xiik by Elisa Thorn

I’ve spent years searching for a way of playing the harp that feels true to me, and after a decade and a half of relentless curiosity, I think I’ve started to find it. xiik reflects my long pursuit of using the harp to express melody without excessive verbosity. It's an instrument with a tendency to use 10 notes where others use one. I’m guilty as charged, but it drives me crazy. I’m pretty hell bent on breaking the harp out of the “ornamental” box it’s so often put in.

Strangely, this is the first body of work that I wrote entirely on the harp. For years, I used to always start songs on the piano for its chromatic freedom, then translate to harp later. But with my carbon fiber lever harp (Camac DHC), I started writing directly on the instrument, embracing its limitations—and rediscovering some of the “prettier” harp sounds I once avoided.

xiik also represents the ~$12,000 it cost to record. I feel privileged to have had the resources, but I want to name it: no resource is truly free, even if the consumer isn’t directly paying. Music is worth more than money, but it’s expensive to create, and too often the artist bears the cost. If music is treated as a renewable resource, our current model of consumption becomes unsustainable and exploitive. What does music mean to you? Can we imagine a different way of listening?

Which is all to say: if you’re here, you’re already a supporter, and I’m deeply grateful. I hope you enjoy this music—it’s close to my heart, and it’s a privilege to share it with you.

Hey, my name is Elisa (eh-lee-sah) and I play the harp. I went to classical music school a long time ago, but since then I’ve played mostly contemporary + creative music of all kinds. I roll my eyes at the harp’s angelic rep, but generosity matters: I hope listeners feel held. I call it “pretty shred”—dreamy or fierce, the harp can be a total boss, and that’s why I love it.

elisathorn.com
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