The title of this disc,
'The Royal Harp', can be interpreted
in two ways. First of all, it refers
to the programme which Andrew Lawrence-King
is playing, which contains music played
at the court of the French king Louis
XIV, as the subtitle indicates. On the
other hand, it could be seen as a reference
to the instrument which this recording
is devoted to, the harp. It is one of
the oldest instruments in history, and
one of its most famous players is the
Jewish king David from the Old Testament
in the Bible.
The harp was especially
popular in Italy in the early 17th century,
where it was used for the realisation
of the basso continuo. Music for the
harp as solo instrument was also written.
Some composers wrote pieces which could
be played either on a keyboard instrument
or the harp. And harpists often played
music originally intended for a keyboard
or a plucked instrument.
The association of
the harp in the 17th century with Italy
is reflected in the article on the instrument
in 'New Groves' in which much information
is given about the harp in Italy, but
next to nothing about its role in France.
In his liner notes Andrew Lawrence-King
mentions the French harpist Jean le
Flelle, who enjoyed international fame
as a player of the triple harp, the
same kind of instrument Lawrence-King
uses here.
He was involved in
musical performances in England and
was also associated with the court of
Louis XIV. The king admired the playing
of another harpist, Claude Burette,
as well, whose collection of pieces
for harpsichord and harp unfortunately
has been lost.
All music on this disc
was originally written for other instruments.
Most of them were composed for the harpsichord
(Louis and François Couperin,
Froberger), some for the guitar (Corbetta)
or the theorbo (De Visée). The
former was a guitar virtuoso from Bologna,
who was Louis XIV's guitar teacher and
who published two books with pieces
for the guitar, entitled 'La Guitarre
Royalle', devoted to king Charles of
England and Louis XIV respectively.
The latter was Corbetta's pupil and
succeeded him as Louis' teacher. He
published suites for the theorbo and
the lute, which were later republished
for other instruments, and arranged
music by François Couperin and
Antoine Forqueray.
Even though harpists
played a lot of music originally written
for the harpsichord, the differences
between the instruments gives the performances
here a character of their own. According
to Marin Mersenne in his 'Harmonie Universelle'
(1636) the repertoire of the harp was
identical to that of lute and harpsichord,
but harpists were not supposed to play
all the ornaments which are a feature
of French lute and keyboard music. On
the other hand, the harp has the possibility
to play piano and forte, which the harpsichord
doesn't have.
In this recording Andrew
Lawrence-King gives brilliant performances
of music, which is partly quite familiar,
like Louis Couperin's 'La Piémontoise',
where the dynamic possibilities of the
harp are used to great effect. And Froberger's
famous Lamento for Ferdinand IV gets
one of the most moving and dramatic
readings I have ever heard.
The harp doesn't play
a prominent role on the concert platform,
and if it is used, then mostly as part
of the basso continuo group. Therefore
this disc is most welcome, as it pays
attention to the harp as solo instrument
and the playing of Andrew Lawrence-King
is very impressive.
Johan van Veen