Paul Lewis
HARP OF MY HEART for solo harp
Goodmusic GM573
This is the story of a composer’s love for a harp.
I first fell in love with Erard harps in 1998 when a beautiful Gothic inspired my Jane Austen Suite, after which I found myself dreaming of owning one. Twenty years later my wife spotted an 1887 French rosewood Gothic Erard for sale, whose first owner was the sixteen year-old Fernand Maignien, first pupil of the teenage Henriette Regnie, that most revered of French harpists. Maignien went on to become harpist at the Paris Opera.
Though the harp had been unplayed for eighteen years and had spent the previous three in storage, it was still in splendid condition - the pedals worked effortlessly and it had a large, rich tone - so we bought it. The previous owner had bought it from Morley’s, the famous London harp makers and restorers, taking it home, sans covers, in a London taxi.
While we owned it we collected a small archive of related material, including an autographed copy of Maignien’s composition Royal Wedding, probably composed on this very harp, with a handwritten message of thanks to Madame Morley for her hospitality while he was in London. Whilst we owned the harp, several celebrated visiting harpists enjoyed playing it. Alexander Rider, himself an Erard owner, adored it, and, recording a selection of my music on it, Maia Darme, who had discovered an Erard in Tunisia and restored it, said she wanted to take it back to France with her!
But harps should not be silent, and for eight years it sat, mostly unplayed, the dazzling centrepiece of our salon. I gazed at it daily. I am not a harpist so I could but pluck the occasional note and amuse myself by playing glissandi in unusual tunings. But though an object of adoration, it seemed to be crying out for an owner who would play it regularly and allow it to sing as it deserved.
So, after much heart-searching we decided to let it go, whereupon we discovered that a brilliant young harpist of our acquaintance had for many years been searching for a playable Erard. She too fell in love with it at first sight, and her joy when she played her very first notes on it was unforgettable and the best possible affirmation of our decision to relinquish custodianship.
Harp of My Heart is my love song to Parisian Erard Gothic no.2072. Paul Lewis
Duration 5 minutes
I first fell in love with Erard harps in 1998 when a beautiful Gothic inspired my Jane Austen Suite, after which I found myself dreaming of owning one. Twenty years later my wife spotted an 1887 French rosewood Gothic Erard for sale, whose first owner was the sixteen year-old Fernand Maignien, first pupil of the teenage Henriette Regnie, that most revered of French harpists. Maignien went on to become harpist at the Paris Opera.
Though the harp had been unplayed for eighteen years and had spent the previous three in storage, it was still in splendid condition - the pedals worked effortlessly and it had a large, rich tone - so we bought it. The previous owner had bought it from Morley’s, the famous London harp makers and restorers, taking it home, sans covers, in a London taxi.
While we owned it we collected a small archive of related material, including an autographed copy of Maignien’s composition Royal Wedding, probably composed on this very harp, with a handwritten message of thanks to Madame Morley for her hospitality while he was in London. Whilst we owned the harp, several celebrated visiting harpists enjoyed playing it. Alexander Rider, himself an Erard owner, adored it, and, recording a selection of my music on it, Maia Darme, who had discovered an Erard in Tunisia and restored it, said she wanted to take it back to France with her!
But harps should not be silent, and for eight years it sat, mostly unplayed, the dazzling centrepiece of our salon. I gazed at it daily. I am not a harpist so I could but pluck the occasional note and amuse myself by playing glissandi in unusual tunings. But though an object of adoration, it seemed to be crying out for an owner who would play it regularly and allow it to sing as it deserved.
So, after much heart-searching we decided to let it go, whereupon we discovered that a brilliant young harpist of our acquaintance had for many years been searching for a playable Erard. She too fell in love with it at first sight, and her joy when she played her very first notes on it was unforgettable and the best possible affirmation of our decision to relinquish custodianship.
Harp of My Heart is my love song to Parisian Erard Gothic no.2072. Paul Lewis
Duration 5 minutes
