At JAFA 2016 the Regency Ladies School taught festival attendees how to play a little on the harp, how to stand at the harp to have your portrait painted or photo taken. In 2017 there are plans for even bigger and brighter things as we invite you to bring your own or borrow a harp to bring with you to Jane Austen Festival Australia in April 2017 for our largest gathering yet of harps and harp players. Jane Austen Festival Friends are invited to send their contact details to registration@janeaustenfestival.com.au if they would like to learn some of the tunes beforehand. Whilst harps are the main instrument with this project, you are welcome to join and play a different instrument.
What do you think Jane Austen was telling us when Mary Crawford played the harp? Jeffrey Nigro shares with us a wonderful article exploring the history of harp playing in relation to Jane Austen: "The Many Meanings of Mary Crawford’s Harp" http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol35no1/nigro.html
There is harp and pianoforte music in the Austen Family Collection available online at https://ia601308.us.archive.org/.../austen1677439-2001.pdf
Jane Austen may have played a lovely Scottish Aire Robin Adair, for there were several variations of the song in her folio collection of music and Jane Fairfax played this tune in Emma.
I found a copy of the original in the Internet Archive and was particularly excited to find it was arranged for harp or piano forte.
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| Robin Adair, The Much Admired Ballad Sung with enthusiastic applause by Mr. Braham at the Lyceum Theatre, The Symphony & Accompaniments, Composed & Arranged For The Harp Or Piano Forte By W. Reeve, London, Printed by Button & Whitaker, St. Paul's Church Yard, n. d. [1811/12] |
Two young men singing Robin Adair at Chawton House in 2014.
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