This Illusionment

The music on This Illusionment showcases everything I love about the harp, exploring aspects so rarely associated with the instrument. Though often known for its sense of calm, elegance, and beauty evoked by ancient images and connotations—layers of meaning painted on wood and metal—to me, the harp is dynamic, percussive, loud, and all-encompassing. I've painted my own meaning onto it.

The basis of these four pieces is distinct. Exosphere traces an atom's journey from Earth's core into the vastness of space. Quarks demonstrates, in scientific terms, the random, unplanned interactions (and collisions!) of six distinct characters. Inkspills responds to the attack, merge, and blend of ink as it bleeds across a canvas. And This Illusionment delves into how our perceptions must adapt to the shifting nature of our reality. In essence, these pieces are stunning responses to elements we can't fully control—be it to nature, art, science, or those around us—facets of the human experience we must all reconcile.

These pieces embody everything I love about the harp and serve as snapshots from different moments in my time with it so far. Exosphere was the first piece that truly made me believe the harp was my instrument, in a way that the ‘real’ classical music I'd previously felt I ‘should’ play never did. These pieces leave me feeling confident about the harp's place in my identity and I feel incredibly lucky to share them with you.

A huge thank you to everyone who made this recording possible and supported me along the way—the list is far too long, but to everyone from those who listened to me play to those who listened to me vent and offered support throughout this project. I feel very lucky that my reality is not such an illusion.

—Sophie (May 2025)