Boston Early Harp Symposium
Germany and Beyond June 6-11, 2003
Concerts
Friday June 6, at the Goethe Institut
7:30 p.m. Concert by Nancy Thym
Long Years Ago the Nightingale Sang: The Life and Songs of Louise Reichardt (1779-1826), Harpist and Songwriter of the Early Romantic.
Nancy Thym portrays Louise Reichardt, sings her songs to various historical harps and tells her life story. Louise Reichardt's talent as a singer, instrumentalist, song composer and later conductor were
inherited not just from her famous father Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814), founder of the Berliner Liederschule and court music director to Frederick II. Her mother Juliane, the youngest daughter of
Franz Benda, was also a singer and composer, but she died when Louise was only 4 years old. Louise received no systematic musical training, but the most important poets, scientists, artists and composers of
her time were frequent guests of the family Reichardt in Giebichenstein near Halle. At age 15 she already had an admirable voice. Her father set the poems of his friend Goethe to music and Louise sang
them for the poet, accompanying herself on the harp. Repeated misfortune and a weak constitution lead to depressions. But her unadorned yet expressive settings of poems by Ludwig Tieck, Achim von Arnim,
Clemens Brentano, Phillip Otto Runge, etc. were appreciated and sung by count and kitchen maid alike. In 1813 she moved to Hamburg, where she opened the first public music school for women and conducted a
women's choir. She directed public performances of Händel's works in Lübeck (1816) and Hamburg (1818, 1820) as the first German conductress. She died in 1826 at the age of 47.
Sponsored by BEHS. Tickets available with registration and at the door, $15-$20.
Saturday, June 7 at Boston Conservatory
7:30 p.m. in Seully Hall
Boston Early Harp Symposium Concert
Includes duo cithartiste, Ron Cook, and costumed early dance performances by Kaspar Mainz and Dorothy Olsson.
duo cithariste (Judy Kadar Kadar, harp and Nancy Thym, voice and harp) - medieval German music from the Carmina Burana (13th C), the Lochamer Songbook (1452), the Buchsheimer Organ Book (ca. 1480) and by
medieval harper/composers such as Oswald von Wolkenstein (1377-1445) and Conrad Pauman (c.1410-1473) on various reconstructions of medieval harps and psaltries, including a copy of the Wartburg harp purportedly
owned by Oswald von Wolkenstein built by Yves d'Arcizas. The name duo cithariste comes from a medieval reference to two harp players in a Christmas pagaent procession in Erlangen, Germany.
Sponsored by BEHS and TBC. Tickets available with registration and at the door, $15-20.
Monday June 9, at the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
11:30-1:00 p.m. in the Thompson Room, Burns Library.
Concert of Irish Music
showing how ancient Irish tunes have been arranged for harp in different ways in different times. The concert will begin with tunes from Bunting performed by Nancy Hurrell, celtic harp, and Beth Sweeney, violin. Katie Lynch, celtic harp, and Steve Koglin, tenor, will perform selections from Thomas Moore's 'Irish Melodies', which used traditional tunes with Moore's poetry. Salzedo's arrangements of Irish tunes will be performed on pedal harp by Franziska Huhn. And Barbara Poeschl-Edrich will perform arrangements by Benjamin Britten.
Sponsored by BC and BEHS. Price: $20, $10 with a BC ID, includes seminar and concert. Seating is limited. Pre-registration suggested. Accompanying Seminar
at 9:30 precedes this concert. See below under the heading Irish Day
Wednesday, June 11 at Emmanuel Church
11:00 a.m. Parish Hall (Library), Newberry Street.
Renaissonics Concert
'Le Gratie d'Amore', music of the Dancing Master, Cesare Negri (1602).
Renaissance Dance Music performed with costumed dancers. Directed by John Tyson, recorders, the group includes Miyuki Tsurutani, virginal, Daniel Ryan, basse de violon, James
Johnston, violin, Laura Gulley, violin, Doug Freundlich, lute, and Nancy Hurrell, harp. A BEMF Concurrent event. See their listings for details.
