another one started a couple of years ago but I think they’re more interested in a mixed repertoire whereas we’re straight classical.”
Harriet, who lives in London, came to the harp as a child through the medium of the ballet. “I loved ballet when I was young and there’s a lot of harp in ballet music, Swan Lake and other works by Tchaikovsky,” she recalls. “It was the sound I was most drawn to and wanted to make.” Harriet comes from a musical family. Mother Penny used to be a singer and now runs a music festival in the West Country where the harp – surprise, surprise – regularly features.
“But it took me two years to persuade my parents to let me play the harp,” recalls Harriet. “They were afraid I’d start to learn it and then give up six months later. In any case, we were living in the Middle East at the time and finding a teacher wasn’t straightforward.” All obstacles were overcome and Harriet ended up at one of London’s principal music colleges with other young women of like mind.“We were just friends who wanted to do the same thing,” she says, explaining how the group came to be.
In the early days the repertoire was fairly limited, with group members having to adapt duets for the four instruments. “But over the past few years we have commissioned other composers to write pieces for the group and two of us, myself and Eleanor (Turner), are both composers. “We take well-known pieces and adapt them for the harp quartet.” The line-up has undergone one or two changes over the years but now comprises Harriet, Eleanor, Keziah Thomas and recent recruit Elizabeth Scorah.
All have thriving careers as soloists and teachers but come together as 4 Girls 4 Harps, having adopted that catchy name three or four years ago “to make it clear what we were”. It could hardly be clearer, although Harriet says with a laugh: “We’ve discussed among ourselves if we can carry on calling ourselves girls if we’re still playing together in 10 years’ time.”
In common with many musicians, professional and personal lives can sometimes pull in different directions. Harriet has a 17-month-old boy and another baby on the way while Eleanor also has two children, a 17-month-old and a 10-year-old. Parenthood, says Harriet, “does make it more complicated but we’re used to having to fit things in. We have rehearsals at my house because it’s the easiest to get to.”
In Hexham you will hear the girls perform pieces by Shostakovich, Faure and Handel as well as Harriet’s new work for harp quartet, Elemental.
The concert is in Hexham Abbey on September 27 at 7pm. Hexham Abbey Festival runs from September 20-28.
Box office: 01434 652477.
Details: www.hexhamabbey.org.uk/festival
Harps seldom turn up en masse. In the orchestra it’s usually a lone exotic beast amid herds of violins and cellos, its contribution an understated ripple of refinement rather than an attention-grabbing roar.
A harp quartet, then, is a novelty. And judging by the success of 4 Girls 4 Harps since the group was formed in 2000 by young women studying at the Royal College of Music, there is a public appetite for its sound.
“We’re pretty unique, certainly in this country,” agrees Harriet Adie – whose gandma, since you’ll be wondering, once established that there is no family link to Wearside-born Kate, the BBC broadcaster.
“When we first started we were the only professional harp quartet in the country. “Another one started a couple of years ago but I think they’re more interested in a mixed repertoire whereas we’re straight classical.”
Harriet, who lives in London, came to the harp as a child through the medium of the ballet. “I loved ballet when I was young and there’s a lot of harp in ballet music, Swan Lake and other works by Tchaikovsky,” she recalls. “It was the sound I was most drawn to and wanted to make.” Harriet comes from a musical family. Mother Penny used to be a singer and now runs a music festival in the West Country where the harp – surprise, surprise – regularly features.
“But it took me two years to persuade my parents to let me play the harp,” recalls Harriet. “They were afraid I’d start to learn it and then give up six months later. In any case, we were living in the Middle East at the time and finding a teacher wasn’t straightforward.” All obstacles were overcome and Harriet ended up at one of London’s principal music colleges with other young women of like mind.“We were just friends who wanted to do the same thing,” she says, explaining how the group came to be.
In the early days the repertoire was fairly limited, with group members having to adapt duets for the four instruments. “But over the past few years we have commissioned other composers to write pieces for the group and two of us, myself and Eleanor (Turner), are both composers. “We take well-known pieces and adapt them for the harp quartet.” The line-up has undergone one or two changes over the years but now comprises Harriet, Eleanor, Keziah Thomas and recent recruit Elizabeth Scorah.
