By Alexander Lawrence Ames [Website]
Figure 1. Allegorical female figure of America, with a harp. Clad in classical robes, the figure holds a piece of sheet music titled “UNION 1800.” Mezzotint, hand-colored; 30.2 x 25.1 cm. Prints POR.E Ame. [Catalog Record]
Come, sing to me of other days,
When Fortune sweetly smiled,
When Time, entranced in pleasure’s maze,
Was of his wings beguiled.
—Juliana Frances Turner, “Stanzas Addressed to My Harp, on Receiving it from England,” The Harp of the Beech-Woods (1822)
How do rare books, manuscripts, and printed works on paper sound?
This may seem like a discordant question, but when I meander through the Avenir Foundation Reading Room of the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, an angelic symphony of history and cultural tradition meets my ears. As one of the 2024/25 recipients of the Mary G. Stange Fellowship for Creative and Performing Artists & Writers, I have spent several months engaging with historical music in the Clements collection. While reinterpreting pieces for performance on my Celtic harp, I am also considering how the holdings of this distinguished library document many modes of human expression.
My day job in Philadelphia is that of a rare book and manuscript curator; I moonlight as a harpist. Bringing this background to the Clements, two ideas have emerged to inform my performances. First, the harp appears in literature, visual culture, as well as the titles and lyrics of musical pieces, serving as a metaphor for the arts across disciplines. We encounter images and textual descriptions of the harp deployed in this way throughout the media and genres in the Clements collection. Many of the selections on which I have worked reflect the omnipresence of the harp in poetry, prose, and printed music. See, for example, the symbolic use of the harp in the allegorical image in Figure 1, where we encounter a female figure representing America reclined against her instrument. Second is my belief that harp music is a wonderful feature to bring into a contemplative library environment, immersing scholars and students in a rich, evocative, and nourishing soundscape inspired by the library’s collection.
Musical Selection and Methods of Arrangement for Celtic Harp
The collections of the Clements present a problem of riches for an inquiring musician exploring possible repertoire for a residency. Working from a distance, I benefited from the large amount of music which the Clements has digitized and made available online. My approach in this project has not been strictly historical or musicological; rather, my interest is primarily that of a library professional, using harp music as a means to inspire interest in the Clements’ important work and broad impact on the University of Michigan campus. For this reason, I have prioritized musical pieces that are not only pleasing to the ear, but also have cultural overtones leading to rich analysis, as well as material connections within the broader collection.
I organized my musical selections around three themes, each of which underscores the harp’s presence in art, literature, and culture. I describe each of those themes below and highlight musical pieces I have interpreted for my instrument.
Sacred Harmony: The Harp as Reference Point in Early American Spiritual Music
The jubilee harp: a choice selection of psalmody, ancient and modern, designed for use in public and social worship
Boston, Massachusetts: Advent Christian Publication Society, 1867
Music 1867 Ju
James Weldon Johnson, editor, and J. Rosamond Johnson, arranger, The book of American Negro spirituals
New York: Viking Press, 1925
Music 1925 Bo
As an historian of religion (and a devout Episcopalian), the harp’s spiritual resonances appeal to me and inform much of my musicality, as I regularly perform in liturgical contexts. Unsurprisingly, many references to harp in the Clements collection take the form of American religious texts. I have taken many melodies for this performance from The Jubilee Harp, published in Boston in 1867. References to harp abound in lyrics featured in James Weldon Johnson’s The Book of American Negro Spirituals. For my performance, I have selected the piece “Deep River,” a spiritual that lives on in American popular memory in no small part because of its association with the legendary Philadelphian contralto Marian Anderson.
The Celtic Muse: Scottish & Irish Cultural Identity
Robert Burns, lyricist; John M. White, composer, Fairest maid on Devon’s banks
Boston: Henry Prentiss, 1841
Ill 1841 Wh
Thomas Moore, lyricist, William Dressler, arranger, and Catherine Hayes performer, The harp that once thro’ Tara’s halls
New York: William Hall & Son, 1851
Ill 1851 Dr
The harp is closely associated with the music, history, and culture of the Celtic lands. To commemorate this heritage, my performance will include two well-known Celtic pieces represented in the Clements collection: “Fairest Maid on Devon’s Banks” by Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland; and “The Harp That Once Thro’ Tara’s Halls”, by Thomas Moore. Burns’s piece is a romance, whereas Moore’s is a paean to ancient Irish history written in an era of colonial occupation by the British. Indeed, the harp has long functioned as a political symbol in Ireland, representative of a golden age of Irish culture before English domination. It remains a potent symbol of Irish identity to this day.
