BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Harpist Emily Granger knew exactly what she wanted on her debut solo album — and it’s probably not what you’d expect. The internationally renowned performer says most harp recordings include works by Fauré, Salzedo, and Grandjany.
So instead, she recorded works by Elena Kats-Chernin, Sally Whitwell, and Tristan Coelho.
Emily’s 11 March release In Transit features Australian and American music composed in the past 40 years — including five premiere recordings, and three works she has commissioned. It tracks her life and career as an American artist in Australia, and gives insight into her nature — determined, energetic, and in search of stillness.
Congratulations, Emily! How does it feel to launch your debut solo album and put yourself in the spotlight?
Super exciting! I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time and it’s absolutely surreal.
Your album features a bunch of new music. Why did you want to take this direction and what message does it send?
I knew from the very beginning I didn’t want to record works that had been previously recorded by dozens of harpists before me.
Most solo harp albums feature variations on the same old program, featuring the same old repertoire written mostly by male composers – Fauré, Salzedo, Grandjany, transcriptions of Chopin and Liszt, maybe some Hindemith or Britten for something more modern. You get the idea. I’ve always been drawn to new music, working with composers, and commissioning works for harp, and it just felt right to record my first solo album of new music.
If I had all the money in the world, I would have commissioned an hour’s worth of new solos, but alas I don’t. So, I settled for:
- Three new commissions: Tristan Coelho’s In Transit and The Old School, and Sally Whitwell’s Undiminished;
- A few world premiere recordings: Ross Edwards’ The Harp and The Moon, Libby Larsen’s Theme and Deviations, and Laura Zaerr’s River Right Rhumba;
- Some transcriptions of new works originally for piano: Elena Kats-Chernin’s Blue Silence, and Augusta Read Thomas’ Still Life;
- And two of my all-time favorite works from when I was a child: Nancy Gustavson’s Great Day, and Deborah Henson-Conant’s The Nightingale.
I love that you’re including music from your favourite composers. Why do these artists stand out to you?
Composers like Sally Whitwell, Elena Kats-Chernin, and Libby Larsen have been favorites of mine since I heard their music.
I first heard Sally perform some Glass etudes at an Omega Ensemble concert, then later worked with her in the ensemble and was just totally in awe of her! She’s a brilliant pianist, and has such a strong voice as a composer. I was delighted that she accepted a commission from me.
I first worked with Elena with the Verbrugghen Ensemble premiering a new chamber work of hers. We totally hit it off in the ladies’ restroom and have stayed in touch ever since then! I felt totally drawn to Blue Silence when I was Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre. I was going through a massive collection of her solo piano works to see what would work well on the harp, and Blue Silence had this incredible effect on the harp with the low bass octaves, and I even incorporated some pedal slides for some chromatic lines, which are incredibly effective.
Libby Larsen is a massive name in the United States, and I’ve always been a fan of her harp writing. Theme and Deviations is often a competition piece, and was actually written for one of my first harp teachers, Lynne Aspnes! It’s a super quirky piece, and I wanted to give the next generation of young harpists a solid interpretation of this piece to inspire them to not only learn this great piece of music, but to program more works by living women composers. I’ve heard so many young harpists groan over this piece and the new works they’re required to learn to compete in various competitions — I just think they haven’t heard it played with pizzazz!
I must also admit that one of my favorite composers lives under the same roof as me! My fiance Tristan Coelho is a brilliant musician and has written some remarkable new works for this album. He has such an innate understanding of the harp, and also of my capabilities and preferences as a musician, and wrote these two works with that in mind. They fit under the hands so well and are a blast to play and listen to!
This album really reflects you — your musical tastes, your unique skills and style, and the type of music that moves you. How does all this show us who Emily Granger really is; your identity as a musician?
Everyone that knows me knows I have a lot of energy! I have a hard time sitting still, I go all day long, and it’s only when my head finally hits the pillow that I stop.
I love being busy. I love challenges. I love pushing myself every day and seeing what I’m capable of doing. Even on holidays, I’m off climbing mountains, or on a long backpacking trip in the backcountry. My partner laughs at me that he hasn’t had a ‘proper holiday’ in six-and-a-half years!
What I’m trying to say is that the music definitely reflects me in this way. But I knew, to grow as a musician, I needed to challenge myself to explore space and stillness — really play with the resonance of the harp, the contrast between the hustle and inner peace.
Works like Kate Moore’s Spinbird is an absolute constant flurry of notes, as fast as you can play them — I’ve got some fast fingers! Take that, and pair it with Augusta Read-Thomas’ Still Life, which is literally three minutes of suspended chords that completely relies on the decay of phrases and use of various length fermatas. Here, I really had to work hard at finding this inner peace and calm to do the music justice.
The entire album is like this — moments of absolute fury held upright alongside more challenging works that require an acute sense of delicacy.
Beyond this side of your nature, the theme of In Transit also reflects your life in Australia as an American artist. How can we see this shine through your choice of music?
The idea came to me over the many 24-hour trips I’ve taken back and forth between the Midwest and Sydney. I would hop on the plane in beautiful sunny Sydney, and on the same day end up in snowy Chicago, hire a rental car, and be driving on the opposite side of the road, hauling harps across the United States with the Chicago Harp Quartet. The language we use around music is so different, and it was like having split personalities! Before the pandemic, I was doing this three to four times a year, and just always felt like I was on the go, just getting over the jet lag and heading off again.
Travel is full of contrasts. In the first place, we think that traveling is super glamorous, but in reality it means sitting in a massive aluminum box sharing the same air as hundreds of other people for hours on end in the most uncomfortable seats, eating crappy food, getting jet lag.
Fortunately for me, and audiences, the musical expression of travel is far more enjoyable.
In the booklet that accompanies your album, there are also descriptions of isolation and solitude. Beyond the scope of this album, how do you feel these experiences are reflected in our daily lives right now?
The past two years really highlighted the isolation for me — not being able to travel internationally for two years, and also the lack of domestic travel. In fact, not being able to leave our tiny five-kilometre bubble.
We all missed out on so much. Both my maternal grandparents passed away — the album is dedicated to them both — and not being able to physically be there to say goodbye. And also for my mother, losing both her parents in the span of three weeks was truly awful.
I know everyone has lost so much these past two years, and I hope this album provides a welcome musical response, and a way to work through the grief and find a bit of hope for our new world.
Thank you for sharing this, Emily. What final message would you like to share with the release of your debut?
I hope everyone enjoys listening to the entire album!
I’m so grateful to everyone involved in bringing this album to life: my fabulous manager extraordinaire Luke Tierney, to whom I would have never gotten this out into the world without; the team at Avie with their 20 years of experience; Bob Scott for making me sound exactly how I hear myself; and my love Tristan for producing and editing the entire album!
My dream is that this album will inspire other performers, presenters, and audiences to embrace new music and support better gender representation.
Emily Granger’s debut solo harp album In Transit is released March 11 through AVIE Records. Emily will launch the album in a live concert on March 10 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Images supplied. Credit: Keith Saunders.
