Harps and harp music have enjoyed a renaissance over the past century and today can be heard in a broad array of musical contexts. Guide to the Contemporary Harp is a comprehensive resource that examines the vibrant present-day landscape of the harp. The authors explore the instrument from all angles, beginning with organology; moving through composition, notation, and playing techniques; and concluding with the contemporary repertoire for the harp. The rapid diversification in these areas of harp performance is the result of both technological innovations in harp making, which have produced the electric harp and MIDI harp, and innovative composers and players. These new instruments and techniques have broadened the concept of what is possible and what constitutes harp music for today. Guide to the Contemporary Harp is an essential guide for any harpist looking to push the instrument and its music to new heights.

Harp Music Bibliography: Chamber Music and Concertos lists over 5000 works in the harp repertoire. The index of composers' names and titles provides access to every piece listed, whether it is cited individually or as part of a collection. In addition, an instrumentation index provides access to specific performance forces needed for each work. A separate index lists works playable on non-pedal harp

Contains over 5000 entries of works for harp in combination with up to eight other instruments, songs and other vocal and choral works with harp accompaniment, and harp concertos and other concerted works in which the harp plays a solo role. This chamber music volume contains citations of harp music published between 1800 and 2000 in a classified arrangement, with the first eight sections subdivided by original works and arrangements: 1) Duets; 2) Trios; 3) Quartets; 4) Quintets; 5) Sextets; 6) Septets; 7) Octets; 8) Nonets; 9) Solo voice with harp; 10) Solo voices (2 or more) with harp; 11) Harp with chorus; and 12) Harp concertos. Each entry includes information needed to accurately identify a work, including uniform titles when needed, publisher information, pagination when available, and complete contents listings for anthologies. Following the main sections is an index of names and titles. Finally, there is an index of music playable on non-pedal or "folk" harps. Designed to complement Harp Music Bibliography: Compositions for Solo Harp and Harp Ensemble (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995) and Harp Music Bibliography Supplement: Compositions for Solo Harp and Ensemble.

Harp

This authoritative reference work investigates the roots of the Sacred Harp, the central collection of the deeply influential and long-lived southern tradition of shape-note singing. David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan concentrate on the regional culture that produced the Sacred Harp in the nineteenth century and delve deeply into history of its authors and composers. They trace the sources of every tune and text in the Sacred Harp, from the work of B. F. White, E. J. King, and their west Georgia contemporaries who helped compile the original collection in 1844 to the contributions by various composers to the 1936 to 1991 editions. Drawing on census reports, local histories, family Bibles and other records, rich oral interviews with descendants, and Sacred Harp Publishing Company records, this volume reveals new details and insights about the history of this enduring American musical tradition. David Waren Stel is an associate professor of music and southern culture at the University of Mississippi. Richard H. Hulan is an independent scholar of American folk hymnody.

This collection represents the first complete study of the Jew's harp -- its history, use, playing techniques, and manufacture -- richly supplemented with biographies of virtuosi of the instrument, a geo-linguistic survey of terms, data on composed music, and a bibliographical and discographical essay with numerous musical examples. Illustrated.

This book is designed to complement Harp Music Bibliography: Compositions for Solo Hart and Harp Ensemble (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995). The supplement has almost 3000 entries, hearly doubling the total number of listing of works for harp.