All have thriving careers as soloists and teachers but come together as 4 Girls 4 Harps, having adopted that catchy name three or four years ago “to make it clear what we were”. It could hardly be clearer, although Harriet says with a laugh: “We’ve discussed among ourselves if we can carry on calling ourselves girls if we’re still playing together in 10 years’ time.”
In common with many musicians, professional and personal lives can sometimes pull in different directions. Harriet has a 17-month-old boy and another baby on the way while Eleanor also has two children, a 17-month-old and a 10-year-old. Parenthood, says Harriet, “does make it more complicated but we’re used to having to fit things in. We have rehearsals at my house because it’s the easiest to get to.”
In Hexham you will hear the girls perform pieces by Shostakovich, Faure and Handel as well as Harriet’s new work for harp quartet, Elemental.
The concert is in Hexham Abbey on September 27 at 7pm. Hexham Abbey Festival runs from September 20-28.
Box office: 01434 652477.
Details: www.hexhamabbey.org.uk/festival
Friday, 23 August 2013
Interview with our star bidder: Geraldine McMahon
Those of you that regularly check in with what 4G4H has been doing may remember that a few months ago we hosted an online auction. The auction was to raise money towards the cost of our new Christmas CD, which will be released at the end of this year. The top prize was the chance to book a concert from the group in a venue of the bidder's choice, and we were delighted (and extremely grateful!) when harp impressario Geraldine McMahon was our winning bidder!
Geraldine is a harpist and also runs a successful business Affairs of the harp, catering to harpists from all walks of life, whether it be buying or selling a harp, providing harps for theatres and cruise ships, selling beautiful harp merchandise and even information on how to learn the harp and find a teacher!
 |
| Geraldine and her harp |
We thought you would like to know a little bit more about Geraldine and her business so we thought we'd ask her a few questions:
What drew you to the harp?
I went to a Grammar school
in London and there happened to be a harp there – locked away in the staff
dining room ! I was lucky enough to be
able to start harp lessons and I loved
it. I was a relative late starter – I began lessons at 12 years of age – but I
had played the piano from the age of 7. I used to stay behind after school to
practise and go in at weekends – on Saturday mornings. It was a Convent School
– so the nuns were always around to let me in and out !I was so lucky to have
that opportunity – I was one of a family of 5 and my parents could not afford a
harp. I eventually got my own harp
and that was because my teacher –
Gwendolen Mason – was moving from a big house in London to a small cottage in
Cirencester. She had to downsize, obviously, and she sold my mother an Erard
harp for a “giveaway” price.
What
harpists do you admire and why?
Affairs of
the Harp is pretty unique! When and what made you decide to start it up?
What
challenges have you faced in running a business over the years? Is the fact you
have a selective market helpful or a
hindrance?
Where would
you like to see Affairs of the Harp in 5 years time?
I would love to see
“Affairs of the Harp” known and recognized across Europe ! I have had many
buyers come in from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Italy and I would
like to see that client base very much expanded. I speak French and some
Italian and am doing a German degree – so I hope that that will be helpful in a
few years time !
This is a fun question ! Harp wise- I have one unusual harp – well, really, more unique ! It is a stunning Salvi Electra Harp – about 30 years old but in immaculate condition. It belonged to an old lady who had had it from new and she died and her family wants to sell it. It is simply stunning! The Electra is not made any more and this harp is simply beautiful – even just to sit and look at ! I also have one harp – unplayable- that I keep for theatre productions of “The Price”. It is a play written by Arthur Miller and the stage props include a harp. It has been in theatre productions all over the country and was even used by the Royal Shakespeare Company. My “Affairs of the Harp” was named in the RSC programme ! I am very proud of that ! I think that harp deserves its equity card !
I am currently working on a range of excellent quality tote bags and tee shirts all with harp related themes – “Home is Where the Harp is”, “I left my Harp in San Francisco” and so on ! I found a wonderful artist who has come up with some fabulous artwork which I have commissioned ! The items are unusual, unique and I have to say fabulous! (I am just a little bit biased !) You can find them in my online shop on “Affairs of the Harp” .