Wednesday, June 11 at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
3:00 p.m. in Remis Auditorium
Historical Harp Concert
Includes Constance Whiteside, Ron Cook, Judy Kadar and Nancy Thym on reproductions of medieval and renaissance, and early modern era harps. Constance Whiteside - gothic styled
medieval harp by Rainer Thurau. Judy Kadar - medieval dances, Sephardic songs and music from the Cancionero de Palacio (1500), medieval harp by David Brooks. Nancy Thym - songs from the
"Musikalische Rüstkammer auff der Harffe (1719), German songs of the early Romantic period, as well as songs of the 19th century wandering harp ladies of Bohemia and Germany, accompanying herself on a copy of
the MFA harp by the Campbells.
Sponsored by MFA, BEMF, and BEHS. Tickets available at the door, $10 or BEMF pass.
Free Seminar at 1:30 precedes this concert. See Museum Day listed below.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 at The Boston Conservatory
5:00 p.m. in Seully Hall
Songs of the Harper: Early Lieder with Harp Accompaniment
A concert by DoubleAction, Emily Laurance, historical harp; Thomas
Gregg, tenor. A Concurrent Event for the Boston Early Music Festival and
Boston Early Harp Symposium.
In the early years of the 19th
century, the piano was not yet established as the primary accompanying instrument for songs. Many early examples of German Lieder were easily accompanied by any number of instruments, including the
single-action harp. DoubleAction presents a variety of songs from this era, both familiar and rare, in a program that highlights both harp themes and a number of Goethe settings. Masters of the early Lied
are well represented, including songs by Mozart, Johann Friedrich and Louise Reichardt, and Carl Zelter. There are also a couple of unfamiliar yet charming gems by composers Johann Valentin Goerner and Franz
Stockhausen. The concert concludes with three lovely, fascinating songs by Schubert, Conradin Kreutzer, and Carl Loewe, extending the harper theme towards its logical conclusion into the middle of the 19th
century. The duo DoubleAction was formed in 1999 to perform both historical and modern works for tenor and harp. Their historical concerts are presented with a single-action harp made in 1829 by John
Egan of Dublin that was fully restored in 2000 by H. Bryan & Company of Appamattox, Virginia. Tickets available at the door. Price: $10, $5 students, seniors, BEMF pass, EMA members, and Harp Conference
participants. See BEMF listings for details.
Conference Presentations
Saturday June 7 at the Boston Conservatory, 9 a.m. to noon, Seully Hall
Open to the public. Morning series $25, individual presentations $10 each at the door.
Pre-registration recommended. $20 if registered before May 15, 2003.
Iron Hand
A story told by Nancy Thym
Oswald von Wolkenstein reputedly learned to play the harp from a mysterious woman high in the mountains of South Tirol. This legend from the Dolomites
tells the tragic tale of how Wolkenstein came to own the harp now displayed in the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Nancy Thym tells the story interspersed with Wolkenstein's songs sung to a copy of the 15th
century Wartburg harp.
The Bavarian-Tyrolean Folk Harp
Barbara Poeschl-Edrich
The presentation will discuss the origin and music of the folk harp in Southern Germany and Austria. This instrument, a single-action pedal harp is played differently from region to
region. This will be demonstrated with different characteristic accompaniment styles. Early harp makers were often craftsmen or farmers, pursuing an apprenticeship later as an instrument maker. Numerous current harp
makers have a great impact on this rich harp tradition, which is kept alive until today. Musical examples will be played on a Bavarian folk harp.
Barbara Poeschl-Edrich was raised in the Bavarian harp tradition.
Chromaticism on the single row harp
Judy Kadar
A demonstration and discussion of the possibilities for approaching, dealing with and executing chromatics in medieval and renaissance music.
Sunday June 8 at the Boston Conservatory, 9 a.m. to noon, Seully Hall
Open to the public. Morning series $25, individual presentations $10 each at the door.
