When the Fair Maid… [ep 25]

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This is a harp arrangement of a traditional Polish Christmas Carol, Gdy śliczna Panna. It comes from my Christmas Collection published in 2019.

The Fair Maid – the Virgin Mary – is introduced while singing a lullaby to her newborn Son, which is why the atmosphere is so calm and soothing, just like the verses of the song that she sings. The carol was known to be sung in many 18th and 19th century convents.

The oldest known manuscript of When the Fair Maid dates to the beginning of the 18th century. It is currently archived in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow.

This harp arrangement requires using all four fingers, playing hands together as well as reading some overlapping brackets, which makes it suitable for a late beginner.

The carol is written in the key of F major and it will work for lever harps tuned in flats as well as pedal harps. If your harp is tuned in C, this would require retuning your B strings. There are no lever or pedal changes, and the range is from the C below middle C, to B above the middle C.

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