Oberthür

Charles Oberthür (1819-1895) enjoyed a successful cosmopolitan career that took him from Germany to France and Belgium, to finally settle in England. Just like Bochsa, he composed prolifically, flooding the market with a constant stream of harp pieces, original and arranged,  Le Sylphe and Le Papillon among the former, and the Gounod Ave Maria and Serenade among the latter. He did more than anyone else to establish a universal and popular vocabulary for the harp, which lasted past the jazz age. Unfortunately, his famous Method is now out of print. Nonetheless, his favorite technical and expressive ideas survive, codified, in his charming 12 Exercises and 24 Preludes.