Contemporary etudes for harp

• Main Author: Bourassa, Richard Neil
• Other Authors: Pellegrini, Ernesto P.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Harp > Instruction and study.; Harp > Studies and exercises.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/175179; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/251870

Contemporary Etudes for Harp consists of twelve etudes dealing with two major areas. The primary area of concern is to expose the harpist to many of the compositional techniques used in twentieth-century harp music. A second concern deals with the way sounds can be produced on the harp as well as the involvement of the performer in producing sounds. Problems involved in the notation of these special effects are also addressed in these twelve etudes.Etudes I, II, III, IV, VII, IX, and X deal more specifically with compositional techniques that are frequently found in twentieth century harp music. Modality, polytonality, the use of synthetic scales, quartal harmony, non-traditional use of traditional harmony and scales, and mixed and changing meters are included in these chapters.Less-commonly used techniques are found in Etudes V, VI, VIII, XI, and XII. These deal with the use of sounds and silences and their durations, graphic notation, and a simple introduction into aleatoric music. Emphasis is also placed on pitch selection and organization through the use of a pitch class set and serialism.The level of the etudes ranges from medium to difficult and presupposes that the harpist would be capable of achieving an undergraduate degree in harp performance. The length of the etudes ranges from 2 1/2 minutes to 4 minutes. Some of the problems which contribute which contribute to the difficulty to these etudes are the use of rapid pedal changes, three-note pedal glissandos, using a tuning fork to change pitches on a given string, interpreting graphic notation, maintaining a musical sense of direction within a given time frame, and dealing with rapidly changing time signatures. The harpist must also make choices in the order in which events are to occur in the aleatoric piece. In the final etude using graphic notation, singing is required by the harpist.Because new compositional techniques and special effects are continually being introduced, this study is not intended to be all encompassing. It is instead intended to be used for score study and to provide musical studies which clearly demonstrate the specific techniques included in each other.