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Alison Vardy
Apasionada

solo celtic harp

Apasionada is a vibrant array of multi-cultural harp music arranged to delight and soothe the senses.  I've selected my most rhythmic pieces as well as some of my most beautiful tunes from around the world.  There is a very wide range of multi-cultural influences and tempos on this CD.
Apasionada features three harps - my new Sandpiper Nova Celtic lever harp, my Paraguayan harp, and my new Bresch Celtic lever harp.  The tunes include a mixture of Celtic, Latin, Contemporary, light Classical and World Ethnic music plus 7 of my own original compositions.  (16 tracks for a total of 65.04 minutes playing time - Released July 2000 )
I recorded this CD in the natural reverberation of an acoustically "live" space with Melodeon Studios in Victoria, BC, Canada.  The recording quality of Apasionada is very good as all the tracks were recorded using top quality microphones directly to analogue tape for additional "warmth" and then directly to digital without any editing.  Close your eyes and you are sitting alongside the harp literally feeling its presence!    Alison

 

1) Paya-Hali or "Get. Moving" (4:49)
 My own Canadian Composition with Russian and Spanish overtones!
2) Dunedin Farewell   (4:45)
A melodic tribute to the many fine friends and musicians we said goodbye to in Dunedin, NZ.
3) Peerie House ahint the Burn/ Spoot O'Skerry  Shetland Islands (3:37)
Vigorous Scottish tunes using the full range of the Paraguayan harp.
4) Yvone Yvonke / Los Bibilicos    Macedonia / Jewish (4:26)
A traditional love song to a young girl followed by a soulful song of the Sephardic Jews
5) Schottische du Stockfish            D. Thonan (3:03)                                                                         I arranged this for harp from a recording I heard by Quebec group "Ad Vielle Que Pourra".  It's a fishy tune composed in the Celtic style from Brittany, France
6) Peace River Lullaby             Alison Vardy (3:59)
 Reminiscent of the gently rolling golden hills of the Peace River Country in northern BC.
7) A Belen Vinde Pastores           Galicia (3:28)
 My harp arrangement of this beautiful folk melody from the Celtic region of northern Spain.
8) Una Luz en el Mar / Llano              Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (8:24)                                             Two beautiful compositions from this renowned Paraguayan harpist.  The first is arranged as a "Guarania", and the second as a "Pasaje", both being syncopated rhythmic genres from South America.
9) Roly Gentle /   Johnson's Hornpipe    Traditional: Northumbria (4:44)
Harp arrangements inspired by the playing of Kathryn Tickell, Northumbrian piper.
10) Whimsical Breeze           Alison Vardy (3:37)
 In this piece I'm having fun with the percussive potential (what a fun phrase!) of the harp, then going into a nice rhythmic pattern using 7th chords.  Enjoy!  The Horse Whisperer named this track.
11) Zemer Atik / Shalom Aleichem             Amitai Neeman / Trad: Israel (3:29)
  A more contemporary Israeli dance tune followed by a well-love traditional melody.
12) Animacion                       Alison Vardy (2:42)
  Listen, and you'll hear the animated character that inspired this composition!
13) King of the Fairies         Traditional: Ireland (3:08)
  Always a Celtic favourite of mine…
14) Kulasunda                      Alison Vardy (3:25)
 A composition based on a traditional Mbira (thumb piano) rhythm of Zimbabwe.  I learned this rhythm from Andy Rigby of Australia (sort of a circuitous route from Africa) and he calls it "traditionally-based Zimbabwean pop music"
15) Streets of London / Pachelbel's Canon                                                                              Ralph McTell / Pachelbel (4:28)                                       
 A contemporary folk melody and baroque piece that share the same chord progression but offer delightful contrasts in arranging
16) Carousel            Alison Vardy (2:58)                                                                 
   Just finished in time to fit on this CD!