Summer is fast approaching, as is the 28 May World Premiere of our new commission by composers Nicola LeFanu, Alissa Firsova, Savourna Stevenson and Ayanna Witter-Johnson. We still have a few interviews to come in our composer series though, and this one is with our second resident composer, Harriet Adie.
In recent years Harriet has taken up the baton of chief arranger for the quartet, egged on and inspired by fellow harpist/composer/quartet member Eleanor Turner. Together the two girls (who first met aged 15 at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music) have arranged and composed upwards of 40 pieces for 4 Girls 4 Harps to play, and recently set up their own publishing company Wild Bird Publications.
Harriet is a mother of two young children and juggles her time between performing with 4 Girls 4 Harps, composing and arranging, and looking after her family. In addition to her numerous arrangements, she has written two original pieces for 4G4H. Sun, Moon and Stars (2004) is a musical memory of her life spent growing up in Oman, in the Middle East. It is an early marker of her compositional style, full of toccata-like punctuation and a love of intervals of a 4th, 7th and 9th. It was recorded by 4G4H in 2009 on their debut CD, Fireworks and Fables and you can listen to it here. Elemental (2012) was written whilst she was pregnant with her first child and has been a favourite with the quartet ever since! A substantial piece, Harriet views it as her 'coming of age' work and the piece that she is most proud of. You can listen to a live performance of Elemental here.
You grew up in Oman which provided a vivid inspiration for Sun Moon and Stars. What else has inspired your compositions?
I am
inspired by nature, colour, myths, philosophical ideas (by which I refer to my
own pondering rather than learned tomes). Sometimes very specific, random
images such as the movement of a playground swing! I once wrote a solo harp
piece ‘Half?’ which was inspired by the concept of whether a glass is
half empty or half full.
Elemental was completed only one week before you were due
to give birth to your first child in 2012, do you work best under pressure?
I think I
probably do the actual work best under pressure, but it is important to have
plenty of time to mull over the ideas behind a composition. The ideas behind
Elemental were germinating for about two years before I actually started to
write the music!
Tell us about the story of Elemental, why you wrote it and
what it is about.
Elemental
is based on the four elements: Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. Each movement illustrates
something about the individual element. Earth is the story of a group of gnomes
journeying through a mountain, and Water is a portrait of ripples on a pond
created by leaves falling on its surface. I wrote it because I couldn’t not write it. By this I mean that the idea had been
growing quietly for some time until I got to the point where I felt it had to
be put in to musical form. I was very lucky to have a ready-made group there in
the form of 4 Girls 4 Harps waiting to perform it for me!
Having already written Sun, Moon and Stars did you approach
writing Elemental differently?
Definitely. In the eight years since I wrote Sun, Moon and Stars
(2004), I had written several other original works for harp and various other
instruments. More importantly I had done a huge number of arrangements for 4G4H
which were a fantastic training ground, both for how to divide up parts for
four harps, but also as an opportunity to study compositional process close up.
When I wrote Elemental, I was able to put this knowledge and experience into
good use. It is a much tighter piece in terms of structure than Sun, Moon and
Stars which was much freer, and I think it is more effective as a result. I was
also better equipped to develop my ideas which led to a much more substantial
piece.
How do you feel being a harpist affects the way you write
for the instrument compared to how you write for other instruments?
I much
prefer writing for the harp as it is what I know. Whenever I have written for
other instruments I always worry that my lack of first-hand knowledge of how
they are played will result in a piece which, whilst it might sound great, is a
real headache for the player to perform. Having said that, I do love the
options that other instruments provide, such as the power to sustain notes for
a long period of time, or greater chromaticism.
Do you feel that your quartet work is influenced by 4G4H. Do
you write something imagining it would be played by a certain member and has
the group influenced the path of the composition in any way?
The
quartet definitely influences the way I write pieces for us, however the path
of the composition has always been dictated by the music and inspiration behind
it. Working so closely with a group results in an in-depth knowledge of each
player’s strengths and weaknesses.
When allocating parts in both arrangements and original works I always have the
individual player in mind. For example, Keziah loves to play quite cheeky
sounding melodies and Eleanor is fantastically strong both in terms of sound
and her attack. I love dreamy melodic lines and playing harmonics, and
Elizabeth has a wonderfully resonant middle register to her harp which means
that she can really push a melodic line in this area through other higher
textures.
What's the one tip you, being both a harpist and composer,
would like to share with other composers out there writing for the harp?
Arrange
other people’s music! In past centuries
composers would learn their craft by copying out the popular pieces of the
time. They would learn style, structure and technique by doing this, and then
be able to develop, extend and modify it to suit their own individual style. I
know that I have learnt more in the years I have spent arranging than I ever
could have by just writing my own pieces. Separately, one of the things I
always have to strike a balance with is the importance of the music I want to
create versus what is realistic and comfortable to perform on the harp. In a
world where rehearsal and practise time is often far too short, it is important
to bear in mind that a piece has to be performable or it will struggle to be heard
beyond the first performance. Having said that, there have definitely been more
than a few occasions where the music has won through for me….
Have you another idea simmering away somewhere for another
quartet piece? Or anywhere you would love one of your pieces to be performed?
I would love more harpists to hear my music. I think I will
always be drawn to write for the harp – in fact I can’t think of a single
composition in the last 10 years that does not have harp in it! – and I would
love to hear other people perform and interpret my creations. Funnily enough, I
was driving back at about midnight from a recent 4G4H concert, and thinking of
ideas for a new solo piece based on the idea of Time: the concept of there
being an appropriate time to do different things such as love, protect, relax,
inspire and enjoy. Perhaps a suite of short movements!
What piece (for any instrument) do you most wish you had
written?
A few
years ago I began to draft a piece for harp and oboe inspired by the book
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach. It never really got off the ground
though as I couldn’t seem to create the music
that I wanted to suit the narrative (perhaps I need the pressure of an imminent
birth to focus my mind!). It is such a beautiful and truly inspiring story, and
I would love to write it in the future.
What three things would you take to a desert island?
My
husband Ruari and two children, Freddie and Beatrice. Fingers crossed it is an
island with coconuts on though, as otherwise my failure to take anything
practical will mean we will starve!
