|
Back to articles
TEXAS
SCOTTISH FESTIVAL
'98 - the year of the HARP!
by Nancy Hurrell
Published in the
Folk Harp
Journal, Fall 1998
It was indeed 'the year of the harp' - as Texas Scottish
Festival director Ray McDonald kept telling me! And for that reason, it was a
little easier for Sue Richards & I to pull away from an incredible
conference in Galveston - and head for the week-end in Arlington (through
Houston traffic, torrential rain, & radar speeding traps!).
At this year's festival, two of Scotland's best known
harpers (or clarsach players) appeared: William Jackson and Judith Peacock.
William, founder of the group Ossian, performed on harps- gut strung and wire
strung, and on flute & whistle. Judith came as harper in the
group-'Whistlebinkies'. And Sue Richards, our American Scottish harp champion,
performed (has quite a fan club here) and judged the Scottish Harp Competition.
There was actually another Scottish clarsach player at the
games- Eddie McGuire, also of the 'Whistlebinkies'. Eddie plays flute &
piccolo in the group, and is known as one of Scotland's foremost composers,
with commissions from the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Scottish Ballet, and many
others. He also plays clarsach on a track on the 'Whistlebinkies' CD, A
Wanton Fling- "Deireadh Leave", with Judith singing. A hauntingly beautiful
arrangement, Eddie & Judith agreed to perform it for us in the Harp Tent as
part of Judith's workshop on, 'Scottish Gaelic Music on Clarsach'.
Judith is a fluent speaker of the Gaelic language, and
hearing her clear high voice in ancient Gaelic was memorable. As a member of
the 'Whistlebinkies', she definitely holds her own! She's a strong player and
her John Yule harp is strung in the upper octaves with gut strings half the
normal guage, giving a brightness that really cuts through the texture of the
group. Judith is a professional pedal harpist also and we swapped stories of
worst moments with as she put it, "pedals in a twist"!
In William Jackson's workshop, we learned a tune by ear, and
he talked about everything from arranging Scottish tunes for clarsach, to the
history of the harp in Scotland- describing early stone carvings of harpers on
tombstones. It's different somehow, hearing a description firsthand, from even
looking at a photo in a book. He also talked about various string types-even
the horse hair strings used at one time in Wales, and techniques of
playing.
Sue Richards led the Harpers Circle and in concert performed
one of her beautiful new harp solos from her book, Morning and Midnight.
In addition to harp ensemble playing, harps joined forces with accordianist
Jack Rennie, from California, to accompany the Scottish Country dancers, who
danced by the Harp Tent both days.
The weather was suspiciously cool all week-end- in the 70's
& 80's!, the breeze often playing our harps. A personal highlight of the
week-end was playing in a harp trio with Judith and Sue for the church service
Prelude. With 3 harps, there are infinite creative possibilities!!
The Clan Lamont award for Best Harper of the Day was a
stunning mounted sculpture of a harper, designed by artist Pamela Gilbreath
Watkins. Competition winners were:
- Beginner:
- 1st - Rachel Gracia
- 2nd - Allison McCollum
- Novice:
- 1st - Laura Gracia
- 2nd - Kayce Smith
- Junior Amateur:
- 1st - Shelly Savill
- 2nd - Chelsy Hutchison
- 3rd - Sara Savill
- Senior Amateur:
- Best Harper of the Day Clan Lamont Trophy:
TOP
OF PAGE |
