Harp music, please.
April 22, 2021 12:04 PM
I am looking for some good-quality instrumental harp music to listen to while working or relaxing.
There is a lot of not-quality harp music to be found online. Very day-spa, lots of forest-noises and ocean-crashing background sounds, and a fantastic number of 6-hour midi loops trying really hard to be the background music for a Ren Faire.
I am really interested in instrumental, high-quality, music. I would like anything I could ideally put on to work by, relax, and possibly just have a few cups of tea with. While long ago I listened to the more instrumental and slow pieces by Alan Stivell (and in fact really love En Enor Séamus, a piece I cannot link to as it is a bonus track on an album), I am not much for his prog-rock inclinations. I like his traditional Bretagne stuff, but not for these purposes. And while this is absolutely charming, I am looking for either original works or classical solo pieces, not recognizable covers.
Thank you very much in advance.
There is a lot of not-quality harp music to be found online. Very day-spa, lots of forest-noises and ocean-crashing background sounds, and a fantastic number of 6-hour midi loops trying really hard to be the background music for a Ren Faire.
I am really interested in instrumental, high-quality, music. I would like anything I could ideally put on to work by, relax, and possibly just have a few cups of tea with. While long ago I listened to the more instrumental and slow pieces by Alan Stivell (and in fact really love En Enor Séamus, a piece I cannot link to as it is a bonus track on an album), I am not much for his prog-rock inclinations. I like his traditional Bretagne stuff, but not for these purposes. And while this is absolutely charming, I am looking for either original works or classical solo pieces, not recognizable covers.
Thank you very much in advance.
Detach, an album of contemporary classical harp music by Angela Schwarzkopf won the solo/chamber classical Juno (Canadian Grammys) last year, it's wonderful!
posted by phlox at 12:53 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by phlox at 12:53 PM on April 22, 2021
I don't suppose that Alice Coltrane's free-form, harp-centric jazz would fit the bill, here, exactly, but I did want to mention it, as I sometimes listen to it "in the background" when I'm focusing on other tasks. I figure that Journey in Satchidananda is probably the best entry point; it's an incredible album.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2021
I used to do a lot of studying while listing to traditional Japanese Koto music...I think it has a lot in common with some of the feelings I get from Harp music in general.
posted by th3ph17 at 1:27 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by th3ph17 at 1:27 PM on April 22, 2021
I really like the work of Robin Huw Bowen. He plays traditional Welsh music on a Welsh triple harp. There are samples on youtube.
May not fit the bill because traditional (?) but thought I should mention because excellent and harp.
Ludwig Spohr, a classical composer and contemporary of Beethoven, wrote harp music for his wife, who was a harpist.
If you want to get Teutonic, in Bavaria there is a great tradition of folk harp playing.
Also, though not to my taste, maybe you'd like the music of electric harpist Andreas Vollenweider.
posted by bertran at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2021
May not fit the bill because traditional (?) but thought I should mention because excellent and harp.
Ludwig Spohr, a classical composer and contemporary of Beethoven, wrote harp music for his wife, who was a harpist.
If you want to get Teutonic, in Bavaria there is a great tradition of folk harp playing.
Also, though not to my taste, maybe you'd like the music of electric harpist Andreas Vollenweider.
posted by bertran at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2021
Mary Lattimore has like a million albums. I like At The Dam from 2016. Sparse layered loops.
posted by clockwork at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by clockwork at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2021
Check out the German harpist Merit Zloch. Not only is she a true virtuoso but her music is full of Feeling yet not kitschig as so much of harp music.
posted by 15L06 at 2:06 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by 15L06 at 2:06 PM on April 22, 2021
In the Channels section of her YT channel you will also find lots of good stuff.
posted by 15L06 at 2:07 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by 15L06 at 2:07 PM on April 22, 2021
Seconding jazz harp, if you'd be up for it - Dorothy Ashby is go-to music for me when I want to concentrate with groove.
Hip Harp
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:16 PM on April 22, 2021
Hip Harp
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:16 PM on April 22, 2021
You might like Patrick Ball, who plays Celtic Harp music.
posted by MexicanYenta at 3:27 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by MexicanYenta at 3:27 PM on April 22, 2021
Mary Lattimore. The warm shoulder. (Cutest title)
posted by firstdaffodils at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2021
posted by firstdaffodils at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2021
This Appears to Disappear by Cassie Watson Francillon is really lovely. It's all original pieces, and it's both mellow and lively in a very nice way.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 2:04 PM on April 23, 2021
posted by Nibbly Fang at 2:04 PM on April 23, 2021
You might like Rhodri Davies' recent more melodic work, like Telyn Rawn.
posted by RGD at 9:19 AM on April 28, 2021
posted by RGD at 9:19 AM on April 28, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
I don't know if the presence of a second instrument would disqualify it, but the collaborations between harpist Catrin Finch and kora-player Seckou Keita are wonderful.
Also, I chanced upon these intriguing (but brief) 17th-century Welsh harp pieces recently.
posted by misteraitch at 12:34 PM on April 22, 2021