Description
Classics for Lever Harp, Favorite Airs from 19th century Europe
In this anthology, specially made with my harp students in mind, I have assembled 19th century tunes that were deeply anchored in my own “European memory”. Many were classical tunes that became folk songs, others were folk songs that became classics. I see them as great tools to foster music literacy on a basic level, with attractive melodies rising and falling naturally, framed by simple chords and text-book cadences.
The airs that reflect the German taste of the 19th century were sourced from an ancient collection belonging to my schoolteacher grandfather, entitled 100 der schönsten Volks-Lieder, published as a pocket-album by P. J. Tonger in Cologne, while others, drawing on Parisian and English taste, were excerpted from Bochsa’s Method for the harp. Whether lofty or “down to earth”, these songs about sentient nature, joy of life and love mixed with inescapable loss, tend to pull at the heart strings. After two world wars devastated Europe, a backlash against sentimentality sadly relegated most of them to the bin of history.
TABLE of CONTENTS
This collection is dedicated to my dear harp students on the occasion of my 65th birthday.
1. An den Mond (To the Moon), German Folk Song ……………………………………………………… 3
2. Frohsinn (Cheerfulness), Air by F. H. Himmel ………………………………………………………….. 4
3. Du, du liegst mir im Herzen (You, You Dwell in my Heart), Air by C. E. Pax ……………. 5
4. Heidenröslein (Little Rose on the Heath), Air by H. Werner ……………………………………… 6
5. La Molinara, Italian opera aria by G. Paisiello …………………………………………………………… 7
6. Burschenlust (A Boy’s Joy of Life), Air by J. W. Lyra …………………………………………………. 8
7. Die drei Reiter (The Three Horsemen), German Folk Song ………………………………………… 9
8. Wiegenlied (Lullaby) by C. M. von Weber ……………………………………………………………….. 10
9. Je suis Lindor, Air from Beaumarchais’ play The Barber of Seville …………………………… 11
10. Die Lorelei, Air by F. Silcher …………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
11. Treue Liebe (Faithful Love), Older German Folk Song …………………………………………….. 13
12. Freut euch des Lebens (Rejoice in Life), Air by H. G. Nägeli ……………………………………. 14
13. Der Kosak und sein Mädchen (The Cossack and his Girl), Russian (Ukrainian) Air … 15
14. Herdegossen (The Shepherd Boy), Swedish Air by I. A. Berg ………………………………….. 16
15. Il pleut, il pleut bergère (It’s Raining, Shepherdess), French Air by L. V. Simon ………. 18
16. Robin Adair, Irish Tune …………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
17. Believe me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms, Irish Tune ……………………………….. 20
18. The Last Rose of the Summer, Irish Tune …………………………………………………………………. 21
19. Der gute Kamerad (The Good Comrade), Lament by F. Silcher ……………………………….. 22
20. La Biondina, Venetian Gondoliera attr. to J.S. Mayr …………………………………………………. 23