Pre-registration recommended. $20 if registered before May 15, 2003.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night: The History of the Bray Harp
Ron Cook
This talk will summarize the evidence of the use of bray pins on European harps from their possible emergence in ancient cultures to the final references to them in 19th century
Wales. Included in the evidence surveyed are 16th and 17th century treatises on musical instruments, representations of harps in the visual arts, literary and eyewitness descriptions of the sound of medieval and Renaissance harps, the characteristics of and terminology associated with other instruments used in the 12th through 17th centuries, and the repertoire performed by early harps.
The Rediscovery and Renaissance of the 18th century German Chromatic Harp "David's Harfe"
- Practical musicology based on the reconstruction of surviving instruments
Claus Henry Hüttel, harp builder with Maxine Eilander, harpist
This lecture shall use technical drawings of instruments in museums, and slides documenting these original instruments. This chromatic harp of German manufacturing without any
pedals, is the ideal harp for playing early German baroque music. It is connected to composers like Schütz, Rosenmüller, Quantz, Konradi, Bach, Händel and Telemann, for example. The harp was used as an
instrument for basso continuo and accompanying solo arias in the early days of opera in Germany (1680-1750) and its neighbors mainly the eastern parts of Europe. The existence of bray pins on these harps is
fascinating. A reconstruction, based on an original in Sondershausen, Germany, will be demonstrated live by Maxine Eilander. This harp will be used in the 2003 BEMF opera Ariadne.
The German Diatonic Harp of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Nancy Thym
The Boston MFA displays a single row Northern European harp, which has been replicated by the Campbells and become a popular model. A visit to the museum to see the original is
planned for Wednesday. During this Sunday morning conference Nancy Thym will discuss the "Boston" harp and its "sisters" in German museums, including slides and a history of the probable original builder.
Bazaar
Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8, The Boston Conservatory
noon to 2 p.m. in the Concert Room.
Display and demonstrations of historical harp reproductions by Campbell Harps of Port Townsend, by Claus Hüttel from Germany, and other harps for sale and to try. Displays of
exotic stringed instruments including Sang-auk, Kantele and Ukelin, puppet shows, music for sale. Free and open to the public
Dance and Harp Workshops
Saturday June 7, at The Boston Conservatory
2-5 p.m. Seully Hall
Play and Dance the Renaissance
Play the music, learn the dances. Music and Dances from Renaissance Germany. Kaspar Mainz and Dorothy Olsson dance instructors, Judy Kadar and Nancy Thym, harp
coaches. Register before May 1 and music will be sent. Not just for harps! Dancers and other early plucked strings welcome (lutes, psalteries). You can just play, just dance, or do both.
Limited enrollment, Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
Sunday June at The Boston Conservatory
2-5 p.m. Seully Hall
Dance, Sing and Play the Menuet and Bouree
Play and sing the music, learn the dances of the baroque era. Music from the Musicalishe Rüstkammer of 1719, Leipzig. Kaspar Mainz and Dorothy Olsson dance instructors,
Nancy Thym and Judy Kadar, harp coaches. Register before May 1 and music will be sent. Not just for harps! Dancers, singers and other early plucked strings welcome (lutes, baroque guitar, zithers).
You can just perform the music, just dance, or do both!
Limited enrollment, Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
Banquet
Sunday June 8, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hostelling International, Fenway
Sensational panoramic view from the heart of Kenmore square. Informal buffet features the Best of the Wurst. Musical fun includes The Amazing Graces, Urban Myth, and
other sound delights.
Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
Harp Classes
The harpist's/harper's perspective of German music of the 15th and 16th centuries with Judy Kadar
Friday June 6, 9 a.m. to noon. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
What is the music like? What might they actually have played? This will be quick romp through the repertoire touching on the possibilities of arrangement and accompaniment
of monophonic song from the Lochamer Songbook 1452, playing and improvising counterpoint above a tenor using Conrad Pauman's Fundamentum Organisandi 1452,andpreparing and playing intabulations of
polyphonic music for solo and ensemble performance. Open to harp players of all levels except beginners, and all types of harps.
