CAMPEN, Ank Van

Ank van Campen (1932–21 August 2010) was a Dutch harpist, composer, arranger and teacher whose work was particularly influential in the development of modern repertoire and teaching materials for the Celtic and Irish harp. Based in Purmerend in the Netherlands, she devoted much of her career to making historical and traditional music accessible to harpists of different levels.
Van Campen produced an extensive body of pedagogical publications and arrangements. Her best-known teaching materials include the two-volume Tutor for the Celtic Harp, Kleine Harpenboek and the collections Classical Tunes for the Irish Harp. She also prepared volumes devoted to sixteenth-century music, Nordic songs and dances, music for two harps and melodies adaptable for harp with other instruments. Her arrangements drew upon early European music as well as Welsh, Irish, Scottish and other folk traditions.
Her original works include Variations on a Welsh Carol, which has remained part of the international harp repertoire, and the song cycle Four Welsh Poems for voice and harp, comprising Cyfnos, Y Llynnau, Blodau’r Grug and Triban. The latter was recorded by the harpist and mezzo-soprano Rachel Ann Morgan on the album Silken Shoes: Songs with Harp.
Van Campen was also deeply interested in the history and construction of the harp. Her research materials, historical surveys and musical examples were preserved through the Harphistory project, reflecting her commitment to distinguishing documented harp history from later legends and assumptions. Her importance to Dutch harp education continues to be recognised through the Ank van Campen Prize, awarded at the Rosa Spier Harp Competition in the Netherlands.