Tango by Violeta Ramos for 4 harps

New publication from Creighton's Collection
Tango for 4 harps
Violeta Ramos

Of all Argentinian genre of music by far the best known world wide are the Tango and Folklore. This piece is arranged to enable students to play the tango easily but it is not a strictly traditional tango because it has sections of Folklore rhythms which give the music a wonderfully cheerful tone. 

All four harp parts can be played with one hand by students of varying in ability from intermediate to advanced level. 

The composition is dedicated to Violeta Ramos’ son Ignacio Quimey, it is a mother’s gift which reflects her love and respect of the music and its heritage in a family where Tango and Folklore are an integral part of everyday life for the entire family.

Violeta Ramos (originally from Argentina) is a classical guitar and Paraguayan harp teacher at a number of schools in Switzerland. Her artistic career started in Buenos Aires when she was 16, taking part in guitar and harp festivals across Latin America and in Europe, representing both her own native country, Argentina, and that of her parents, Paraguay.

Violeta Ramos has composed a number of solos and duets with other instruments for the advanced / professional harpist. She has also composed music, such as this work, for harp students who wish to learn more about Latin rhythms. Her compositions are edited by Creighton's Collection.

She regularly organises benefit concerts with both student and professional musicians to support a number of charities operating in Latin America and Africa which work with children or provide environmental protection.

Price: £10 + p&p for score & set of parts

View more info at www.creightonscollection.co.uk

Quartets for Harp accomp by Flute, Violin & Bass

New Sheet Music Publication from Creighton's Collection

Three Quartets for Harp
with accompaniment of Flute, Violin & Bass
CFD Hoffmann - Edited by Mike Parker

Although composed for the lighter, more slight tones of period instruments, these quartets can transfer very successfully to modern instruments with a little care in tone and articulation. Some movements will transfer directly to the modern lever harp, and the others could, with a little careful editing, and pre-planning could be made to sit quite comfortably on that instrument. This publication benefits from a comprehensive Forward, including notes on ornamentation by Mike Parker.

Published Price:  £24.00 plus postage

Supplied as a wire bound A4 score (64 pages) and a set of A4 stapled parts

Click here for further details

Click here to buy on line 

Pages 1 & 2 from the score of the first quartet

New CD & Launch Gig: 1 Man Band

1 Man Band by Ben Creighton Griffiths
CD Release date 4th February 2017

1 Man Band, is a varied recording of Ben's work. It contains a mix of styles and genres, acoustic and electronic music, and well known tunes and new original music. It features solo harp, solo piano, and mixed tracks as well as one duet (The Station) with percussionist Matthew Williams. Recorded at Acapela Studios in the summer of 2016 and mastered by Reel Time Studios, 1 Man Band is an exciting and fresh approach to the idea of Harp, Jazz, and Jazz Harp.

1 Man Band - CD Launch Concert

8.00pm Saturday 4 February 2017
Acapela Studio Pentyrch, Cardiff, CF15 9QD

Box Office - Tel: 08448 700887 
click to buy tickets on line at Ticket Source



Tracks on the CD
1. Caravan - Ellington/Mills/Tizol  
2. You've Got a Friend In Me - Randy Newman  
3. Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock  
4. Turn Out The Stars - Bill Evans  
5. Time On My Hands - Gordon/Adamson/Youmans  
6. A Night In Tunisia - Gillespie/Paparelli  
7. Morning - Clare Fischer  
8. The Station - Creighton Griffiths/Williams

You can pre-order the CD from Creighton's Collection

From the CD notes:

For this recording I was not aiming to make a Harp CD, a Jazz CD, or even a Jazz Harp CD instead 1 Man Band is a snap shot of where I am at this point in my development as a musician - a showcase of what I'm enjoying doing at this moment in time.

The beauty of the Creative Industry is that everything is constantly under review and development, my music changing as I change and mature as a musician. For this project I've taken blends of some genres that I love (like Gypsy Jazz, Reggae, and Funk) utilised both electronic and acoustic music, and included a variety of different tones and timbres reflecting the live music I perform on a regular basis. I have also, for the first time in my life, prepared solo piano works for public performance, one of which is recorded on this CD. One aim of these recent developments is to create a variety in my performances that goes beyond that which is possible for me as a soloist on a single instrument.

Going forwards I have many ideas that require further experimentation and refinement. Continual development of my solo harp playing is of huge importance, as is the advancement of my work with electronics, both with the harp and with synths & keys. Following on from the solo piano work undertaken for this project I also want to develop my piano playing further, particularly in the more traditional jazz styles.

Perhaps the most important pointer for the future demonstrated on this recording is 'The Station'. While this track truly belongs to another project that is currently in the works I wanted to provide it as a preview. My great friend Matthew Williams and I have created a group called Chube – rather than being a regular band our aim is to be the nucleus of a group of like minded musicians writing, arranging, and recording tracks together. This group based work is something that I feel will give me more opportunities as a composer as well as a performer and we look forward to developing the project during 2017.

On an overgrown path by Leoš Janáček

Po zarostlém chodnícku
On an overgrown path 
Leoš Janáček
arranged for Flute, Harp & Cello by Ernestine Stoop

Born in Moravia (Brno) the son of a school teacher, Leoš Janácek was a gifted child who showed musical ability from an early age.

