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Your top 10 harp concertos

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45K views 46 replies 34 participants last post by  Roger Knox  
#1 ·
This will be a once-off, mainly to suggest harp concertos to others as well. Please list as many as you want. If you rank them, I will give 20-11 points for the first ten, and compile the totals. If you do not rank them, the first ten will all get 15 points.

If you like to participate but do not know 10, you can post less. The numbers will still count from 20 points downwards.

Please, no concerto for harp and other instrument(s)! Double or triple harp concertos are fine.

1. ALWYN - Harp concerto Lyra Angelica
2. GLIERE - Harp concerto
3. MATHIAS - Harp concerto
4. RAUTAVAARA - Harp concerto
5. HOVHANESS - Harp concerto
6. MILHAUD - Harp concerto
7. HANDEL - Harp concerto op.4.6
8. MARTIN, P - Harp concerto
9. BOIELDIEU - Harp concerto in G
10. KRUMPHOLTZ - Harp concerto 6
 
#4 ·
I haven't heard that many harp concertos, but if we have a few weeks, I think I could sample enough to produce a Top 10.

I guess I'll start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_for_harp#Concertos

Sorry for the hairsplitting, but do the works have to be called "concerto" explicitly, or is it okay with a suite or a rhapsody (or whatever) for harp and orchestra?
 
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#5 ·
Personally I would prefer real concertos, but in line with other threads, I guess any work for harp and orchestra would be valid.
 
#6 ·
Thanks!

Mathias, William - Harp Concerto,Op. 50 (my rating 3.3 out of 5)

Ginastera - Harp Concerto, Op. 25 (my rating 2.8 out of 5)

Dussek - Harp Concerto in Eb, Op. 15 (my rating 2.5 out of 5)

Krumpholtz - Harp Concerto No. 6, Op. 9 (my rating 2.0 out of 5) -- a little below average, this sounds like a music box or something.

Now I can clear these out of my string concerto rating list.
 
#7 ·
Not many well know harp concerti, relatively speaking. Probably the most popular is Handel's from opus 4, #6 (often played as an organ concerto instead, although originally written for the harp).
 
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#10 ·
Andre said:
Does this one count? (a chamber work that has harp as soloist, basically a chamber concerto with harp).

Eliot Carter - Mosaic for harp and seven instruments (2005)
Click to expand...
Interesting web of sounds with the harp linking the winds.
 
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M
#12 ·
Well, I had a chance to sample perhaps 20 top (?) harp concertos. There are many more, but I guess I have to stop at some point. Here's my top 10.

1. Gliere
2. Alwyn
3. Rota
4. Krumpholtz No. 6
5. Jan Dussek E flat
6. Dohnanyi
7. Boieldieu
8. Reinecke
9. Handel
10. Dittersdorf

I have the Alwyn and love it. I had not heard the Gliere. It's wonderful. Thanks, Art Rock, for starting this thread and making me listen to more harp concertos so I could hear the Gliere. It was well worth the effort!
 
#14 ·
I never knew the harp concerto could be such an interesting genre. It has been a true delight to sample around 30 of them, both the 18th century ones and the more modern ones. In the end, though, only the modern ones made my top 10 list:

Martin - HC (1993)
Hidas - HC (1979)
Montsalvatge - Concerto capriccio (1975)
Hovhaness - HC (1973)
Mathias - HC (1970)
Badings - HC (1967)
Ginastera - HC (1956)
Alwyn - HC (1954)
Rota - HC (1947)
Jongen - HC (1944)

I tried to rank them, but it was just impossible.
 
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#15 · (Edited)
I hope that Art Rock doesn't mind that I post the results since he's been out for a few days and I had a little extra time this afternoon. Wish him luck wherever he is!

The results are compiled according to the point system designated by Art Rock as explained in the original post.

The TC Top 10 Most Recommended Harp Concerti

1. William Alwyn - Lyra Angelica (1954)
2. Reinhold Glière - Concerto for harp & orchestra in E flat major, Op. 74 (1938)
3. William Mathias - Concerto for harp & orchestra, Op. 50 (1970)
4. Alberto Ginastera - Concerto for harp & orchestra, Op. 25 (1965)
5. Nino Rota - Concerto for harp & orchestra in G Major (1947)
6. Jean-Baptiste Krumpholtz - Concerto for harp & orchestra No.6 in F major, Op. 9 (1785)
7. George Frideric Handel - Concerto for harp & orchestra in B flat major, Op. 4/6 (HWV 294) (1738)
8. Jan Ladislav Dussek - Concerto for harp & orchestra in E flat major, Op. 15 (1789)
9. Philip Martin - Concerto for harp & orchestra (1993)
10. Alan Hovhaness - Concerto for harp & string orchestra, Op. 267 (1973)

Thanks to Art Rock for the thread and to all those who participated. :)
 
#16 ·

Aww, if I only knew this guys name at the time of my other post, I would totally have advocated for it (it was the anonymous composer I was referring to)! Too bad it didn't get to the list. :(
 
#24 ·
Two that are favorites of mine are the Damase Concertino and the Ravel Introduction and Allegro, which imo is really a concerto for harp and chamber ensemble. I'm a Krumpholtz fan too, so count my vote for his concertos as well.
 
#28 ·
  • Luis de Pablo's Danzas Secretas (2007)
  • William Alwyn's Lyra Angelica (1954)
  • AndrĂ© Jolivet's Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra (1952)
  • Aubert Lemeland's Concerto for Harp and String Orchestra (1991)
  • Geirr Tveitt's Harp Concerto No.2 (1957)
  • 1953 Harp Concerto by Heitor Villa-Lobos
  • Alberto Ginastera's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (1956)
  • 1970 Harp Concerto by William Mathias
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (2000)
  • Reinhold Glière's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (1938)
 
#36 ·
My Top 10 list from 12 months ago neglected an André Caplet opus which I had overlooked since it is usually presented in its chamber incarnation; Conte Fantastique has a version for harp & orchestra which was recorded (only once, I think) by EMI France during the mid-1980s as Le Masque de la Mort Rouge. This superb piece easily cascades its way into the middle of my Top 10 - knocking the Glière from its 10th place position to embrace Red Death.

[there's also an "Elegia for Harp & Strings" by Heino Eller which nobody seems to mention ... ]
 
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#29 ·
On the top:

Alwyn - Lyra Angelica. Sublime beyond words.


Then in any order:

Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Tveitt (the only one recorded)
Mathias
Jongen
Glière
Rota
Ginastera
Handel
Villa-Lobos (I don't have strong memories of it)
 
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