One Stone to the Building
Henriette Renié’s Life Through Her Works for Harp
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I am far from changing all the opinions of the past, although modern music has need of a special technique which is more extensive and more “supple” in order to adapt it. I do not pretend to give the final decisive word in the instruction of the harp. Others will probably come after me to add their one stone to the building. I only hope that my long experience will be an aid to them and a new point of departure. —Henriette Renié
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About the Book
“Do you love the harp?” The French harpist Henriette Renié (1875–1956) asked this question of each student, and it remained her ideal throughout her life. This book explores the circumstances which surrounded the beginning of Henriette Renié’s career as a masterful harpist and composer. Through her celebrated performances of her Concerto en ut mineur, she gained acclaim simultaneously as a virtuosic performer and composer. In the wake of her success, several new masterpieces by respected composers appeared, including Pierné’s Concertstück and Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro. The elements of Renie’s virtuosity are traced through her famous Légende, and her less-known Deux promenades matinales. Her compositional style is explored through her Scherzo-Fantaisie for harp and violin and her Concerto en ut mineur. As a teacher, Renié’s influence echoed throughout the world. Her profound influence has been evident through the vision of her own students, including Susann McDonald, Marcel Grandjany, Mildred Dilling, Odette Le Dentu, Odette de Montesquiou, Bertile Fournier, Emmy Hürlimann, Bertile Robet Auffray, and Marie Astrid D’Auffray. The crystallization of Renié’s teaching practice is described through her Méthode complète de harpe (Complete Method for Harp) and her twelve volumes of harp transcriptions, Les classiques de la harpe. The amount of literature about Renié’s life and work is disproportionate to the deep imprint she made upon the harp’s history and repertoire. This book is a start to further recognizing her vast importance to the establishment of the harp.
About the Author
Jaymee Haefner's performances have been described by Daniel Buckley as possessing “an air of dreamy lyricism… interlocking melody lines with the deftness of a dancer’s footwork.” Jaymee joined the University of North Texas faculty in 2006 and serves as director of the UNT HarpBeats ensemble, Professor of Harp and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the College of Music. Her extensive performances include a feature at the 50th Anniversary of the American Harp Society (AHS) in New York City, and National Conference performances in New Orleans (2014), in Atlanta (2016) and performances throughout the Dallas‐Fort Worth area, in Mexico, the Czech Republic and Russia. She has recorded with the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, baritone Daniel Narducci and Alfredo Rolando Ortiz. She published a biography (The Legend of Henriette Renié) and has performed and presented lectures for the World Harp Congress (WHC) in Prague, Sydney, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Jaymee was Chairman of the 2011 AHS Institute and has served as the Secretary and Southwest Regional Director for the American Harp Society, Inc., has served as Treasurer and International Harp Associations Liaison for the WHC, and chair of the harp competition Task Force for the American String Teachers Association. Dr. Haefner’s projects include her “Better than One” duo with harpist Emily Mitchell and her “Crimson” duo with violinist Matt Milewski, including recent commissions for violin and harp. She obtained her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Arizona and her Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. When she isn’t on stage, Dr. Haefner trains in karate with her son, and earned her first-degree black belt in 2015.