Music for Harp
Op. 116
by Lowell Liebermann
Chamber Music - Sheet Music

Chamber Music harp

SKU: PR.114416040

Op. 116. Composed by Lowell Liebermann. Sws. Premiered at the American Harp Society National Conference, New York City by Sivan Magen, harp. Contemporary. Solo part. With Standard notation. Composed 2011. Opus 116. 16 pages. Duration 15 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #114-41604. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.114416040).

ISBN 9781598065169. UPC: 680160616602. 9x12 inches.

Liebermann's Music for Harp was commissioned by the American Harp Society in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its founding. The world premiere took place July 30, 2012 at the AHS National Conference in New York City, performed by Sivan Magen. The world premiere recording was by Yolanda Kondonassis on her CD American Harp (Azica Records ACD-71281). David Hurwitz at ClassicsToday.com writes,"[T]his is a major addition to the repertoire for the instrument, and it’s an impressively sustained piece full of distinctive ideas." Mike Telin of ClevelandClassical.com says, "[Music for Harp] makes a strong impression with its octatonic and synthetic scales and its beautiful use of harmonics." Referring to the many pedal changes, Kondonassis says, "There are spots in his piece where it's as much of a dance as it is a finger experience." For advanced harpists. Duration: 18'.
Music for Harp Op.116 was commissioned by the American Harp Society in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its founding, and was premiered at the society’s 50th annual convention by Israeli harpist Sivan Magen.  From an atmospheric and nocturnal opening, the piece unfolds in a series of connected episodes that form a free arc-like structure with a fast and virtuosic middle section.  Like most of my music, the piece has no programmatic inspiration, but rather is concerned solely with the manipulation of the musical materials at hand.  In this case tonality, modality, octatonic and synthetic scales as well as atonal materials are mixed freely in an exploration of the harp’s abilities that, form-wise, has a distant kinship with the Fantasies of Mozart and Schubert.  I have written many times for harp, but only in the context of orchestral or chamber music:  this was my first attempt at a solo harp piece.  With the idiosyncratic set up of its strings and pedal mechanism, the modern harp is an instrument that was clearly designed with traditional tonality in mind, so that writing anything in a more complex harmonic language requires a great deal of ingenuity on the composer’s part.  It was this very aspect that made the writing of this piece challenging and enjoyable to me.