Magic Harp Poem by Ahmad Shiddiqi

koto in Japan
çeng in Turkey
ardin in Mauritania
kora in West African

saung-gauk in Burma
nevel in King David era
konghou, guqin in China
kanun in the ancient Egypt

Sassanid mosaic
excavated at Bishapur
depicting player and a harp
artifact is kept at The Louvre

in European culture
The harper scene carved
on the Monifeith Pictish stone
in Scotland, around 700 - 900 AD

gut
silk
wire
nylon

fingers
pedal
pluck
feet

shoulders
relaxed
neck
back

strings
forepillar
resonator
soundboard

Carlos Salzedo
expressive gestures
elbows parallel to the ground

Marcel Grandjany
elbows are held at an angle
wrists may occasionally rest

Tchaikovsky for his three masterpiece ballets
Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty
Alexander Glazunov for the lovely ballet Raymonda
the variation titled Une fantaisie or Prélude et variations

Cesare Pugni, Éoline, ou La Dryade and Ondine, ou la Naïad
Musetta's Waltz from La bohème, Nicolas-Charles Bochsa
Riccardo Drigo, Le Talisman, Les Millions d'Arlequin
Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Henriette Renié

oh dear, pluck smoothly my heart
fill me with your peaceful voice
oh dear, strike gently my sense
fill me with your calm tune

oh dear, touch lightly my soul
fill me with your angelic voice
oh dear, whisper quietly to my love
fill me with your soft tune

(inspired by W.A. Mozart’s Concerto for Harp, Flute and Orchestra)