‘The Victorian Era’:
those words bring to mind a myriad images.
Many of them are of fictional characters
introduced to us by Charles Dickens,
George Eliot, Joseph Conrad or the Bronte
sisters. Then there are the works of
those such as Hans Christian Anderson,
Lewis Carroll, the Brothers Grimm or
J.M. Barrie where the fantastic is realized
in an all-too gritty world. When one
looks upon the art and children’s literature
of the period, one begins to realize
that the Victorians were fascinated
by fairies in the same way that our
society has enamored itself with aliens
from outer-space. In the 1800s, this
extended into the realm of music for
at least a handful of composers of harp
music. Much of this music was ignored
for decades as the Victorian era ended
abruptly with World War I. Considering
the current resurgence in interest of
all things fantastic it seems especially
appropriate that this music would be
put on disc for a public fascinated
by the world of Tolkien, Harry Potter,
and the fey.
This album is a collection
of harp music concerned with the Victorian
world of the faerie. Both the collection
and the individual works in isolation
are intended to be ethereal and otherworldly,
even when aurally depicting the fluttering
energy of the garden-dwelling sprites,
winging about on gossamer wings. Each
piece here is a tone poem of sorts,
based on either images or stories that
the average Victorian would be able
to place. At the same time, when taken
as a whole, this is music intended to
transport the listener to a realm far
more magical and beautiful than the
mundane world in which they dwelt.
As such, the music
is an aural tapestry of pleasant consonance
and occasional virtuosic display. The
attempt to create an environment conducive
to total relaxation and near-mystical
transport is largely successful. The
performances are technically very good,
and executed in a hall very conducive
to the type of ambience inducing reverb
that one would desire for this genre.
The overall effect is all that could
be asked for.
The works themselves
are so prototypical, when one considers
solo harp work, that it is only through
utter flawlessness of performance that
they become distinctive. Ms. Baldry
does a very nice job giving them all
the character that one could expect.
The selections are easily representative
of the genre. Close your eyes and envisage
harp music, complete with a Disney-drawn
light coming down from heaven and an
angel playing; you now know what it
is that this CD contains. This cannot
be considered a flaw however, as it
would be difficult to find an album
of harp music that would not sound trite
while simultaneously being so illustrative.
The composers themselves are no longer
particularly well known, and the works
unfamiliar yet the entire disc seems
as if it could be a single longer work
for solo harp.
As harp music has generally
fallen out of favour in the popular
music market, and the composers represented
somewhat outside of the public consciousness,
this album may be one that the average
listener would not consider. However,
with the stressful lives that many of
us subject ourselves to regularly, this
disc may indeed be a very pleasing one
to add to a collection. It is very relaxing
without seeming at all like canned Muzak
or New-Age influenced electronic drivel.
It does a commendable job of serving
as background, or as the sonic equivalent
of a warm bubble bath. Surely the faeries
would be glad to know that they could
bring so much joy with their song. Should
a user already have a favorite anthology
of incidental harp music, this probably
would not readily stand apart. However,
if you discover your music collection
lacks this element, this disc could
plausibly be considered as filling the
gap in your CD rack.
Patrick Gary
Elizabeth Jane Baldry (harp)