Hello everyone! It's us, Dorottya Nizalowski and Fanni Nizalowski from Hungary and we are here in Hong Kong at the 13th World Harp Congress.
– What inspired you to write for the harp? Other than Goethe-Institut who asked you to compose for the harp. What was the inspiration? Did you know Florence before?
Detlev: – Well, I did know Florence, and the Goethe-Institut did not ask for it. Because Florence asked for it, this is the difference. But she did a very good question to ask me because I had a harp concerto in mind for long years. And she looked for sponsors, she found a sponsor for it, and the Goethe-Institut paid my travel.
– And I want to ask you, what do you think about being a performer? Can it stay in the same way in the future, or maybe artificial intelligence can replace it?
Florence: – I think it is not a question whether we will actually cut off our own branch we are sitting on, but simply that it is something in the interaction between human beings, in the language and in the gesture, which cannot be overtaken by a computer. And I think what is in-between the notes, what you hear before you generate the next note you are going to play is exactly what makes music. It’s also the silence in-between, and I think this is what is most important about expression in a score.
– What is technically the hardest place, the most outstanding place which is not normal for a harp?
Florence: – Because I know that you can write some really interesting things for the harp. To be very honest, the first thing I said to Detlev after receiving this score was if one day I will be 55, I won’t be able to play this, and he said: Why? And I said, because the way I have to push pedals very quickly, and now interesting for harpists from sharp to flat from flat to sharp all the time where you usually would have two steps timewise. That put my body physically on so much strain, that one evening I was almost paralyzed. So we had to find solutions without hopefully changing notes. And we found solutions.
– Okay, thank you very much for the interview. I’m really looking forward to hear the music, and I hope the scores will be available sometime, and everyone can listen to this beautiful music.
– So thank you very much.
– Thank you!