The music he composed before 1900 gave no indication of the road he was about to take - leaving the path of the traditional, classic romantic structures he was using, he developed his own unique treatments of harmony and rhythm. Only Debussy had made a comparable move in composing. The opera ‘Jenufa’ (1904) was Janácek’s great break-through.

During this period of development the musicologist Jan Branberger asked him to submit a contribution for piano, violin or voice for inclusion in a budget edition of miniature compositions. It took Janácek about 10 years to finish the compositions which became the cycle ‘On an overgrown path’ (1900-1910). Originally intended for harmonium it was finally scored for piano.

Leoš Janácek wrote: “The little pieces ‘On an overgrown path’ contain distance reminiscences. Those reminiscences are so dear to me that I do not think they will ever vanish. Whenever I have a moment to indulge myself undisturbed in these recollections, then I find another such little piece comes to mind. It is on an overgrown path. There is a love song on the path, too, as well as the bitterness of disappointment.”

Ernestine Stoop arranged these 10 pieces for flute/alto-flute, violoncello and harp.

When asked to play a ‘Balkan’ programme, her decision to perform Leoš Janácek’s ‘On an overgrown path’ was not a difficult choice. The simple and honest beauty of each piece speaks for itself.

The choice of instruments was obvious: the flute and especially the hoarse sound of the alto-flute are perfect for most of the melodic parts, the violoncello is a beautiful instrument to colour the flute and take care of the harmonium part, the harp (like the piano) takes care of the harmony and rhythm most of the time. (the harp plays the beautiful chords-solo in the Frydek Madonna).

This edition is dedicated to Harrie Starreveld, flutist and Eduard van Regteren Altena, cellist. They have been the ideal musicians to help me improve the arrangement.

For further information visit Creighton's Collection

Miroirs - Ravel arr. for 2 harps by Ernestine Stoop

Miroirs by Maurice Ravel
arr. for two harps by Ernestine Stoop

I was asked by a friend to play ‘La vallée des cloches’. When I saw the whole cycle ‘Miroirs’ I started to be fascinated by the music and wanting to play the music I thought it would be best to use two harps. Once I started I got so involved in the beautiful notes that I almost forgot to sleep. To take part in following the paths of such a genius has been a treat.

The five different compositions of the cycle have very figurative titles and Ravel placed these in different times of the day:

‘Noctuelles’ at midnight
‘Les oiseaux tristes’ during the siesta
‘Une barque sur l’océan’ in the twilight
‘Alborada del gracioso’ at sunrise
‘La vallée des cloches’ at noon

For further information please visit Creighton's Collection

New Publications from Creighton's Collection October 2016: 

From the Land of the Long White Cloud 

Solos for Intermediate lever Harp by Anna Dunwoodie 

Volume 1
The Copper Rose (waltz) Telynor (air)
Madame Vinegar (waltz)
The Sonsie Lass (slow jig) Windmill Road (slow reel)
As He Gently Breathes (air)

View at Creighton's Collection

Volume 2
The Heron (waltz)
The Resolved Dispute (air)
Miss Laura Robertson (jig)
Lesley's Waltz (waltz)
Planxty Rosemary (waltz)
Always There (air)

View at Creighton's Collection

Volume 3
Clarence Street (waltz)
Mweenish (air)
Jamie's Hiccups (hornpipe)
The Appin Lament
The Fallen Apple (lament)
The Wedding Waltz

View at Creighton's Collection

Volume 4

West Park Waltz 

Skerryvore (lament) 

Vinegar Hill (air) 

Bev's Fancy (slow reel)

Fru Sally (slow reel)

Mrs Raewynn Robertson (air)

View at Creighton's Collection

New Harp Duet: Grand Duet - John Thomas

Grand Duet
John Thomas 
Pencerdd Gwalia (1826-1913)

Both the Grand Duet (1865) and the Souvenir du Nord of 1854 (Adlais 164) are dedicated to a Welsh-born patroness. “Mrs. Lucy of Charlecote Park” was born Mary Elizabeth Williams at Bodelwyddan Castle, St. Asaph, and both she and her sister “Miggy” (later to become Lady Willoughby de Broke) were talented harpists.

In her book Mistress of Charlecote: The Memoirs of Mary Elizabeth Lucy, Alice Lady Fairfax-Lucy quotes a very amusing account of the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of 1853 which led to Mrs Lucy's first meeting with John Thomas at Llanover, and to her subsequent lessons with him at her home. “Mr. Thomas kept me to scales and exercises for the first year, and I did learn his way, and before I was very much older, I was able to play many a difficult duet with him. I would get up an hour earlier to have a good practice before breakfast, and I would go to sleep trying to hold my thumb up.” As her harp teacher, “Mr. Thomas” became a frequent guest and partner in duets on their Erard harps. As an enthusiastic patroness, Mrs Lucy attended his concerts over a period of some 35 years.

John Thomas composed duos, both for two harps and for harp and piano, throughout his life. For the most part, these compositions were operatic fantasias and duos based on familiar Welsh folk melodies. The Grand Duet is an exception, as whereas the others are concert arrangements, this one duet is an original composition.

Ann Griffiths, 2016

Published by Adlais Music Publishers

Printed & distributed by Creighton's Collection

Published Retail Price - £14.00 (set of parts)

Further information available at www.adlaismusicpublishers.co.uk