Customer Reviews

Harpestry: A Contemporary Collection

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

*Harpestry* is co-produced by Diana Stork (the producer of the award-winning "Festival of Harps" in the San Francisco Bay Area) and Dawn Atkinson of Imaginary Road Records. In my perhaps highly biased opinion, this is one of the top ten harp albums ever produced. It is certainly one that I, a serious collector of folk harp CD's, play among the most often.

In her "Festival of Harps", Diana puts together harps of all kinds (ancient, modern, traditional, acoustic, wire-strung, gut/nylon-strung, Eastern, Western, Latin, etc., etc.) to show the richness and diversity of the instrument. You'll find the same sort of unity-in-diversity on this album -- not any Eastern harps, but a wide variety of folk and modern harps from the Western world. Really wonderful to listen too, and educational as well (for those who have only heard pedal harps, the kind you see in orchestras).

Subtitled "A Contemporary Collection", this compilation CD from Imaginary Road Records is scintillating, varied, and intriguing--a celebration of harpists and harp-playing styles from around the world. The contributors are Rudiger Oppermann, Maureen Brennan, Ann Heymann, Deborah Henson-Conant, Michelle Sell, Janet Harbison, Cynthia Mowery, Luis Felipe Gonzalez, Geist, Derek Bell, Patrick Ball, Andrea Piazza, and Andreas Vollenweider. The types of harps they play (Celtic, Gothic, traditional Tyrolean, Venezuelan, nylon strung, wire strung, Classical pedal and concert harps, and electric harps) are as varied as their musical styles, which include traditional, classical and jazz. I became aware of this recording, and it's companion album "Celtic Harpestry" by reading a review for yet another harp album, "Faces of the Harp" (from Narada). All three CDS are wonderful, as well as quite complimentary, and I'm delighted to have come across them. If you like harp music, you're sure to enjoy them too!

I have been looking for any harp collection to rival this and haven't found it yet. It's full of great original compositions, including my favourite of all harp pieces, The Nightingale by Deborah Henson-Conant. A must-have if you love harp music.

I heard one song from this cd on the radio and had to buy it! The music is simply fabulous! I highly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys harp music or just enjoys listening to relaxing, uplifting music in general.

This is a lovely collection that will brings hours of inner harmony and contentment.......don't miss it!!!

I have to admit there aren't many cds that I can listen to over and over through the years from first song on the album the very last, but this is one of them. I borrowed the cd from the public library years ago and I wasn't in love immediately. I couldn't tell if there was an elevatorish sound to it or not.

After a week or two I realized how wrong I was, its just not beautiful Celtic sounding harp music, but its soft and soothing, with the gentlest rhythms and melodies you could ever dream of hearing. It has just the right balance of weaving complexity with simple elegance. I love that I didnt recognize any of the songs, no "Old Danny Boy" renditions, nothing corny sounding or pop-ish. Its not a single harp its more than one and a drum of some sort, that sounds soft and bongo like. I think I've heard cello or strings in some of the songs too. A must have for me, and my guess is for any lover of music regardless of genre. Unspeakably beautiful.

It was by dumb luck that I picked this particular cd up several years back, and I now use it as my staple. Being a harper, I appreciate the beauty and technique of the music and musicians, but most of all, it is one of the best harp collections I've found to date. What's nice is that the musicians featured here are known names in the harp world - not some unknowns who might have whacked out tempos and interpretations. If there was a rating of more than 5 stars, then I would give it that! Seriously, you won't regret this purchase.

This is a beutiful collection. The music make you feel like the breezy sunny afternnon of the New England.

If I were to use two words to describe the music in this CD, they would be "pretty" and "delicate". The tracks here make good background music to reading or relaxation, but I wouldn't exactly consider them particularly beautiful or haunting. Remember, this is HARP music. Not WESTLIFE. Not MOZART. So if you're NOT looking for soft dreamy music that seems to float to nowhere, steer clear of this. If you ARE then I suggest you buy it.