Lucy Nolan (Harp)
Award-winning professional harpist Lucy Nolan began studying the harp at the age of seven with Eira Lynn Jones after being inspired when it was featured in an episode of the children’s television show Teletubbies! She has performed for us before on Saturday 12th November 2022 with Meera Maharaj (flute).
Here is a PDF of the Poster for this Concert (click to VIEW or right click to SAVE). Please feel free to print and display the poster to help publicise this concert.
John Thomas: The Minstrel’s Adieu to His Native Land
Benjamin Britten: Suite for Harp, Opus 83
(five movements)
Sally Beamish: Awuya
arranged Keziah Thomas
Erik Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1
Tsvetelina Likova: The Golden Bird
Donald Grant: Chrissie’s Tune
Catriona McKay: The Swan
Traditional: Tunes from St. Kilda
arranged Lucy Nolan
Astor Piazzolla: Primavera
arranged Maria Luisa Ryan
Brief Report “on the night”
 |
 |
| Lucy with her Pedal Harp | Lucy and her Celtic Harp |
An excellent concert enjoyed by around 35 people. Lucy Nolan made the audience feel really welcome as she enthusiastically introduced each piece explaining the background and some of the points to look out for.
The fist half was all classical music that had been written for the harp, with the “Suite for Harp” by Benjamin Britten being really outstanding in the variety of moods it conjured up.
The second half started with transcriptions of standard classical pieces (Tchaikovsky and Satie). Then came smaller pieces written for both the pedal harp and the smaller Celtic harp, followed by folk music transcriptions. Lucy finished with “Primavera” from “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” Suite by Piazzolla, which was greeted by rapturous applause.
At the end several members asked if we would please have her perform again next season!
Press Report
Wow! What a fantastic start to the 34th season of concerts. Not only is Lucy Nolan an expert harpist she is also an excellent communicator, enthusiastically explaining the background to each piece and adding interesting technical details.
The first half consisted of pieces written specifically for the pedal harp. Those by Marcel Tournier and John Thomas illustrated the different approaches of the French and British to harp music, the former being quite flamboyant with lots of frills and the latter being more direct, purposeful and perhaps even wistful. The principal piece was Britten’s Suite for Harp, a tour de force, invoking a variety of moods. The half ended with Awuya (Sally Beamish), which was full of African rhythms with much slapping of the frame of the harp.
After the interval she moved on to arrangements for harp, starting with the theme from Swan Lake and Gymnopedie No. 1 by Satie. She then played a range of folk tunes by Tsvetelina Likova, Donald Grant and Catriona McKay, followed by some tunes from St. Kilda, which she had researched and arranged. For several of these she used her lever harp (clarsach), which produced a noticeably different sound. Lucy finished with “Primavera” from “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” Suite by Piazzolla, to rapturous applause.
| Previous Season | Full Season | Next Concert |