Strange requests? I get them all the time ! I have people who want to buy a harp that must have a colour or finish to match their dining room furniture. I had one man who hired a harp off me – he was a mature student beginning harp lessons- and I hired out a particularly beautiful old gold and maple lyon and Healy. He phoned me up two days later to take the harp away – his wife didn’t like it because it didn’t go with the décor of the room. She didn’t like the gold and wanted a plain harp. I had one lady who wanted an ebony gloss harp because her daughter had “exotic colouring- olive skin and dark eyes” – and the harp would set off her looks. I am not making it up !!
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| One of Geraldine's T Towel designs |
What is your favourite piece of harp
music?
I have
several ! I love the Gliere Harp concerto. The Smetana “Ma Vlast”
transcription . I also recently
heard a concert of Schubert and Strauss Lieder sung by Diana Damrau with Xavier
de Maistre on the harp. There were
arrangements of some superb lieder – which are normally accompanied, obviously,
by piano, but Xavier
de Maistre’s arrangements were stunning.
My favourite was the last of Strauss’ “Four last Songs”Beim
Schlafengehen” . The orchestration for
the “Four last Songs “ is simply superb and what Xavier de Maistre did with his
harp arrangement was outstanding – so
creative and full of the colour that Strauss put into the original score.
So, that
particular piece tops the bill of my favourites at the moment ! (Along with his
“Notte Veneziana “ album ! )
What made you decide to bid on the 4G4H auction?
You bid for the main prize (a concert by the group) - do you have anything
specific in mind for this?
I very much admire the
group – all excellent and creative harpists – and I have the first cd! When I
saw that a Christmas Album was being planned and that an auction was online to
raise funds for the cd, I thought I would bid for something. I bid for a “mention” on the Cd but then
thought that I would go for the concert !
There is a series of concerts run every Summer in Cambridge and I approached the organiser
of those concerts. She was delighted with the prospect of having 4 Girls 4 Harps
for a concert and from that a second concert in Cambridge has been organised.
It is on Saturday November 23rd
. There is a wonderful music scene in
and around Cambridge but not enough harp music
and very few harp teachers ! It
would be marvellous if more concerts for the quartet came from this – but
mainly, lots and lots of cd sales for the group !!
What
is your favourite way to relax?
My favourite way to
relax? Walking my dog ! I have a crazy
but adorable dog and I walk her for
miles in my local park or the countryside around St Albans. I also love reading
and the theatre but my main passion is Opera ! I head off to Covent Garden when
I can and Glyndebourne in the Summer. I just saw the most wonderful production
of “Billy Budd “ there- simply superb. I don’t go off on expensive holidays –
my holiday is the Opera !
How do you feel about the UK harp scene at
the moment - is it vibrant or do you think we need to do a lot more to promote the instrument to a wider audience?
The UK harp
scene is very lively at the moment ! There are some great harp festivals taking
place around the country and there are some fantastic young harpists on the
scene. There is always more that can be done to promote anything in the arts –
I despair of the fact that the government is cutting back money for the arts
all the time – especially music funding.
In spite of that, music and harp music and performance is
flourishing! The harp has become a more
popular and accessible instrument – thank goodness ! When I started out in
school there were very few harp teachers
and not many harps – those that were available to students were
generally old Erards that had seen better days ! Look at the harp world now ! So very
different!
For more information about Geraldine, you can visit her websites http://www.geraldinemcmahon.com/ and http://www.affairsoftheharp.com/
Monday, 10 June 2013
Question time!
We frequently get asked all sorts of questions about the harp by curious audience members at concerts. It got us thinking that it would be fun to do a blog post answering some of them, and any other questions our fans might have about the group. Here are a selection of our favourite questions over the years:
1) How do you transport your harps?
We all have estate cars and travel individually to all our concerts. Contrary to popular belief, the car does not need to be a Volvo but we do need to take care that the car is big enough to fit the length of the harp and still have enough leg room for driving! For short distances we have trolleys to wheel the harps around.
2) What wood are your harps made of?
The most common wood to make a harp with is maple as it is strong enough to take the immense pressure that the strings put on the instrument. The soundboard is often made of spruce wood as it helps to create the mellow tone of the harp.
