It is an ongoing journey of mine to reimagine, uncover and create repertoire for my instrument - to widen the range of what the audience might expect of the harp and also the stories that we as performers get the chance to tell. It is fascinating, I think, to demonstrate how the work of history's composers might have sounded if they had had the opportunity or inclination to explore the harp.

As part of this journey I have been spending time exploring British twentieth century music originally written for the harp and for the piano on the harp both directly and in transcription or paraphrase. This piece by Roger Quilter is here unedited, that is to say no fundamental changes are made from the piano score - it works in direct translation on the harp.

Quilter is best known - I say best known with a little irony as he is rather an unknown figure - for his exquisite contributions to the English song repertoire. 'Summer Evening' is one of his works for solo piano; it's warmth, charm and intimacy is surprisingly indebted to a vocal style.

Sound | Isa Khan
Visuals | Ed Beck

Performed on my Camac harps Art Nouveau

Filmed at St. Mark's Hamilton Terrace, London.

#harp #harpist #camac #quilter #rogerquilter #alexanderthomas