The harp for strong hands

It stands in the studio like a monumental building. The man-sized golden pillar glistens in the light, the graceful bow holds 47 strings in tension. “A bit ridiculous”, thinks Doriene Marselje it. In any case, it was never her plan to buy a new harp, let alone a gold one. She had pushed him aside the first time she met. But now that they’re friends, she can do things she never could before.

It all started four years ago with She’s Leaving Home from The Beatles. Marselje, best known for contemporary classical music in concert halls with different ensembles, was part of that one song on tour with The Analogues, the critically acclaimed Beatles tribute band. During the last show in the Ziggo Dome, one of the band members had a beer too much and knocked her harp off the stage. Two minutes before she had to get up, Marselje saw the consequences for the instrument with which she had built her career from the age of fifteen, in every room. There were bites of wood from the neck, from the side she looked straight into the sound box. “It was horrible. A major disaster.”

She’s a pro, she tuned, improvised and played the song. That same evening, a months-long process of insurers, damage reports, amounts with four zeros began. She played her concerts on loan harps, she was supported by befriended insurance specialists. In the meantime, she processed the trauma. „I am very practical, I threw it in the car almost every day without thinking. I did not expect that the instrument determined so much of my identity that it was about that one harp.”

But that one harp – her harp – turned out not to be the old one. She had to look for a new one. In the Italian branch of the American builder, she immediately put the five golden harps aside. Nothing for her. Only at the end of the day did she try it anyway. One of the five sounded clear, loud and sparkling, as if it were made for her strong hands. It felt good as she pulled the 45 pounds toward her and propped it up on her knee, resting lightly against her shoulder. The sound won over the appearance.

The Analogues got it right. Also in the new tour they reserved a song for her and the new harp:Good night† But every time she came into her living room, she was startled. It’s not mine, she thought over that gaudy gold. “It took a year before we became friends. He plays so easily, I was actually looking for more resistance.” She learned to use his ease and openness.

Now there is an effects box in the sound box. She focuses on contemporary music by composers who challenge the harp. “I don’t want it to always sound sweet or pretty.” She puts effects on the harp to make it sound raw. She reaches an audience that is not necessarily at home in classical music. She plays with light installations around the instrument. Although it looks baroque, the golden harp helps her with that. “It gives me so much space that I can sometimes spend hours with cables and plugs.”