3) Do you get blisters?
We don't normally get blisters as we have built up hard skin on our finger tips over years of practise. We might get one if we went on holiday and then came back and did a lot of practise in one go as our fingers would have softened in the time away. Sometimes we get a blister if we are playing the harp in a way that we would not normally do.
4) Are all your harps the same?
Three of us play on Italian Salvi harps. Two of the harps are identical models (apart from their colour, one in dark wood and one in light). The fourth harp in the group is made by American company, Lyon and Healy. We love the difference in tone between the harps and try to utilise this when arranging music for the group.
5) What is it like playing in a group with four harps?
We love the chance to play together. As a harpist, one often plays alone, either in the orchestra or with function work, so it is lovely to have the opportunity to meet up with other musicians who know exactly what the challenges and fun bits of playing the harp are. We also enjoy the chance to have a good giggle and a gossip in rehearsals!
6) Is anyone the lead harpist in the group?
Not really - all the parts are equal and it is normally whoever has the tune at that point in the music that will lead the group. If we had to point to anyone it would probably be Eleanor because she is so easy to follow when she is leading.
7) How did the group come about?
Harriet and Eleanor were both at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music where they studied harp ensemble with Daphne Boden. They enjoyed this so much that they started up a group which was originally managed by Harriet's mother and called the Barkham Harp Quartet. Keziah joined the group in 2000 and the group was taken on by Upbeat Classical Management in 2003. It was around this point that the group changed its name to 4 Girls 4 Harps. Elizabeth joined the group much later on after the departure of our previous member Angharad Wyn Jones and has been playing with us since January this year.
8) What has been your most memorable performance to date?
This is a hard one! We loved our performance for the World Harp Congress in Dublin. Playing for an audience of hyper-critical harpists was very nerve wracking and it was amazing that they were so enthusiastic in their applause! We also really enjoyed performing for the opening celebrations of London concert hall Kings Place as it was great to be taking part in something so exciting.
9) Do you ever wish you had taken up the flute?
NO!
10) How often do you rehearse?
We get together for a few days of intensive rehearsal at the start of each concert season. During this time we learn all the new repertoire and polish everything musically. After this, we tend to rehearse on the day of the concert and occasionally the day before if the concert is a slightly different format from our main concert programme.
1) How do you transport your harps?
We all have estate cars and travel individually to all our concerts. Contrary to popular belief, the car does not need to be a Volvo but we do need to take care that the car is big enough to fit the length of the harp and still have enough leg room for driving! For short distances we have trolleys to wheel the harps around.
2) What wood are your harps made of?
The most common wood to make a harp with is maple as it is strong enough to take the immense pressure that the strings put on the instrument. The soundboard is often made of spruce wood as it helps to create the mellow tone of the harp.
3) Do you get blisters?
We don't normally get blisters as we have built up hard skin on our finger tips over years of practise. We might get one if we went on holiday and then came back and did a lot of practise in one go as our fingers would have softened in the time away. Sometimes we get a blister if we are playing the harp in a way that we would not normally do.
4) Are all your harps the same?
Three of us play on Italian Salvi harps. Two of the harps are identical models (apart from their colour, one in dark wood and one in light). The fourth harp in the group is made by American company, Lyon and Healy. We love the difference in tone between the harps and try to utilise this when arranging music for the group.
5) What is it like playing in a group with four harps?
We love the chance to play together. As a harpist, one often plays alone, either in the orchestra or with function work, so it is lovely to have the opportunity to meet up with other musicians who know exactly what the challenges and fun bits of playing the harp are. We also enjoy the chance to have a good giggle and a gossip in rehearsals!
6) Is anyone the lead harpist in the group?
Not really - all the parts are equal and it is normally whoever has the tune at that point in the music that will lead the group. If we had to point to anyone it would probably be Eleanor because she is so easy to follow when she is leading.
7) How did the group come about?
Harriet and Eleanor were both at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music where they studied harp ensemble with Daphne Boden. They enjoyed this so much that they started up a group which was originally managed by Harriet's mother and called the Barkham Harp Quartet. Keziah joined the group in 2000 and the group was taken on by Upbeat Classical Management in 2003. It was around this point that the group changed its name to 4 Girls 4 Harps. Elizabeth joined the group much later on after the departure of our previous member Angharad Wyn Jones and has been playing with us since January this year.
