Harpist Tomoko Sato plays First Arabesque by Debussy

[TheTollgate9]

A lovely performance!

[xXArTi5tXx]

absolutely stunning rendition!

[ayitsabby]

Absolutely beautiful! I'm starting to learn this on the piano. Keep up the amazing work!

[tmkharp]

This is from the Solos for the harp player by

Lucile Lawrence

[TheChonzini]

do you mind if i ask if you used renie's arrangement to play this? :):)

[hotyellowkeedy]

wow i cant stop listening to her she played that song!! ur real good!!

[ZANECLONE]

Spectacular.....! :o)

[VocaloidWangYao]

This is so beautiful~

[VTIS170]

@tmkharp Mary me ? <3

[reneweissabythe]

really enjoyed this

[annuna]

I typed in "harp virtuoso" and found your page. How old were you when your first started playing, Tomoko? Your technique is very smooth and lithe. Do you play lots of traditional classical pieces?

[disturbanite8]

Enchanting

[irferf]

I'd be okay dying listening to this.

[VocaloidWangYao]

@irferf Me too.

[Saltalastrancas]

Que Dios bendiga manos tan prodigiosas. es celestial.

[malmholt]

Beautiful



[Archelterreure]

!?!$DJAK*@$EWOS You have the most beautiful and expensive harp on Lyon& Healy website right? Lucky you! I can't even afford a 500$ harp. and There is like..no harp here almost... :( I am looking forward to have one, I miss playing it so badly, and you are very talented :)

[SpireForever]

This is a fantastic playing. I've never heard this piece only for an harp, and feels great. What really shocked me, is when you played that black long string how it vibrates at 1:24 and 1:29 !! It looks beautiful, you can visualize the oscilations the string make to emit that perfect frecquency...

[antrii]

paradise music!!!

[quietjedi1010101]

You are a master of your craft.

[charlotteescudero123]

trop beau c'est magnifique

bravo

le rythme est un peu ralenti parfois mais ca va

[unlessitsafarm]

wonderful

[Evapenunmbra]

Bravo! estuve buscando una buena interpretación y la tuya me encantó! no es como las otras personas que tocan sin sentimiento y friamente, la música es bella y se ve que te gusta. felicidades!

[scarlet467]

You make me want to learn to play the harp. ^-^

[Phenixdansant]

I really appreciate this moment of bliss when i hear classical music specially when artists like you play so wonderfully, i am fascinate by the magic of the harp maybe more than piano which i have been practising a long time, i wonder what a duo would do but i am sure it would be beautiful!;)

[jekk23]

you are very beautfiul and so is your playing.

[nancydrew5]

Sublime!

[franflau]

you play so beautifully! Like an angel taking us to an unforgettable journey!

Domo arigato!

[janycapde]

thanks you very much my french daughter played it four years ago, it's a good remind for me! you are a good player

[etuiran]

Wonderful version! This is one of my favorites of Debussy. To hear it with harp means a brand new experience. Thanks for playing it.

[AmberAfire]

I'm learning how to play this on the piano, but on the harp it is way too gorgeous! Wow you have got some talent, this is beautiful!!!

[tmkharp]

Thank you all for the kind words. It's encouraging to hear positive comments.

I appreciate it.

[kichigaikikyokagome]

This is gorgeous music. I love your sense of poise as well, and your good showmanship (a smile before each piece). You are a true entertainer :)

Thank you for sharing these videos with us. Your talent is hard-won, and a rare thing, so it makes me happy to be able to find a video like yours.

[2kreh]

bravisimo!

[adele3764]

So gracefully stunning:) Thank you for sharing this amazing piece and for playing it at a moderate tempo to allow the listener to fully comprehend its complex beauty

[andrebsonangelo]

OMG....so beautiful........

[kakamessiforlan]

It is challenging enough on the piano!

You're amazing!

[samyim795]

wow this is pretty hard on piano

how hard it must be on the harp

[jcbarsa]

Great! Maybe you should try more rubattos and tempo changes

[Thirdshiftzombie]

C'est bon

[37edmund]

you make it look easy. excellent!!!

[musicplayer92]

Don't forget the most important harpist rules! Elbows up, and wrists in.

[tmkharp]

Yes, I've heard. I wonder what Debussy would think if he hears this...

[MigueMarimba]

amazing , I love debussy

[zzcoolfun]

hey tmkharp have you ever heard of Isao Tomita's version of this very interesting.

[larcal369]

absolutely enchanting!!! Don't know how even 2 people disliked this!!! Amazing

[saint4God]

Enchantingly played enchanting piece. I wish I could hear it live.

[roxxytans]

Astounding!! I am preparing to write orchestral arrangements for the first time for Classical Harp, and I know very little about how the instrument is setup or played. What you did was INSPIRING!  Wonderful performance, and such a beautiful piece of music.

[LibertangoVieenrose]

fantastic sound and performance, wonderful ! Thank you !

[pik0]

Love this arrangement. There are so many that Arabesque sounds so wonderful on, this is certainly one of them. :)

[classicalmannick101]

such beautiful playing ...your rubato is perfect.

