La Rosa Enflorece - Marini Made Harps' "Davidic Harp" (Lyre of David)

This Ladino-language "romance" has also been adapted as a tune for the synagogue liturgy and so I thought that for both esthetic and religious purposes it would make a fine Offertory as a modern evocation of ancient and early music.

This was the first time I played the "Davidic Harp" (really a modern evocation of the Lyre of David or *kinnor ledavid*), produced by Marini Made Harps, before a large audience. I picked up the melody aurally from Esther Lamandier's first recording, "Romances". Looking back I see I didn't get the melody quite right. Plus, this video is a "quick and dirty" production, with no special tricks or pacing in the slideshow. Despite these disclaimers, I think the actual performance was done well enough for a beginner (on the lyre, not the Celtic harp, which helps). All the same I'm not going to allow comments, ratings, etc. in the public eye. Constructive responses are always welcome in private. :)

The playing technique combines both the plectrum (a standard guitar pick) and the fingers, mostly the plectrum. Using one or the other changes the attack on the strings. I tuned the lyre in divisive tuning (as opposed to the cyclical tuning favored by Pythagoras) - what many people call "just tuning". The slides are taken from the Aerials of Israel series.

Michael Levy (klezfiddle1) is the man you want to look up on YouTube if you want to see someone who's really mastered the art and craft of playing one of these instruments. We'll see if I can cut back on my overburdened schedule enough to follow his lead and make more videos (and recordings in time?).

- John Wheeler [aka "Johanan Rakkav (יוחנן רכב)"]

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Harp
• David
• Harp of David
• La Rosa Enflorece
• Esther Lamandier
• Romances
• Ladino
• Lyre
• Jewish music
• Marini Made Harps
• Kinnor
• Michael Levy
• Johanan Rakkav
• King David's Harp
• כינור
• Music
• Davidic Harp
• Offertory
• Feast of Tabernacles
• Sukkot
• Living Church of God