8) What has been your most memorable performance to date?
This is a hard one! We loved our performance for the World Harp Congress in Dublin. Playing for an audience of hyper-critical harpists was very nerve wracking and it was amazing that they were so enthusiastic in their applause! We also really enjoyed performing for the opening celebrations of London concert hall Kings Place as it was great to be taking part in something so exciting.
9) Do you ever wish you had taken up the flute?
NO!
10) How often do you rehearse?
We get together for a few days of intensive rehearsal at the start of each concert season. During this time we learn all the new repertoire and polish everything musically. After this, we tend to rehearse on the day of the concert and occasionally the day before if the concert is a slightly different format from our main concert programme.
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Behind the scenes on our Christmas CD recording
Last month we were honoured to be chosen for a Two Moors Festival Residency. A Residency usually takes the form of a period of intensive study where musicians can rehearse or practice without interruptions. This sort of freedom can be very difficult to find in the working world where everyday life and responsibilities get in the way, so an opportunity like this is every musician's dream.
In order to be eligible for one of these hotly contested opportunities, we had to have a project that we were working towards. Our Christmas CD recording provided the perfect vehicle, and so off to Devon we all trundled in our four estate cars, equipped with music stands, stools, harps and trolleys. Oh, and two babies, push chairs, toys, a high chair and a travel cot!
We spent the first day of the Residency rehearsing the 20 different Carols that we were going to record. Three of the carols were being performed with soprano as well as the four harps, and our fantastic soprano Helen Winter arrived in time for an evening rehearsal of her numbers (she also has the best surname ever, given what we were recording!). It was lovely to play in the large rehearsal space of the Two Moors Festival gallery as opposed to our usual four-harps-crammed-into-a-space-meant-for-one arrangement. We finally finished at 11pm and sank into peaceful slumbers dreaming of Holy Nights...
Our recording was scheduled to take place over the next two days and was being recorded by Patrick Allen of Opera Omnia. After a couple of hours of sound checks and tuning harps, we were satisfied we had the right balance of harps and voice and the real work could commence! Four hours later we had got the harp and soprano tracks in the bag, and after a swift break (and goodbye to Helen), we rearranged the set-up to suit the four harps on their own. Our only difficulty was that during rehearsal we had found the perfect layout for being able to see and hear each other clearly, but sadly this didn't work for Patrick's microphones. After a lot of harp shifting and seat adjustment we were finally able to compromise on a position which worked for both sound quality and also visual interaction.
One bonus of a Christmas recording is that all the pieces are relatively short so it is possible to do multiple recording takes without getting too fed up. All the Carols on the CD had been arranged by us, with the lion's share being undertaken by Harriet. It was very satisfying to be playing music specifically arranged for four harps, and also music that utilised many of the different sounds and effects that a harp can create (harmonics, xylophonic effects, percussion and glissandi). Amazingly (given the number), all the Carols had a unique feel to them, and between the different arrangements and arrangers, we encompassed everything from medieval music through to jazz and soft rock! By the end of day one we had recorded nine tracks and felt like we were well on our way.
Day two started with more harp tuning (sorry Patrick!) - harps do not have equal temperament in the same way as a piano, and so will sound slightly different in different keys (a harp that is perfectly in tune in a key with lots of flats in the key signature may not sound quite so good in a key with lots of sharps). This means that a large proportion of time during a recording is spent retuning to ensure the harps sound at their best - with four harps to tune, this inevitably means a LOT of tuning! We were pleased that we were able to maintain focus during the second day (no doubt helped by the peaceful setting and lack of mobile reception at the 2MF Residency site!) and we finished the final piece at about 9.30pm. Afterwards we all trouped back to our onsite Festival accommodation for a celebratory glass of champagne and a hearty supper. A well deserved rest and a Silent Night was had by all....
