Harp Concerto (Ginastera)

The Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera was composed in 1956 and first performed in 1965. It was commissioned by Edna Phillips, the harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Phillips had retired by the time the work was ready to be premiered, so the solo part was played by the Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. Harpist Heidi Lehwalder began performing the concerto by the 1970s and performed it with nearly every professional orchestra in the United States, sometimes more than once and sometimes several times. She established it as standard repertoire, almost de rigeur for aspiring soloists. By 1985, it was the most-performed work by Ginastera, making him one of the top earners for its publisher, Boosey & Hawkes. It has since been performed worldwide and recorded many times. In the repertoire of the harp, it is one of the ten most-performed concertos, and probably one of the five most-performed concertos.

In 2016, the centenary of the composer's birth, saw a number of performances including one by the French harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Juanjo Mena.

Instrumentation

Woodwinds

2 flutes (Flute 2 doubling piccolo)

2 oboes

2 clarinets in B♭

2 bassoons

Brass

2 horns in F

2 trumpets in C

Percussion

Timpani

Tambourine

Field drum

Cymbals

Xylophone

Celesta

Various items of Latin percussion

Strings

Harp

Violin I

Violin II

Violas

Cellos

Double basses

Movements

1. Allegro giusto
2. Molto moderato
3. Liberamente capriccioso - Vivace

See also

• List of compositions for harp

Sources

• Ginastera, Alberto. "Harp Concerto. Op. 25." (Boosey & Hawkes, 1974).