Arranged and edited by Delphine Constantin-Reznik.

Piano reduction by Brian Raby.

 

The recently rediscovered Swedish harpist and composer Anton Edvard Pratté (1796-1875), once described by his contemporaries as "the Harpking of the North", composed over 200 works and enjoyed an illustrious career as a harp virtuoso, both in Scandinavia and Continental Europe, alongside other illustrious figures such as Elias Parish-Alvars (1808-1849) and Nicholas-Charles Bochsa (1789-1856). Interestingly, a critic compared Pratté´s playing with the latter, stating that Pratté was "the teacher" and Bochsa "the student"!

 

We are extremely grateful to harpist Delphine Constantin-Reznik for the opportunity for us to be the first to publish Pratté's harp music and for her dedication, hard work, enthusiam and diligence throughout this huge project. It is through her passion for pursuing new repertoire for the harp and researches in Swedish archives which has resulted in the unexpected discovery of the works of this Romantic harp virtuoso and prolific composer who, coincidentally, lived in the very same region and town as she does herself: Norrköping, Eastern Sweden.

Delphine writes:

"I am thrilled to present to you here the Grand Concert for Harp and Orchestra by the recently rediscovered Bohemian harp-virtuoso and composer Anton Edvard Pratté (1796-1875). You will find the Harp part with my fingering and other suggestions, as well as the very practical piano reduction of this concerto by Brian Raby. For the orchestra parts and score, you are welcome to contact me at dcr.harp@gmail.com.

Please note that this beautiful and large 45-minute work could be performed alternatively as follows: either the 1st movement alone, making the piece a 20- minute Concertino, or by playing the Andante followed by the Rondo Polacca alla Svedese as one piece of approximately 25 minutes. I had the honor to record this Concerto for BIS Records a few years ago, and the album can be found on all digital platforms.

I hope you will enjoy working on and performing this wonderful piece!"

Delphine Constantin-Reznik