My Celtic repertoire for performance at the Clements will also include Robert Burns’s famous pieces “My Heart’s in the Highlands” and “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose.”
Figure 2. Edith Romena Noyes and Robert Burns, “My Heart’s in the Highlands.” New York: Breitkopf & Härtel, ca. 1901. [Catalog Record]
The Heart-Harp: Romance & Parlor Music
The New York quadrilles: arranged for the piano forte or harp
New York: Atwill’s Musical Saloon, [1836]
Ill 1836 Ne
Dr. J. Anton Fremon, lyricist; and George H. Briggs, arranger, The heart-harp
New York: Wm. A. Pond & Co., 1872
Ill 1872 Br
Can you imagine a more romantic instrument than the harp? From the era of Jane Austen to the era of Bridgerton, the harp conjures images of tête-à-têtes in the drawing room, and longing glances across the dance hall. The romantic, sentimental associations of the instrument come into focus in the Clements Library’s collection. The New York Quadrilles were arranged for piano forte or harp—two of the most popular (and, by the mid-nineteenth century, feminized) parlor instruments. These delicate pieces make for pleasant listening today. The moving melody of The Heart-Harp is perhaps my favorite musical discovery of my residency, and I plan to incorporate this piece into my standard performance repertoire. “Blame not this heart-harp, if over its frame, lone words doth float,” the lyrics read, linking the ethereal ambience of the instrument to lovelorn feelings.
After settling on the musical selection described above, I worked with my harp teacher (André Tarantiles of New Hope, Pennsylvania) to arrange the pieces for Celtic harp. In my simple arrangements, I opted for musicality (and suitability for the lever harp, the instrument I play) over strict adherence to the original arrangements as notated in the sources. Interspersed with these selections are other pieces from my standard repertoire.
Conclusions and Future Directions
My Clements Library musical journey has drawn me closer in sound and spirit to this spectacular collection, helping me reach a new level of musicality as I have honed my ability to research historical music and arrange it for modern audiences. I have had a spectacular time discovering how the harp permeates the Clements collection as a symbol of the arts broadly conceived. I would like to close by sharing with you a poem titled “Stanzas Addressed to My Harp, on Receiving it from England,” published by Juliana Frances Turner in 1822 in her book The Harp of the Beech-Woods. In the verse, Turner uses the harp as a personification of an old friend returning to the poet’s company. I would argue that Turner also uses the harp as an allegory, representing memories of times past that have been irretrievably lost. I hope that Turner’s words encourage you to reflect on the power of history, music, and the arts to lend beauty and dimension to our lives. How have the Clements Library’s collection inspired you to a new realm of understanding and meaning? How does the Clements connect you to the past? To paraphrase Turner’s words, does this jewel of a library on the Michigan campus sing to you of other days?
Thrice welcome to my arms again,
My own, my long lost lyre!
Wake, wake once more the magic strain,
With all thy wonted fire!
But, ah! how sad, how lorn that tone!
Thy cords, all slack and broken,
Breathe forth a low and plaintive moan,
That sorrowing ills betoken.
‘Twas cold neglect thy cords unstrung,
And left in mute despair;
My harp ‘was on the willow hung,’
Sighing to passing air.
…
Borne o’er the vast Atlantic main,
Dear Harp! once more we meet;
Here on my besom rest again,
And breathe thy accents sweet.
Come, sing to me of other days,
When Fortune sweetly smiled,
When Time, entranced in pleasure’s maze,
Was of his wings beguiled.
Alex Ames will be in residency at the Clements from March 31-April 4, 2025 with a pop-up exhibit of materials that inspired his repertoire, along with other collection items that showcase the cultural resonances of the harp on view from Noon-4:00pm daily. You can hear him play on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at the Ann Arbor City Club by registering for the event, A Conflict of Emotions: Thomas and Margaret Gage and the American Revolution. On Thursday, April 3, 2025 students are invited to register for a special study session from 5:00-7:00pm that will feature Alex playing background music and as well as the opportunity to view the pop-up exhibit.
*Gaetano Donizetti, “The Sound of Harps Angelical” (New York: Wm. A. Pond & Co., 1858), Ill 1858 Do. [Catalog Record]