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2024
9 min.
Harp
More Details
- Program Notes
- <p>In the Western society a harp, or playing harp, is associated with a feminine image or activity of a very limited type: a “pretty” woman playing pleasant music, often connected to divinity, due to the history of its visual representation. In contrast, for this piece I aimed to connect the harp to true, raw femininity, as for me it replicates an action only female human body is capable of: a childbirth. Harp is an extremely intense instrument physically because for each note the string must be pulled by hand/finger flesh. I associate this intense action with the sense of pulling during the labor contractions, based on which I wrote the following poem:</p><p>pulling the strings repeatedly is like giving a birth -</p><p>you feel the constant pulling of your spine-string,</p><p>yet before the heavy work of pushing starts.</p><p>the only consoling thought is that</p><p>the exhausting sensation will eventually be over</p><p>in the greatest release both bodies deserved,</p><p>but no one knows when that long-awaited moment arrives.</p><p>until then – endure</p>
- Recording Notes
- <p>Live recording from Opperman Music Hall, Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)</p>
- Ensemble Name
- Noёl Wan