Word: harps
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Trailers, station wagons and cars with bulging luggage compartments converged on Oberlin, Ohio last week. Most of the vehicles carried a young-looking woman and a large, wedge-shaped case. Each case contained an evening dress, coat, shoes and a makeup case besides its usual contents, a harp. All told, there were 50 girls and women, aged 14-40, and four men, who had come for three days of gossip, shoptalk, practice and, finally, a grand, massed harp concert...
...festival, all the harpists who can wangle invitations are eager to come. Explained one: "I always sound better when he's conducting." Looking over his ensemble last week, Salzedo snorted: "Unfortunately, men in this country do not like the refined things of life. So people think the harp effeminate, and not many men play...
Some of the women feel the same way. "The harp is a glamorous instrument," said one. "It's so curvy, and you can be so graceful when you play it." Others were more practical: "It's a sound investment -costs as much as a Cadillac but doesn't depreciate as fast. It's an instrument you can get your money back on-very much, in demand for weddings and funerals...
...last week's concert, Oberlin College's Finney Chapel turned into a thrumming, humming place, where the music was sometimes strong and distinct (Bach, arranged for 20 harps), sometimes mysteriously vague (Debussy, arranged for five harps), sometimes murmurous like the sea (Salzedo's own Fraicheur, for 54 harps). When it was over, the audience applauded enthusiastically. One observer noted that even the older performers looked young. Harp Master Salzedo had the answer: "Most harpists are young or look young. I have known only one old harpist, and she was not good. Harp keeps them young...
...Most harpists in the U.S. are women, but the few men do pretty well: some are leading harpists in symphony orchestras, and the two top harp names are Juilliard's Marcel Grandjany and Salzedo himself...