Philharmonia Chamber Players: Spotlight on the Harp

The harp takes centre stage in this free early-evening performance by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

In the early years of the 20^th century, the Paris instrument-makers Pleyel had commissioned Debussy to write a piece to show off the capabilities of a new model of harp. Their rival company, Erard, fought back by commissioning from Ravel this mini-concerto for harp, strings and woodwind, that would make the most of the technical and expressive potential of their instruments. The result is certainly some of the most attractive advertising music ever written.

Marjan Mozetich is Canada’s most-broadcast living composer. His lush, post-Romantic music is renowned for its accessibility and emotional expression. In 1987 he was commissioned to compose a companion piece for the same group of instruments as Ravel’s. The delicate, ethereal soundworld of Angels in Flight is inspired by a Renaissance painting of the Annunciation.

The Philharmonia Orchestra’s Principal Harp, Heidi Krutzen, has chosen these two beguiling pieces to perform with six longstanding friends and colleagues.