UOEMAG207

Contents:

1. A Method for making music on the harp
1. Tuning the Harp
2. Sound Production
3. Control the Instrument
4. 1st Lesson for Beginners
5. Practicing
2. Thoughts on Teaching
1. Speak about Music
2. Build your Students
3. Performance Habits
3. The Harp in the Symphony Orchestra
4. The Power of Music

In my more than fifty years of conducting many orchestras around the world I have rarely come across a finer harpist than Judith Liber. She is the ideal orchestra musician who goes well beyond just having complete control over her instrument. Her personality, which projects her musical convictions, is so dominating that I feel she can sometimes lead an entire orchestra with her playing. The combination of multiple aspects that make a finished harpist, is what Ms. Liber has so admirably put forth in her book A Method for Harp – The Power of Music.

There are few instruments in the orchestra where the interpreter is almost alone on his or her musical island. (The timpani and the harp being such lonely figures amongst over 100 musicians.) A complete knowledge of what goes on in the various musical choirs of the orchestra is necessary for a harpist to come out with shining colours, as Judith always did, at the end of a massive Mahler symphony. The music that we perform in our classical world encompasses over 400 years of diversified repertoire. The harpist must adjust to all styles, having complete knowledge of how to make this wonderful instrument adapt to the many various sounds.

The book she has so painstakingly written goes into the minutest details of everything one can think of to do with the harp. One could even imagine a beginner on the harp, perfecting his or her playing just by reading her book!!! The various chapters that she has so arduously thought out, and separated into various aspects of the harp in music, will become a handbook for all concerned. I would even say, it will open the wonderful world of harp playing to musicians – conductors in particular – and show them what this heavenly instrument is all about. I hope that A Method for Harp – The Power of Music will be translated into many languages and inspire harpists all over the world.» (Zubin Mehta)