[xHuntedGunzPCGx]

I recently heard my friend play this piece and she told me that it was written for clarinet and harp.....I haven't found one with the clarinet but this harp playing is amazing!

[LordofTheRingsFan08]

Beautiful! :)

[shinron57]

brings tears to my eyes.

[tmkharp]

It's never too late to start playing..especially people with piano background will pick

up the harp fairly quickly.

[eniale91]

Oh, I love this. I only have the beginning on piano. This is beautifully played. I was just wondering how long you've been playing. I've always wanted to play the harp but I'm already 18 I think I'm too old already =(

[Bella516420]

@eniale91 You aren't too old! Try it at least ;)

[lasminervas]

Tomoko you´re great!!! :-)))

[nanoquaver]

look at that low F string go!!! <3

[wagnerxpeng]

i love the last part, but i think that last note is flat, just my opinion though. great job

[Tweekerhead]

This one never gets old...thanks, jut what I needed for today.

[Iwannabubbletube]

I love your tempo! And the bending. I find this pieces is often played too fast for my taste, especially the beginning. Lovely.

[BorrahAlive]

5*s just for playing a harp... I've never seen one before... not even on TV...

[Ollinds]

lovely music-well played

[jaytee12394]

you are amazing!

[chenwenhua2269]

what a charming girl and beautiful harp Loved it!!!

[nguyenvietcuong1990]

oh oh , nice !

[kermit0der0frosch]

ich spiele auch harfe.

meinen respekt, die stelle der triolen gegen achtel ist echt verdammt schwer.

[tmkharp]

Thank you all for your comments. This is originally a piano piece but beautifully works out for the harp without much editing. This is still one of my favorite pieces to play.

[JiubLink]

@tmkharp You got somethin' special, lady!

[joebassplayer]

this is breathtakingly beautiful

[vicksta88]

Absolutely beautiful. There's one part that I always have a hard time playing but you did it very nicely! Also, your harp is very pretty!

[marymungoandmidge]

Enthralling!!!

[bashmentbwoy7]

this is the nicest instrument i've ever heard.

[joanna205747]

so good

[whizkid7562]

Nicely played, Tomoko! Very nice interp.

as well.

[OldTrumpet12210]

This was a wonderful performance, but I have always been tought that even though you are giving liberty to the tempo (graduly changing in places where there are ritardondo's and poco a poco's), but even though, all notes of the same length are created equal. Meaning you you should give liberty to the tempo, but don't chete your 1/2 notes and then make your 8th notes shorter, that is not giving liberty, that's chopping off notes. It's not very noticeable unless your looking at the music though :)

[Kergstinberg]

How long do you have to train for until someone can reach this level? I'm beginning my harp lessons soon and I'm really excited! Thank you!

[HBA215]

beautiful :)

[rodanthakino]

you are really good!

thank you for this amazing masterpiece!

[chasasum]

Great performance. DeBussey is my favorite composer and you did justice to this beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing your talent and skill with us.

[yhdd]

非常优美的音乐，非常优雅的lady.

[ChoiChrisLi]

Wow, that was beautiful! I love how you played this song on the harp. This is one of my favorite songs to play both on the harp and the piano! Keep up the amazing work -^-^-

[queenown]

That was amazing, that must be so hard to play on a harp!

[tmkharp]

I'm in OC.

You mean the low strings?

I have long arms, so not a problem.

[rapiant]

Very nice. You mentioned you were a teacher; where do you teach?

Another question: is it hard to reach the back strings?

[tmkharp]

I would first go over by tapping hands on your lap, like right hand tapping three times against left hand twice, in rhythm. This seems to help my students too.

[kjiar]

good advice! thank you

[brainykid800]

@tmkharp I find it also helps to think of the 2 against 3 pattern as sounding like the theme to Carol of the Bells.

[tmkharp]

Well, I played this Arabesque for the first time in college and I picked it up again recently so it's hard to say how long..

I could say three days, or ten years.

[kjiar]

Wow that's long. Have you got some tips how to get along with all the polyrhythms?

[kjiar]

hey, I'm working on arabesque too, how long have you worked on this piece?

[HolyCow3000]

its so beautiful D: you should do wedding services you'd make a fortune XD u deserve liek 10 stars :)

[tmkharp]

This is one of my favorite pieces. This Arabesque works beautifully on the harp though of course it's originally a piano piece. Everybody likes listening Debussy on the harp.

[riversideharp]

Amen, anything French for that matter. Check out my wife's Saite on harp. CaliforniaHarpist.

[flynndiferous]

very nice!

i'm working on that piece, and the 7th page is giving me trouble. but that was amazing! i'm still trying to perfect the 2 against 3 parts. mine doesn't sound nearly as nice or smooth as yours. now i know what to work towards!

[tmkharp]

This is a Lyon $ Healy style #23. You will probably recoganize it if you see the top crown.

[noside720]

lovely!! btw what is the model of your harp?

[chlohxo]

This was amazing. :)

[tmkharp]

Thank you!

[kreanetco]

BEAUTIFUL MADEMOISELLE !