Vol. No. 3 of the Harp School in France offers concerti from three composers who inspired generations of harpists to come. Benoît Pollet, harpist, editor and composer whose life and work are little known, was born in Bethune in 1753. He began his music career studying and teaching guitar. However, on the advice of Johann Baptist Krumpholz, he replaced the guitar by the harp and became his pupil. He wrote a method to play harp with a pedal motion in which he referred to Krumpholz. This method was the first textbook on the harp that gained entry into the Music Library of the Prussian State. Pollet introduced also the playing of harmonics with two hands. He left several sonatas for harp, violin and harp and songs, including "River Tagus", which Berlioz wrote in 1819 as an accompaniment for guitar. He died in Paris on April 16, 1823. His stepdaughter, Marie-Nicole Simonin (1787-1864), was a harpist for the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais. His grandson, Joseph Pollet, was an organist and choirmaster at Notre-Dame de Paris from 1831 to 1871. Benoit Pollet ‘s First Concerto for Harp was written in a classical style, with three movements, virtuoso writing and a challenging technique, with the harp playing throughout the entire piece
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