On Saturday August 22 starting at 6:00 pm The Wheatland Concert Series welcomes Dr. Alyson Kanne for an unparalleled performance of selections by Johann Sebastian Bach arranged for solo harp!    Our performance is paired with an elegant French wine dinner served during intermission by Chef Ian and Magnolias.

Bach is renowned for his compositions using virtually every instrument known at his time.  While the modern concert harp was developed after Bach’s death, many of his keyboard, cello, and lute suites translate exceptionally well to the instrument.  The harp adds an ethereal, other worldly character to Bach’s compositions that must be experienced to fully appreciate. 

The harp is one of the oldest musical instruments known to man.  The remains of harps have been found in the royal cemetery of Ur in modern day Iraq that are nearly 6,000 years old.  These harps of antiquity were small instruments, basically a bow on a sound box. 

The major structural leap for the harp occurred in northern Europe (likely Scotland or Ireland) between the 8th and 9th centuries with the addition of a front pillar. This three-sided “frame harp” allowed for higher string tension, resulting in a louder, richer sound. Harps during this time became deeply ingrained in Celtic culture, but because they were diatonic – they played only one key – they were not included in Renaissance and Baroque compositions. By the early 19^th century, a French instrument maker name Sebastian Erand developed the double-action pedal system enabling the harp to be efficiently played in all keys including sharps and flats.  This mechanism became the standard for the modern 47 string and 7 pedal concert harps we know today.  

Our all-Bach program includes selections from the famous Goldberg Variations.  In 1741 Count von Keyserling offered Bach a goblet full of gold to compose works that would sooth and comfort him during a long and painful illness.  It was said by one of Bach’s early biographers Johann Nicholas Forkel that “even if the gift was a thousand times larger, their artistic value would not yet have been paid for.”

As is our normal custom we are pairing this exquisite music with a scrumptious French wine dinner featuring Salad Chevre Chaud, grilled local goat cheese, crostini, local greens, toasted walnuts, lardon, and a balsamic vinaigrette, paired with a nice imported Chablis.  The first course is followed by an iconic Bouillabaisse  – monkfish, shrimp, salmon, mussels, served in a Pernod broth, with a garlic croustade and paired with a fine imported Provençale rosé.  We top this off with a delicious traditional French Plum Torte with homemade cinnamon ice cream for dessert, served with coffee and tea.

I hope you can join us for a late summer evening listening to haunting beautiful melodies of Johann Sebastian Bach performed on harp!