ORCHESTRAL CLOSE-UP—2

New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 901, 9 November 1956, Page 21

ORCHESTRAL CLOSE-UP—2

RESENT-DAY angels are said to play trombones not harps, but there is still something about the harp that links it with other worldly beings. The National . Orchestra’s harpist, Leslie Comer, came to her present position in a roundabout way, as for many years shé was an organist and piano teacher in Dunedin. She had for a long time admired the harp, and after playing on an instrument made by a frienda harp that would play in only one key and had no pedals-she bought her first

harp from Winiired Carter, then with the National Orchestra.. In 1952, when she went to England to study piano, she surprised herself by buying a new harp, the one she now uses, and by having lessons from Gwendoline Mason, a celebrated. teacher in London. In 1954 she played with the Orchestra for occasional concerts, and last year became a member. _- ‘To anyone who has never played the harp, her instrument looks extremely complicated with its seven pedals and three positions for each pedal. "You have to make the notes with your feet, and this is what makes it so difficult," explained Miss Comer. When a pedal is depressed the, vibrating length of the corresponding strings can be shortened by fractions representing a semi-tone and a tone. This makes it possible to play in all keys. Driving an _ oldfashioned car would seem to be excellent prepara-

tion for manipulating these pedals, as the harp player has also, to "keep his eyes on the road." "You can’t look at your feet when playing," said Miss Comer, "so I usually manage to work out the pedal positions beforehand and pencil them into the music." It’s a little easier to find one’s way around in the strings, because these have a colour code of red, white and blue. The top strings are of nylon and the heavier ones at the bottom of wire. Although nylon is more reliable than gut, which was formerly used, occasionally a quick change is necessary when a string snaps. Orchestral work fascinates Miss Comer. She is never bored, and when a

harp is not needed in a concert she usually listens to the Orchestra from the audience. "The first piece I ever played with the Orchestra was by Gustav Holst," she ‘said. "Appropriately enough, it was the ballet suite, The Perfect Fool."