Harp, Lever Harp - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1529203

By Harp Lane. By Juan María Solare. This edition: audio, pdf. 20th Century, Celtic, Classical, Contemporary, Instructional, Irish. Score. 18 pages. Juan Maria Solare #1102571. Published by Juan Maria Solare (A0.1529203).

Deciphering Fleetingness

Five Pieces for Solo Harp

Juan María Solare

In this second cycle of five pieces for solo harp (the first one being 'Progressive Empathy'), I began the composition process by inventing the titles first, which can be read as the lines of a brief poem about fugacity:

1) Vaporous Shapes
2) Rising From a Lagoon,
3) Speechless Vanishing Into Softness.
4) While Painting Ephemeral Messages,
5) Nature Has No Words.

I’m particularly drawn to the animistic idea of nature communicating without words, expressing itself anyway through non-verbal means.

The musical language in this cycle tends to be uncomplicated and laid-back, though never uninteresting or superficial. There is a clear contrast between the pieces (in terms of key, time signature, and musical texture). The overall aesthetic is neoclassical.

1. The first piece (in A Minor) evokes a Celtic atmosphere. While the basic time signature is 4/4, the rhythm often shifts into groupings that suggest implicit bars/measures of 3/4 + 3/4 + 2/4.
2. The second piece (in F major) musically illustrates its title through frequent ascending figures, suggesting something rising or emerging (precisely vaporous shapes). This piece can also be thought of as having a Celtic flavor. Character: Optimistic. It uses the only five possible rhythmic patterns in which an eight-note is missing from a 3/4 bar.
3. The third piece (the central axis of the cycle) is based on a whole-tone scale: diatonic but non-tonal. There are two versions of this third piece: the main "expanded" version, and a simpler version (consider it a bonus track).
4. The fourth piece is minimalist: a moto perpetuo, plus processes of accumulation and de-accumulation. It is built around ostinatos that grow and diminish in complexity, yet remain anchored to a single chord (C major with aggregates) throughout.
5. The fifth and final piece (in E minor) draws inspiration from the rhythm and aura of the milonga, a genre related to tango but with a more rustic, countryside character. This milonga, however, is in the unusual time signature of 7/8 - unusual for a milonga, at least. A quite melodic piece.

Except for the third piece, all the pieces in this cycle are entirely diatonic. Once the key signature is set it remains unchanged throughout each piece. No local accidentals. No exceptions. The consequence is that the pedalization remains identical for each piece, making the music suitable for lever harps as well.

This diatonic limitation was a deliberate self-imposed constraint. Constraints can be inspiring or castrating, can either motivate or inhibit creativity. In this case, limiting the harmonic palette to a seven-note scale required significant discipline and austerity: what can you say, musically, with a limited alphabet of choices? I would encourage any composer -at least as training- to write a piece under strict constraints. Through meaningful constraints, creativity will grow. A key point is that you are the one choosing your own limitations.

The recording of Deciphering Fleetingness (by Harp Lane) was released gradually in two-months steps, with the full album appearing on digital streaming platforms on 22 November 2024 - 'coincidentally' the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music in several countries, including my homeland, Argentina.

Find the recordings here:

https://gyro.to/DecipheringFleetingness.