The final day of our Residency took the form of rehearsal and preparation for an evening concert, held in the Festival gallery. Despite it being the end of April, we decided to deviate from our 2013 season programme slightly and include some of the Christmas Carols we had just recorded. A fruitful decision, as we were rewarded with rapturous applause for our performances of Greensleeves, Gaudete, I wonder as I wander and Sussex Carol. In fact several audience members signed up straight away for our Christmas CD pre-order list!
In conclusion, it was a fantastic week of hard work from everyone involved, and we are confident that the finished CD will be everything we hoped it would be and more. We would also like to thank Patrick and Helen for being so patient with us and the eccentricities of our harps. Finally, we are extremely grateful to the Two Moors Festival for giving us the opportunity to record in such a lovely relaxed setting.
A photo of us rehearsing for the recording
In order to be eligible for one of these hotly contested opportunities, we had to have a project that we were working towards. Our Christmas CD recording provided the perfect vehicle, and so off to Devon we all trundled in our four estate cars, equipped with music stands, stools, harps and trolleys. Oh, and two babies, push chairs, toys, a high chair and a travel cot!
We spent the first day of the Residency rehearsing the 20 different Carols that we were going to record. Three of the carols were being performed with soprano as well as the four harps, and our fantastic soprano Helen Winter arrived in time for an evening rehearsal of her numbers (she also has the best surname ever, given what we were recording!). It was lovely to play in the large rehearsal space of the Two Moors Festival gallery as opposed to our usual four-harps-crammed-into-a-space-meant-for-one arrangement. We finally finished at 11pm and sank into peaceful slumbers dreaming of Holy Nights...
Our recording was scheduled to take place over the next two days and was being recorded by Patrick Allen of Opera Omnia. After a couple of hours of sound checks and tuning harps, we were satisfied we had the right balance of harps and voice and the real work could commence! Four hours later we had got the harp and soprano tracks in the bag, and after a swift break (and goodbye to Helen), we rearranged the set-up to suit the four harps on their own. Our only difficulty was that during rehearsal we had found the perfect layout for being able to see and hear each other clearly, but sadly this didn't work for Patrick's microphones. After a lot of harp shifting and seat adjustment we were finally able to compromise on a position which worked for both sound quality and also visual interaction.
One bonus of a Christmas recording is that all the pieces are relatively short so it is possible to do multiple recording takes without getting too fed up. All the Carols on the CD had been arranged by us, with the lion's share being undertaken by Harriet. It was very satisfying to be playing music specifically arranged for four harps, and also music that utilised many of the different sounds and effects that a harp can create (harmonics, xylophonic effects, percussion and glissandi). Amazingly (given the number), all the Carols had a unique feel to them, and between the different arrangements and arrangers, we encompassed everything from medieval music through to jazz and soft rock! By the end of day one we had recorded nine tracks and felt like we were well on our way.
Day two started with more harp tuning (sorry Patrick!) - harps do not have equal temperament in the same way as a piano, and so will sound slightly different in different keys (a harp that is perfectly in tune in a key with lots of flats in the key signature may not sound quite so good in a key with lots of sharps). This means that a large proportion of time during a recording is spent retuning to ensure the harps sound at their best - with four harps to tune, this inevitably means a LOT of tuning! We were pleased that we were able to maintain focus during the second day (no doubt helped by the peaceful setting and lack of mobile reception at the 2MF Residency site!) and we finished the final piece at about 9.30pm. Afterwards we all trouped back to our onsite Festival accommodation for a celebratory glass of champagne and a hearty supper. A well deserved rest and a Silent Night was had by all....
The final day of our Residency took the form of rehearsal and preparation for an evening concert, held in the Festival gallery. Despite it being the end of April, we decided to deviate from our 2013 season programme slightly and include some of the Christmas Carols we had just recorded. A fruitful decision, as we were rewarded with rapturous applause for our performances of Greensleeves, Gaudete, I wonder as I wander and Sussex Carol. In fact several audience members signed up straight away for our Christmas CD pre-order list!
In conclusion, it was a fantastic week of hard work from everyone involved, and we are confident that the finished CD will be everything we hoped it would be and more. We would also like to thank Patrick and Helen for being so patient with us and the eccentricities of our harps. Finally, we are extremely grateful to the Two Moors Festival for giving us the opportunity to record in such a lovely relaxed setting.
