14th World Harp Congress, Cardiff (July 24th, 2022)

On Spohr’s Fantasie op.35

Spohr’s Fantasie is often demanded in harp competitions and auditions. However, until recently, there was no in-depth study by a harpist into a historically-informed stylistic way of performance on the Naderman single-action pedal harp from 1820. This presentation in the World Harp Congress offers a stylistic performance of the piece by delving into the lost harp practices from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The presentation is a challenge of animating the composition by performing beyond the notation, offering the listeners to experience that comes close to the composer’s expectations. The lecture provides a glimpse of the new annotated version of the Fantasie, which will be published early next year by Bärenreiter. The demonstration will be on the single-action and the double-action pedal harp.

During the presentation