An Introduction to Historical Harp for Pedal and Folk Harp Players with Judy Kadar
Friday June 6, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
Some of the issues that will be covered are construction and range of the instrument, tuning (scordatura, Pythagorean, mean tone) playing techniques (three-finger Spanish, thumb-over
and thumb- under), fingering, damping, various degrees of "pres de la table", strumming chords, and tremolo on one string. Also discussed will be the attitude and skills involved in playing in an
early music ensemble. Open to harp players of all levels except beginners. All types of harps are welcome.
Performing English Dumps on the Harp with Ron Cook
Monday June 9, 9 a.m. to noon. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
(note: time conflicts with Irish Day events)
This class will explore the enigmatic form of English composition known as the "dompe" or "dump." Students will play a selection of typical dumps as solos and
duets and briefly consider the role of improvisation and ornamentation in performing this repertoire. The content of the class will accommodate harpists with varied playing experience and proficiency.
Walther, Neidhardt, Oswald and Co. - Songs of the German Minnesänger with Nancy Thym
Monday June 9, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
This course for harp and/or voice will cover pronunciation, vocal style and
instrumental possibilities for the one part songs of Walther von der Vogelweide (ca. 1170- ca. 1230) and Neidhardt von Reuenthal (ca.1190 -1240) as well as the two and three part songs of the Carmina Burana (13th
C.) and Oswald von Wolkenstein (1377-1445). Beginner to advanced harps. Singers, psalteries, and early lutes welcome in addition to harps.
Harp-string Harmony with Judy Kadar
Tuesday June 10, 9 a.m. to noon. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
(note class time conflicts with Eilander class below)
The harp was used as a pedagogical tool in music education. Theoretical works, pedagogical keyboard methods (fundamenta), and selected musical pieces of the late 15th century
will be used to develop a practical understanding of historical style. Open to harp players of all levels except beginners. All types of harps and portable early keyboards (virginals, clavichords) also
welcome.
Solo and Continuo Music for the Harp in the 17th Century with Maxine Eilander
Tuesday June 10, 9 a.m. to noon. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
(note class time conflicts with Kadar class above)
Master class on solo and continuo music for the harp in the 17th century.
Medieval Chant and Harp with Ruth Cunningham
Tuesday June 10, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
(note: class time conflicts with Thym class below)
Singers and harpists of all levels, especially beginners, are welcome to this class on early chant. The medieval chant modes will be explained and then used to create modal melodies.
Methods of accompanying chant will also be explored. No music reading required. Singing and improvisation will be encouraged.
German Harp Traditions with Nancy Thym
Tuesday June 10, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
(note: class time conflicts with Cunningham class above)
This course will examine the music and songs of the 19th century wandering harpers as well as the music of the Tyrolean folk harp played in Bavaria and Austria. We will accompany
popular 19th century German song and learn to improvise a Ländler.
Drone away with Judy Kadar
Wednesday June 11, 9 a.m. to noon. Pre-registration required by May 15. $35.
The class will use renaissance pieces that have a written out drone accompaniment as a catapult for improvisation. We will also discuss and devise droning possibilities that are
especially well suited for the medieval and renaissance harp. Open to harp players of all levels except beginners and all types of harps. Other soft sounding renaissance instruments in tune at A 440 also
welcome, including intermediate and advanced recorders (sorry, no shawms).
BEMF Performance Master Class with Maxine Eilander and Claus Hüttell
Friday June 13, 3 p.m. at the Goethe Institute. Pre-registration through BEMF by May 1.
Only intermediate to advanced students will be accepted. Application required.
$50 fee for participants, auditors free with BEMF pass. See www.bemf.org for details.
