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Aeolian Harp

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Aeolian Harp Pavilion at the Royal Botanic Gardens

Aeolian Harp Pavilion at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

Created by Scottish harp maker Mark Norris, the Aeolian Harp Pavilion was installed in the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh in May 2014 and is now a permanent feature in the gardens.

The harp is made from a 200 year old Wych Elm tree which was felled in the gardens in 2003 after Dutch Elm disease.

This time-lapse film shows the 3 day installation of the Pavilion … with music from Savourna Stevenson, which is also performed on a harp made by Mark Norris …

Music tracks are … ‘Calman The Wolf’ and ‘An Buachaille’ from the CD Calman The Dove ( Cook CD 137 )
… and ‘Come Try Me ( 1st Movement String Quintet )’ from the CD Touch Me Like The Sun ( Cook CD 192 )

80′ Jazz Rock Fusion Harp

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Rare footage of a very young Savourna Stevenson playing part of her ‘Moorsong’.
In an interview dating from around that time, Savourna expressed her delight at meeting with guitarist Mike Stern and saxophonist Bob Berg … and you can certainly hear the Mike Stern influence here.
Her writing and performing over the years has certainly covered an incredible range of styles and genres … and I for one am sad that we don’t have some more of this jazz rock harp material recorded on CD.
I believe she now has a growing reputation as a composer in the classical music world and is writing a pedal harp concerto for the harpist Catrin Finch. What a big musical brain she must have!!

Harp Masterclass

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Savourna Stevenson during a recent masterclass. Savourna, one of the department’s music tutors, is a world famous exponent of the Scottish harp, having played with a diverse range of musicians including Fairport Convention. Martin Carthy, Mike Travis, The Bhundu Boys and Peter Gabriel. This is her playing one of her own impressionistic compositions.