CD Notes

Harp House - A unique collection of music recorded live at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival

01.  Park Stickney and Rudiger Oppermann
Electro-Acoustic Pedal Harp and wire strung Celtic harp
Butterfly/Metamorphosis - trad R Oppermann
The traditional tune The Butterfly develops into an improvisation between the Pedal Harp and the wire strung Harp, which was designed and built by Oppermann himself.

02.  Kike Pederson
Paraguayan Harp
Duende de la Selva - (Ismael Ledesma)
Duende de la Selva (Elf from the forest), a beautiful composition, is one of the newer pieces written for Paraguayan Harp, very different from the traditional Polkas and Guaranias. Kike was specifically chosen by the composer to perform the piece.

03. Crasdant - Robin Huw Bowen, Stephen Rees, Huw Williams, Andy McLauchlin
Welsh Triple Harp, fiddle, flute, guitar
Tros yr Aber/Llap y Dwndwr
Tros yr Aber(over the Estuary) written by Stephen and Emyr Rees and Llap y Dwndwr (the tittle-tattle tipple) written by Robin Huw Bowen was recorded live by the band in Merchiston Castle School Theatre on 2nd April 2004.

04.  Karen Marshalsay - Scottish Harp
Helen's Farewell/Dhomhnuill a Dhomhnuill!
The first piece was written for Helen Bullen, long standing staff member of the RSAMD, Glasgow. The second tune is a puirt-a-beul that Karen found in Francis Tolmie's Collection on the Isle of Skye. Tolmie notes that it was sung in the nursery at Bracadale Manse in 1861.

05.  Nuria Llopis Areny
Arpe de L'Amate Fronde (Ramon Gonzalez-Arroyo)
Intra l'amate fronde, composed by Ramon Gonzalez-Arroyo, is dedicated to Nuria Llopis. For both of them, composer and performer, the piece was meant as a way to pay homage to the composer Carmelo Bernaola.

06.  Isobel Mieras with Fiona Hyslop, Sian Manning, Mairi Macleod, Rachel Newton and Fiona Rutherford.
Six Scottish Harps and Flute
Tom Matthews MBE(Isobel Mieras)
This slow air was specially written for Northumbrian piper Tom, and his wife Betty, who attended and supported every Edinburgh Harp Festival from the start until his death in June 2003. Tom was much loved for his dry sense of humour and his encouragement of talented young performers.

07.  Grainne Hambly -Irish Harp
Ag Taisteal na Blarnan/The Woods of Old Limerick(trad G Hambly)
The slow air, Ag Taisteal na Blarnan can be found in a number of late 18th-century collections, under the title Staca an Margaidh. It is thought that the title commonly used today came from a poem by the great 18th- century poet, Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain, which he set to the air. The jig The Woods of Old Limerick was published by Captain Francis O'Neill in his 1922 collection Waifs and Strays. 

08.  Ann and Charlie Heymann
Gaelic harp and cittern
Airs for St Bridget (trad A and C Heymann)
This medley is made up of three 15th-century chant melodies for St.Bridget. This famous saint shares many characteristics with the pagan goddess Bride, who would have enjoyed the final slip jig.

09.  Calluna - Charlotte Peterson, Anna-Wendy Stevenson, Rebecca Knorr
Clarsac, flute,fiddle
Harry the Hippie was written by piper and great tune writer Duncan Moor of Birnam, Perthshire. The Strathspey and reel are traditional Scottish tunes found in several 18th C. collections.

10.  Cliar - Mary Ann Kennedy, Ingrid Henderson, Bruce MacGregor, Chaz Stewart, (Arthur Cormack and Maggie Macdonald)
Clarsach, fiddle, guitar, piano
Ingy's Jigs - The Handshaker/The Whimney Hills of Leetrim/Plight of the Penguin (A MacDonald/trad arr Cliar/Ingrid Henderson)
The Handshaker was written by Allan MacDonald who dedicated it to the bagpipe judging system. The second tune is a popular Irish 9/8 jig, and the last tune was written while Ingrid was on tour in Northern Ireland listening to Radio Ulster's comic reporting of a serious incident involving some thugs, unlucky penguins, a lion and a zookeeper.

11.  Catriona McKay and Simon Nieminski
Clarsach and Organ
Parallel Dimensions(Eddie McGuire)
A specially commissioned piece for the 23rd Edinburgh International Harp Festival for clarsach and organ. The premier performance took place in St. Mary's Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, on 3rd April 2004.

Devised and produced by Corina Hewat www.corinahewat.com
Recorded and engineered by Dave Gray, Sound Cafe, Penicuik
With the help of Trish Murray-www.sound-cafe.co.uk
Mixed and mastered by Dave Gray and Corina Hewat at Sound Cafe, Penicuik
CD design/layout by John Haxby, The Art Surgery- www.haxby.net.

The Edinburgh International Harp Festival has for the first time recorded the wealth of talent and diversity that makes the EIHF so unique. The Festival is overflowing with extraordinary players, from wire strung ancient harps to electric; from western jazz to avant-garde to 12th century manuscripts to jigs and reels. And now, a selection of performers from the festival have generously donated their time and creativity to create an exclusive collection of music - a compilation made especially for the Edinburgh International Harp Festival with generous support from the Scottish Arts Council. Enjoy!

Produced by Corina Hewat.

 

Credits

Devised and produced by Corina Hewat www.corinahewat.com
Recorded and engineered by Dave Gray, Sound Cafe, Penicuik
With the help of Trish Murray-www.sound-cafe.co.uk
Mixed and mastered by Dave Gray and Corina Hewat at Sound Cafe, Penicuik
CD design/layout by John Haxby, The Art Surgery- www.haxby.net.

The Edinburgh International Harp Festival has for the first time recorded the wealth of talent and diversity that makes the EIHF so unique. The Festival is overflowing with extraordinary players, from wire strung ancient harps to electric; from western jazz to avant-garde to 12th century manuscripts to jigs and reels. And now, a selection of performers from the festival have generously donated their time and creativity to create an exclusive collection of music - a compilation made especially for the Edinburgh International Harp Festival with generous support from the Scottish Arts Council. Enjoy!

Produced by Corina Hewat.