Marilyn Becraft and Professor David A Day, Harold B Lee Library Music Special Collections
The BYU International Harp Archives serve as a vital resource for the harp world. This collection is currently the largest collection of harp materials found worldwide. The archives include scores and manuscripts, photographs, video and audio recordings, and the donated libraries and archives of harpists, composers, harp manufacturers and organizations dealing with the harp. These materials are available to people around the world who are interested in researching all aspects of the harp.
During this last year I became very familiar with the contents of the Archives as I worked with materials to organize and preserve them. I conducted further research into the history and contents of the Archives as well as the services they provide. I then prepared a six-minute video infomercial on the Archives, which was shown during the General Membership Meeting at the National Conference of the American Harp Society in June 2002. I also gave a fifteen-minute presentation at that conference which provided detailed information about the history of the archives, the materials available and the benefits of the services the Archives offer. Most of my research was done during my work as an employee of the International Harp Archives but the remainder of my research along with my two projects was made possible by the ORCA scholarship money.
I conducted the bulk of my research as I worked for David A. Day, curator of the Music Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library. Under his supervision I organized and inventoried donations given to the International Harp Archives and then created for each donation finding aides to help researchers locate materials within the archives. These donations included many valuable and fascinating materials. Dorothy Remsen, the previous Executive Secretary of the American Harp Society donated the records and files of that organization for the past thirty years. There was also a donation by Samuel O. Pratt, a harp builder, musician and composer. A donation by his wife, Rosalie R. Pratt included her research on music therapy and biofeedback. Materials documenting the career of the world famous harpists Mildred Dilling, Sylvia Meyer, Alberto Salvi, and Alfred Kastner were donated to the library as well. The archives of the American Harp Society and World Harp Congress are also housed in the Archives. Other donations included the manuscripts and personal papers of harp composers. Carlos Salzedo and Marcel Grandjany were harpists, composers and teachers of the twentieth century. Their contributions to the harp changed the whole nature of the harp and its role in music. In the International Harp Archives there are materials on both these men. The materials on Carlos Salzedo include original manuscripts and compositional drafts of now famous pieces as well as his personal correspondence and files. By going through each of these valuable donations I was able to research original documents and see firsthand many of the primary documents used in others’ research.
Prior to beginning work on the video infomercial for my presentation I was able to do further research into the history of the International Archives. I also learned firsthand about the services the Archives provide by working to update these services, make them user-friendlier and often acted as a personal aide to researchers.
The six-minute infomercial I produced for the International Harp Archives was aimed at informing people of what the International Harp Archives has to offer and how it could help them. After completing my research I wrote a script for the infomercial, selected and scanned the visual images, and directed the narrator and video editor. The project was done in time to take the video to be shown at the National Conference in St. Paul Minneapolis.
My fifteen-minute presentation was part of a thirty-minute presentation on the International Harp Archives. The curator of the archives, David A. Day, gave the closing segment. I used a power point presentation with scanned images of materials from the archives to serve as a structure to my lecture. I covered the history of the archives since before it’s founding in 1992, described the materials and services available and paid tribute to our financial donors and Brigham Young University. This presentation along with the video infomercial brought increased interest to the International Harp Archives as well as additional donations.
The experiences I had while researching and completing these two projects are priceless. I gained experience in directing and completing large projects and preparing presentations for a specialized audience. I am currently a Harp Performance major at Brigham Young University and I plan to go on and get my masters in Harp Performance. I am not only a performer but also a teacher and having the knowledge of the harp, harp composers, teachers, performers and organizations that I gained while doing this research will prove invaluable in my future career.