Valérie Milot - V: Chamber Music for Harp (2011)

Alone or in the company of other instruments, the harp’s unique sonority can evoke either the wind blowing or the heart beating. So it is not surprising that such an instrument inspired the poet Alfred Tennyson to write, “Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might; / Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass’d in music out of sight.” This recording takes the listener through the 20th century, building in intensity as it reveals the harp’s many facets, whether in a solo, accompaniment or chamber music setting. Through the works presented here, the V of Valérie becomes the roman V, the soloist becoming part of a quintet.