Harp Music in the Nineteenth Century makes available a wealth of information on a vital period in the development of the harp and its music. In the early nineteenth century, Erard perfected the double-action mechanism, which allowed the harp to be played in all keys. Virtuosos and composers of the period were quick to exploit the lush harmonic modulations and new tone colors now possible. Book jacket.

Revising her classic 1989 book Harps and Harpists, Roslyn Rensch expands her authoritative history of this timeless instrument. This lavishly illustrated edition, with 137 black-and-white images and 24 color plates, surveys the progress of the harp from antiquity to the present day. The new edition includes two new chapters; an extensive bibliography and index; personal anecdotes of the author's studies under Alberto Salvi; and an appendix on the Roslyn Rensch Papers and Harp Collection, which are housed at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.

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.

This classic reference work, the best one-volume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and lucid, lively prose, the Fourth Edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music is the essential guide for musicians, students, and everyone who appreciates music. The Harvard Dictionary of Music has long been admired for its wide range as well as its reliability. This treasure trove includes entries on all the styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East; descriptions of instruments enriched by historical background; and articles that reflect today’s beat, including popular music, jazz, and rock. Throughout this Fourth Edition, existing articles have been fine-tuned and new entries added so that the dictionary fully reflects current music scholarship and recent developments in musical culture. Encyclopedia-length articles by notable experts alternate with short entries for quick reference, including definitions and identifications of works and instruments. More than 220 drawings and 250 musical examples enhance the text. This is an invaluable book that no music lover can afford to be without.

The harp is both the oldest and the newest of instruments. It has existed in some form in nearly all cultures since man has made music. The contemporary concert instrument has been known since the mid-19th century. This work is a compendium of the biographies of many notable harpists of the modern era. The biographies make clear how these performers shaped the contrasts in style and technique of harp playing that have developed over the past 150 years, as cultural, social, and psychological forces influenced individual performance. In addition to the biographical information, the A-Z entries include critical reviews, discographies, and selected bibliographies where possible. New material from the former Soviet states is included.

"Written by an art historian who is also a performing harpist, this book provides, in a single source, information on the development of the harp and its technique and repertoire. The first part is devoted to a lucid exposition of the history of the instrument and is documented by over 70 illustrations of carvings, illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and musical instruments. Dr. Rensch traces the harp from its representation on monuments of the ancient East to its present-day form. There is material from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, and Greece, with a rich haul from medieval manuscripts and carvings of Western Europe. Harps portrayed by master painters, from the early Renaissance to the baroque period, and some extant harps from the late Middle Ages are also described in detail. There is an extensive discussion of the pedal harp, from the earliest instruments made by Hochbrucker, Cousineau, Naderman, and Erard to harps made in America in the twentieth century by Lyon and Healy and by Wurlitzer. Contributions of the virtuoso harpists of the nineteenth century and important harpist-teachers of the twentieth are noted. Modern use of the harp is also surveyed. The book's information on technical points, special effects, and the like will be of particular interest. A full list of recordings of solo and ensemble music and a carefully chosen list of compositions, graded for school use, are included in the appendixes. There are also a comprehensive bibliography and an index. The material of this book will be of wide interest to the professional musician, the music educator, and the composer; students of the harp will find it a vital source of information."--Jacket.