The Reverie Harp

This is a somewhat unusual topic for me to blog about, but I have deemed it "blog-worthy." (I trust enough of my readers will get the thinly veiled Seinfeld allusion.)

I heard this last week on the classical music program, "Performance Today" (Weekdays 7-9pm, KPBS Radio) and while most of the details of the music they are playing go over my head, this segment was different. It introduced a new instrument called the "Reverie Harp" and its use in some forms of therapy. It is an instrument that was designed specifically for people with no musical skills and apparently almost anybody can learn to play it reasonably well in a very short period of time. Its not really a performance instrument - instead, as the name suggests, it is an instrument that is used to cause a reverie. One group of people who have found this instrument helpful are those dealing with impending death - folks who have been told that they have a limited time to live (possibly the most defining piece of news one could receive). This resonated (no pun intended) with me, and hence this post.

If you want to hear the PT segment, here is a link to the audio. The actual discussion about the Reverie Harp starts at 50:25 of the second hour. You can also read about it on the website of the creator of this instrument (Roberts).