Biographies
Judy Kadar, under the auspices of Amherst Early Music, founded and directed the First Annual Historical Harp Conference and Workshop in
1984. She directed this event through 1991 when the American Historical Harp Society was formed. She is also one of the founding members of the International Historical Harp Society. She studied
harp at Mannes with Lucile Lawrence, holds a M.F.A. in the Performance of Medieval and Renaissance Music from Sarah Lawrence College, and has been in demand as faculty at early music workshops since the late
70's. She lives in Berlin, Germany, where she teaches harp, historical harp and ensembles in medieval and renaissance music. She has had multiple theater engagements with renowned German directors,
co-directs of the medieval and renaissance music ensemble "Collage," and frequently concertizes throughout Europe. Collage produced and performed successful theater productions of the 14th century
Roman de Fauvel and the 13th century chante-fable "Aucassin and Nicolete." Ms. Kadar is also a member of "duo citariste" and "Jiddisches und Juedisches."
Nancy Thym
is Germany's leading storyteller/harper/singer. She has received grants and prizes for her research in such unique areas as the repertoire of the wandering German hook harp players as well as the music of the Norwegian krogharpe and is well-known for her theater pieces in which she portrays harp players of the past. Through the Museum and Archive for Harp History in Freising, Germany, she provides information on historical harps for harp builders, players, journalists, museum collections and libraries. She is a regular lecturer and faculty member at the Historical Harp Conference & Workshop held in conjunction with the Amherst Early Music Workshop and has published numerous articles on the history of the harp. Currently she is serving as president of the International Historical Harp Society.
Ron Cook
has been performing on historical harps for twenty-five years. He is a founding member and past president of the Historical Harp Society. He has taught at the Society's annual Historical Harp Workshop and contributed numerous articles and presentations to the Society's Bulletin and its annual Historical Harp Conference. He is also a past officer and director of the American Recorder Society and a current director of Early Music America. He performs regularly on historical harp, recorder and other historical wind and stringed instruments. For twenty-six years he has directed The Early Interval, a medieval and Renaissance consort performing both vocal and instrumental music. He has taught recorder and regularly lectures on early music topics at Capital University.
Maxine Eilander
was born in Deventer, Holland, and grew up in South Africa. There she earned her Bachelor of Music on the classical harp at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1992. Her special interest in early music led her to further study at the Hochschule für Kunste Bremen, Germany. She completed her post graduate diploma in early harps and continuo practice there in 1997. Since then she has appeared as a continuo player and soloist with many ensembles including Teatro Lirico, Tragicomedia, Les Talens Lyriques, Tafelmusik, The Toronto Consort, Les Voix Humaines, The Sixteen, Seattle Baroque, La Stagione Franfurt and Mala Punica. She has appeared around the world in productions of Monteverdi's three operas (L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea and Il Ritorno d'Ulisse): Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, etc. Maxine plays on a range of specialized early harps: the Italian arpa doppia, the Spanish cross-strung harp, the German 'Davidsharfe' and the Welsh triple harp for which Handel wrote his harp concerto. There is an increasing list of recordings featuring her as a soloist - Handel's harp concerto with Tafelmusik, Spanish 17th century music with Les Voix Humaines , Scarlatti's oratorio 'Hagar and Ishmael', and a new recording of Italian music for harp and baroque guitar with duo partner Stephen Stubbs to be released on the ATMA label in 2003.
On-line bios and photos available for some performers and faculty:
Ruth Cunningham
http://www.atpeacemedia.com/pages/newsWorkshopindex.html
DoubleAction (Emily Laurance, harp, Thomas Gregg, tenor)
http://www.geocities.com/mugregg/DoubleAction.html
photos of the historical harp: http://home.attbi.com/~mugregg
Kaspar D. Mainz and Dorothy Olsson: (www.newyorkhistoricaldance.com).
Irish Day
Monday June 9, at the Burns Library, Boston College
9:30-11:00 a.m. Irish Room, Burns Library.