A photo of us rehearsing for the recording
Friday, 3 May 2013
Fundraising Auction
It has been a very busy first quarter of the year for 4G4H: we have auditioned a new member, performed several concerts together, done a high fashion photo shoot and recently recorded a Christmas album! Our latest project is a fundraiser for the new album - as all musicians know, it is a costly business recording a CD: the recording, engineer, equipment, art work, packaging and CD pressing don't come cheap....
To help with the costs, quartet member Keziah Thomas had the brilliant idea of a harp-related fundraising auction to help pay for our CD. The 'lots' range from a concert given by us, to individual lessons, workshops and 4G4H merchandise, so there is something there for everyone! More details on the auction can be found at
32auctions.com/4Girls4Harps
We will be promoting the CD as part of a big Christmas tour in December this year. More information on concert dates and locations can be found on our website www.4girls4harps.com
We would be eternally grateful if those who read this could pass this on to anyone they think might be interested!
Thursday, 18 April 2013
The show must go on
Musicians are some of the most dedicated people I know. One of the 'perks' of being self employed (as most musicians are) is that you can choose to work when it suits you. The reality is that musicians will take almost any work that comes in and nothing, bar World War III, will stop them fulfilling their working contracts. This invariably means working through sickness, holidays, intimate family events and even personal tragedies. I'm not necessarily saying that this is something to aspire to - afterall, everyone needs to have a work/life balance - but the saying 'the show must go on' really does apply to the performing arts.
Performers have had it ingrained in them from a very young age that their obligation to the audience is their greatest priority and that at all costs they must avoid dispelling the myth and magic of the evening by letting their audience down. For a dancer that might mean dancing on bleeding toes, for a musician it might mean struggling through horrendous flu in order to get up on stage and perform, all the while, a big smile plastered on their face masking their inner misery. As evidenced by the recent death of emminent conductor Sir Colin Davis, who was still seen on the podium aged 85, there is no retirement age for a musician. Plácido Domingo is still accepting operatic roles in his seventies and the great harpist Marisa Robles is still adjudicating and giving masterclasses at nearly 80!
Looking back over the years at 4 Girls 4 Harps' concert appearances, we have certainly applied this to our work ethic: both Harriet and Eleanor were performing with the group shortly after the birth of their children. In fact, Eleanor was so dedicated to fulfilling her concert engagements that she was playing in concert with us just over two weeks after the birth of her daughter (by cesarean section!). Before her son was 8 weeks old, Harriet had written and arranged several pieces for the group to perform that season and she had only finished writting her most recent composition - Elemental - a week before her son's due date!
For two years, Keziah commuted from New York to the UK in order to perform with the quartet - her plane fares cost more than the concert fees! We have battled through blizzards and gale force winds to perform - the audience of the five people who had managed to get to the concert were very appreciative of the special effort we had made on their behalf. Elizabeth has worked on every birthday for as long as she can remember and she is not letting her imminent wedding get in the way of performing with the group.
We do, of course, all have personal lives and friends and family who we very much enjoy spending time with, but our commitment to performing with the quartet, and also all our other harp related work, is a huge part of our lives, and we want to do the best we can to give our audiences the concerts they deserve. At the end of the day, playing the harp (or indeed any other instrument) is not just for Christmas (although we certainly look forward to the abundence of seasonal work....), it is a lifestyle commitment, and one we hope to still be doing when we are in our twilight years.
Performers have had it ingrained in them from a very young age that their obligation to the audience is their greatest priority and that at all costs they must avoid dispelling the myth and magic of the evening by letting their audience down. For a dancer that might mean dancing on bleeding toes, for a musician it might mean struggling through horrendous flu in order to get up on stage and perform, all the while, a big smile plastered on their face masking their inner misery. As evidenced by the recent death of emminent conductor Sir Colin Davis, who was still seen on the podium aged 85, there is no retirement age for a musician. Plácido Domingo is still accepting operatic roles in his seventies and the great harpist Marisa Robles is still adjudicating and giving masterclasses at nearly 80!
