{"id":166,"date":"2011-11-22T05:46:19","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T05:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apsaramusic.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2023-04-30T21:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T21:27:06","slug":"harp-music-rowan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/apsaramusic.com\/?p=166","title":{"rendered":"HARP MUSIC FOR A LATE-AUTUMN MONDAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

The winter solstice creeps nearer each day.<\/em><\/p>\n

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An autumn sunset (Flickr\/Josh Libatique)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winter has not yet descended upon Northern California, but the wind bit at my cheeks as I walked along the ocean yesterday. I’m starting to dress in double layers and crave comfort foods like vegetable stew and fruit sauces flavored with allspice.<\/p>\n

Acoustic string music kindles my late fall and wintertime memories of listening to folk music records, and watching the sun set through the bare branches of trees in the backyard.<\/p>\n

“Up High in the Clouds,” a song from harpist Diana Rowan’s<\/a> album the Bright Knowledge<\/em> has always sounded both watery and wintery to me. On her website, Diana explains that this Romanian tune does have winter roots:<\/p>\n

“[The song contains] variations on a holiday folk melody I found in the UC Berkeley music library, hidden away in a dusty book that hadn’t been opened in years. I was drawn to the melody’s combination of sweetness, strength and offbeat phrase lengths, much as I’m drawn to people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Up High in the Clouds,” Diana Rowan<\/strong><\/p>\n