New Music for Harp by Kitty Brazelton

M U S I C . F O R . H A R P

If I hadn't met harpist Caille Colburn in 1972, I probably wouldn't have spent a lifetime writing for harp. Caille was just back from Nepal and agreed to help me form MUSICA ORBIS. A student of Marcel Grandjany but willing to funk, she taught me a tremendous amount about the instrument. Living together as we did for seven years, I also lived with the harp, so although I've never played it I can touch the cool wood of the sound board and feel where the strings are metal-bound and where they're not.

The next harpist who played an important role in shaping my life was Elizabeth Panzer who agreed to help me start DADADAH in 1989. Elizabeth showed how dangerous and dynamic the harp could be with her fearless and fierce improvisation.

The third harpist in my life is Park Stickney who is so aware of his pedaling he is not only able to modulate as fluidly as a keyboardist with 12 notes but can make the septitonal harp multitonal with his bluing of the strings. He combines this with a strong rhythmic sense which brings me back to my roots with Caille.

NAME OF WORK	DESCRIPTION	DATE COMPOSED	LENGTH	INSTR.	PERFORMANCE(S)
Down n Harp n All a Rondo	Palindromic rondo of pedalings and motivic textures for harp solo written for Elizabeth Panzer. Premiered and recorded by her on CD "Dancing In Space", o.o.discs, June 1999. http://www.oodiscs.com/oo56.html	1997	10 min.	solo harp	Bloomingdale House of Music in NYC, presented by Composers Collaborative, Inc., April 18, 1997.
Ornette In Vietnam	Composed for harpist Park Stickney and flutist Immanuel Davis during Music at Omi/Jazz Residency	1997	9 min.	for flute and harp duo	September 1997.
Three Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Harp	3 short love songs to be sung continuously	1988	5 min.	mezzo-soprano and harp	Columbia Composers, Miller Theater, Fall, 1989
Eight Small Pieces of Medieval Courtly Life for Irish Harp	Written for Caille Colburn's Irish harp to be played while audience views slides of illustrations from "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berri". Included in MUSICA ORBIS's annual Evergreen Festival	1975	8 min.	for knee harp solo	The Painted Bride Art Center, every December 1974-77
Thauma Gegonen	Duet for double bass, harp and their voices. Recorded by MUSICA ORBIS for broadcast by Terry Gross for NPR and WUHY-FM, 1975	1974	5 min.	duet for double bass, harp and their voices	Philadelphia Art Museum, fall 1975.
Leonardo	Commissioned for dance by choreographer Eduardo Zeiger with excerpts from Sigmund Freud's essay "Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood". Recorded by BOG LIFE at WNYC, May 1994, for "New & Unusual American Chamber Music."	1993	25-30 min.	for BOG LIFE: baritone, mezzo-soprano, classical guitar, harp, soprano recorder, oboe, drum, cymbal, double bass	Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, New York City with Eduardo Zeiger and Friends, February, 1993, and without dance at CB's 313 Gallery, May 1992.
The Dinner-Party	A six-song cycle setting poems by Amy Lowell. Premiered by Brazelton's BOG LIFE on Cape Cod, MA tour funded by Massachusetts Arts Lottery, November 1991. Included on BOG LIFE recording "New & Unusual American Chamber Music."	1987-1991	22 min.	for BOG LIFE: mezzo-soprano, baritone, oboe, harp, double bass, marimba and percussion	Cape Cod, MA, November 1991. Roulette, 1991.
Dance Suite	5 symphonic movements re-interpreted in the modern idiom originally commissioned by choreographer Rebecca Romero. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!" (Accurate/Distortion Records, May 1994. Nationally reviewed.)	1990	26 min.	for DADADAH: voice, French horn, harp, trombone, saxophone, flute, cello, electric guitar, drums (electric bass added later)	Columbia Teacher's College, 1990; The Knitting Factory, LaMama Galleria, P.S.122, CBGB's, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC, 1990-94.
Open the Window (& Look Out), Soul Kiss, U'r N Love N U Dono Y, Thing Of Beauty, Around You, Waitin' For Ya Baby, Sex Wind Dream, Cinderella's Sister you can hear Cinderella's Sister at http://www.arcananet.org/newmusicradio choose Joe Pehrson's 5/15/98 interview with Kitty Brazelton	Songs for DADADAH recorded Sept. 1-3, 1995. Released on CD "Love Not Love Lust Not Lust" 1999. Sex Wind Dream features the harp, Elizabeth Panzer performing.	1995	3-12 min. each	for DADADAH: voice, French horn, harp, trombone, saxophone, flute, cello, electric guitar and electric bass, drums.	Knitting Factory, NYC, August 29-31;
