King of The Jews (harp)

Music Lane

It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

Driving home tonight I heard a very different piece on classical radio, it was for jews harp and orchestra. You know the Jews harp is that twangy thing that sits in your mouth and you use a finger to pluck it. At first I expected it to disintigrate and be revealed as PDQ Bach. It however, turned out to be a four movement Concerto for Jews Harp and Mandora in F. It was really an enjoyable piece despite the massive intonation problems that a Jews Harp has. The Mandoras part was played by acoustic guitar. Ypu havn't lived until you've heard a Jews Harp cadenza.
I stayed riveted to the radio to find out the composer was Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. Johann composed not one but 5 of these concertinos, which were a part of a body of work that included 600 pieces. Johann was however better known for his company than for his own music. He was born in 1736 and died in 1809. He was an organist and a friend of Haydn and Mozart. Mozart apparantly thought Albrectsberger was the definitive organist of his time. Haydn was so impressed that in 1794 he sent the fledgling composer Beethoven to study with Albrechtsberger for two years. Not much of his music has survived. Don't expect to hear the NY Phil doing Jews Harp concertos soon. You can however get this one in F and a second one on an Orpheus label CD. I will be looking to order one and reccomend it to you guys that think you've heard it all. It's a hoot.
Regards
Steve

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Schiit Audio

Topic - King of The Jews (harp) - SR 22:35:14 08/16/02 (2)

have you heard any recordings featuring the glass harmonica? - BS64 10:27:11 08/18/02 (1)

Re: have you heard any recordings featuring the glass harmonica? - SR 17:56:43 08/18/02 (0)

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