MAINSTAGE KEYBOARD PROGRAMMING
A Little Night Music
(screenshot for demonstration only — actual product may differ)
Celesta/Harp
The orchestration (by Jonathan Tunick) for Stephen Sondheim’s beloved romance calls for both Harp and Keyboard, the latter consisting almost entirely of Celesta with a small amount of acoustic Piano. While we would love nothing more than to see a real Harp and Celesta used for every performance of this musical, modern realities often require the use of synthesizers. It is feasible for both books to be covered almost in their entirety by a single player, using this custom-designed MainStage concert.
The concert file is adapted for a two-keyboard setup, comprising a full-size 88-note keyboard supplemented by a smaller 49-key instrument, such as the M-Audio KeyRig 49. (The file can be easily adjusted for different keyboard sizes; feel free to reach out to us for assistance in matching your specific equipment.) In most patches, the Harp is assigned to the larger keyboard, to allow for the full range of the instrument for glissandi and other effects, and the Celesta to the smaller auxiliary keyboard. A Grand Piano sound is also included in the few places that call for it.
Certainly the most time-saving feature of this package are the custom harp pedal settings applied to each patch, so that you can simply read through the book as a harp player would, making patch changes where the harpist would change pedals (remember “Did Columbus Bring Enough Food Going to America?”). These settings are mapped to a custom screen control that visually mirrors the pedal diagrams used in harp music, so you can check at a glance that your settings are correct. This ensures that you are playing in the right key and will hear the correct scales by simply playing a white-note glissando on the keyboard. This gives you real-time control over the shape, speed and dynamic of this most idiomatic harp effect, a must for playing along with a conductor and achieving the flexible, emotive musicality that is essential to a score like this.
A Little Night Music (Celesta/Harp) is available at a flat rate for amateur/school productions under a valid performance license from MTI. For pricing information, or to inquire about professional use, please click the button below.
This package includes the Harp Pedals Script by Matthew J. Pool, used under license from MagicFox Theatrical.
Note: You will need your own Apple computer running MainStage version 3.5.3 or higher in order to use this package.
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