From Her Story	Autobiographical musical narrative recorded by DADADAH, Labor Day, 1995. Released on CD "Love Not Love Lust Not Lust" 1999.	1993	26 min.	for DADADAH: voice, French horn, harp, trombone, saxophone, flute, cello, electric guitar and electric bass, drums.	The Nuyorican Poets Cafe for International Women's Month, March 1993
Rise Up	Song and instrumental suite containing the traditional blues, House Of The Rising Sun, revisited. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!" (Accurate/Distortion Records, May 1994. Nationally reviewed.)	September 1991	14 min.	for DADADAH: voice, French horn, harp, trombone, saxophone, flute, cello, electric guitar and electric bass, drums.	The Knitting Factory, The Firewall Festival, Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, P.S. 122, NYC, 1990-91.
Snow White Rose Red	Premiered by DADADAH at the Knitting Factory, The Firewall Festival, Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, P.S. 122, NYC, 1990-91. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!"	1991 (1981)	9 min.	for DADADAH: voice, French horn, harp, trombone, saxophone, flute, cello, electric guitar and electric bass, drums.	The Knitting Factory, The Firewall Festival, Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, P.S. 122, NYC, 1990-91.
The Night Is Mine	Antiwar protest. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!"	1991	7 min.	for DADADAH	The Knitting Factory, etc., NYC, 1990-91.
Don't Look Back	Exploded song form with fugue. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!"	1991	5 min.	for DADADAH	The Knitting Factory, etc., NYC, 1990-91.
Little Gamelan Da	Gamelan influenced song. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!"	1991	5 min.	for DADADAH	The Knitting Factory, etc., NYC, 1990-91.
Song for Todd, Walkin' On My Beat, Green Onions In The Field, Go No Further	Compositions for DADADAH. Song for Todd and Green Onions... use untexted voice while Walkin'... and Go... have lyrics. Walkin'... is the longest containing a long interlude called My Mexico duo for cello & bass with brass, harp and drum incursions.	1998	5-10 min.	for Brazelton's nine-piece electro-acoustic ensemble DADADAH: voice, alto sax, horn, trombone, harp, cello, electric guitar, electric bass, drums & percussion	CB's Lounge, CBGB's, New York City, November 1997-July 1998 monthly residency.
Back In The Air	Concert of songs and instrumental pieces for MUSICA ORBIS, recorded by dbx, Inc. for demonstration album; September, 1977.	1977	90 min	for bells, chimes, timbales, claves, marimba, vibraphone, piano, organ, harp, flute, recorder, cello, double bass, electric bass, drum set and voices	Zellerbach Theater, Annenberg Center, University of Pennsylvania with live broadcast by WXPN-FM; Sanders Theater, Harvard University, live broadcast on WBUR-FM
Sound in Space	MUSICA ORBIS collaboration with architects using alternative audience-performer spatial configurations, inflatable sculpture, tunnels and microphone "forest" to alter concert ambience.	1977	90 min.	portable acoustic instruments as well as harp, flute, drums, cello, bass, hammered dulcimer	University of Pennsylvania, March, 1977.
Fire Opal Suite	Performed and recorded by MUSICA ORBIS on "To The Listeners" (Longdivity Records 1977. National reviews. National television broadcasts.)	1976	12 min.	for pipe organ, flute, cello, double bass, harp, marimba, drums, piano and voices	The Bijou, Philadelphia; CBGB's, New York City; Berklee Performance Center, Boston.
Evergreen Festival	annual concert on acoustic instruments by MUSICA ORBIS for the winter Solstice	1974	70 min.	for pump organ, flute, recorder, cello, double bass, Irish knee harp, marimba, hand percussion, piano and voices	The Painted Bride Art Center, every December 1974-77
Tribute to Sun Ra	Collaboration with ethnomusicologist/ composer/saxophonist and Sun Ra scholar Allan Chase. Premiered by DADADAH with ex-Sun Ra musicians Rashied Ali (drums), Robert Rutledge (trumpet) on May 30 1993 (the day of Sun Ra's death).	1993	20-25 min.	for large mixed instrumentation: voices, flute, oboe, soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes, trumpet, trombone, tuba, baritone ukelele, mandolin, harp, violin, viola, cello, electric guitar, bass, drums and percussion.	Kitty Brazelton's Real Music Series, May 30 1993 (the day of Sun Ra's death).
Woman's Works	A fantasia in deconstructed sonata form for orchestra.	1992-1994	10 min.	winds 2-2-2-2,; brass 4-2-2, 3 pc., harp, strs. 6-6-4-4-2	unperformed