Looking back over the years at 4 Girls 4 Harps' concert appearances, we have certainly applied this to our work ethic: both Harriet and Eleanor were performing with the group shortly after the birth of their children. In fact, Eleanor was so dedicated to fulfilling her concert engagements that she was playing in concert with us just over two weeks after the birth of her daughter (by cesarean section!). Before her son was 8 weeks old, Harriet had written and arranged several pieces for the group to perform that season and she had only finished writting her most recent composition - Elemental - a week before her son's due date!
For two years, Keziah commuted from New York to the UK in order to perform with the quartet - her plane fares cost more than the concert fees! We have battled through blizzards and gale force winds to perform - the audience of the five people who had managed to get to the concert were very appreciative of the special effort we had made on their behalf. Elizabeth has worked on every birthday for as long as she can remember and she is not letting her imminent wedding get in the way of performing with the group.
We do, of course, all have personal lives and friends and family who we very much enjoy spending time with, but our commitment to performing with the quartet, and also all our other harp related work, is a huge part of our lives, and we want to do the best we can to give our audiences the concerts they deserve. At the end of the day, playing the harp (or indeed any other instrument) is not just for Christmas (although we certainly look forward to the abundence of seasonal work....), it is a lifestyle commitment, and one we hope to still be doing when we are in our twilight years.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Romance, roses and ridiculously cold weather!
We had the most amazing day last week posing for the very talented photographer Shaneen Rosewarne Cox for our new publicity shots and Christmas album cover!
We were honoured to be wearing beautiful evening dresses for the shoot which were designed by internationally renowned fashion designer Johanna Hehir. Our hair was styled by the amazing Sarah of Sarah's Doowopdos and make up done by fab make up artist Christina Chrysanthou. We were very lucky to have the use of Shaneen's blogging partner Hayley's house to get ready in and had the bonus of an impromtu lesson from her in social media networking!
The day of the shoot was not what we had initially had in mind for the start of spring: arctic temperatures, snow and gale force winds do not mix well with notoriously unstable harps. However, we were excited by the possibilities this would afford us for the Christmas album cover so all was not lost.
We took the first series of photos outside in our beautiful chiffon dresses:
We think it is safe to say that we have never been so cold in our lives! We stuck at it for as long as we could but once Keziah was so cold she was unable to open her mouth to speak we thought it was a sign to head indoors to thaw out and set up some more shots with the harps.
We were using the village hall for our indoor shots and had a lot of fun coming up with some creative poses using the harps. We have always found it a challenge in the past to get a photo which includes all four harps and 4 girls in a way that is interesting to look at (four harps take up a lot of photo space!), so we were very pleased with the end result:
It was lovely and relaxing lying on the floor for these photos after having been so cold outside earlier in the day.
We then changed outfits for some atmospheric shots wearing dark blue romantic dresses standing behind some beautifully flickering silver candles. We ended the day with a final outfit change into shorter more informal dresses in wonderfully contrasting colours. We had so much fun we were even happy to brave the outdoors for one final shot:
We were honoured to be wearing beautiful evening dresses for the shoot which were designed by internationally renowned fashion designer Johanna Hehir. Our hair was styled by the amazing Sarah of Sarah's Doowopdos and make up done by fab make up artist Christina Chrysanthou. We were very lucky to have the use of Shaneen's blogging partner Hayley's house to get ready in and had the bonus of an impromtu lesson from her in social media networking!
The day of the shoot was not what we had initially had in mind for the start of spring: arctic temperatures, snow and gale force winds do not mix well with notoriously unstable harps. However, we were excited by the possibilities this would afford us for the Christmas album cover so all was not lost.
We took the first series of photos outside in our beautiful chiffon dresses:
We were using the village hall for our indoor shots and had a lot of fun coming up with some creative poses using the harps. We have always found it a challenge in the past to get a photo which includes all four harps and 4 girls in a way that is interesting to look at (four harps take up a lot of photo space!), so we were very pleased with the end result:
It was lovely and relaxing lying on the floor for these photos after having been so cold outside earlier in the day.
We then changed outfits for some atmospheric shots wearing dark blue romantic dresses standing behind some beautifully flickering silver candles. We ended the day with a final outfit change into shorter more informal dresses in wonderfully contrasting colours. We had so much fun we were even happy to brave the outdoors for one final shot:
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