Seminar
with Beth Sweeney, director of Irish Music Center, Burns Library. An overview of the collection will be presented and an original Bunting and several early Thomas Moore manuscripts will be shown. Nancy Hurrell will examine the two John Egan 'Royal Portable Harps' in the collection. Price: $20, $10 with a BC ID, includes seminar and concert. Seating is limited. Pre-registration suggested.
11:30-1:00 p.m. Concert of Irish Music
See Concerts listing above.
Museum Day
Wednesday, June 11 at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
1:30 p.m. in Remis Auditorium
Seminar :Historic Harps: Pegs, Pedals, Crochets & Chromaticism
with Nancy Hurrell and Darcy Kuronen, MFA curator of musical instruments. Several eighteenth-century harps from the Museum's musical instrument collection will be exhibited and discussed, including a German single-row harp from about 1700, the well-known Irish clairseach made in 1734 by John Kelly for the Reverend Charles Bunworth, a Welsh triple-row telyn made by John Richards about 1750, a Bohemian hook harp from the late 1700s, and two French single-action pedal harps from the
1780s made by Godefroi Holtzman and Jean-Henri Naderman. The Holtzman harp will be demonstrated by Nancy Hurrell. Free and open to the public.
3:00 p.m. in Remis Auditorium Historical Harp Concert
See Concerts listing above.
Housing
Attendees of the Boston Early Harp Symposium can affordably stay at Hostelling International Boston at Fenway, 575 Commonwealth Avenue, in the heart of Kenmore Square. The whole
top floor is reserved for Symposium participants. The Sunday evening banquet will take place on the top floor lounge. There is another common room we will use for classes June 6, 10 and 11. The Hostel has
comparatively modern rooms. It was a Howard Johnsons hotel and serves as a Boston University dorm during the school year. The building has air-conditioning and elevators. There is a bathroom for each
room, three beds to a room. A bed for the night is $37. Most rooms have excellent views. If you want/need a private room or double you can buy out the other bed(s) in the room and pay a total of
$105/room per night. (This is still a bargain in Boston these days.) If you would like to come earlier or stay later, this rate extends from June 3rd through June 15th. To reserve your space now,
please contact Liza Banks at Hostelling International and specify HARP as your code for the discount rate. E-mail: groupsales@bostonhostel.org, telephone 617-267-8599, fax 617-424-6558.
There are many full service hotels in Boston for those who choose not to stay at a hostel. The Prudential area hotels are not far from the Boston Conservatory, including the
Sheraton, Marriott, Colonnade, and Westin. The BEMF Exhibition takes place in the Park Plaza and Radisson Hotels in Park Square.
Everyone is encouraged to stay for the Boston Early Music Festival and Exhibition. BEMF is sponsoring a Performance Masterclass with harpist Maxine Eilander and Claus Hüttel,
Friday June 13 at 3 p.m. The Exhibition, which runs June 11-14, has various historical instrument makers, music vendors and demonstrations. There are many great concerts as part of BEMF, some with harp
including the Newberry Consort, with Drew Minter, and TragiComedia with Maxine Eilander. Concurrent Events are scattered around Boston and Cambridge. The opera Ariadne runs from the Monday June 9 dress
rehearsal through the Sunday June 15 matinee. All the BEMF events are within a five minute walk from a subway stop, and 20 minutes by subway, bicycle, or taxi from the Hostel. Details are available at
the BEMF web-site: www.bemf.org
Venues
The Boston Conservatory
8 The Fenway , Boston, MA 02215
617-536-6340
www.bostonconservatory.edu
Goethe Institut
170 Beacon Street, Boston, MA
617-262-6050
www.goethe.de/uk/bos
Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
617-267-9300
www.mfa.org
Hostelling International
575 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
617-267-8599
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
www.bc.edu/irishmusiccenter
Contact
Boston Early Harp Symposium
PO Box 047513, Brookline, MA 02447
Telephone 857-472-2869
Boston Early Music Festival
www.bemf.org
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