David tells students in his 1991 class:
The first version I ever heard the tune was the New York Harp Ensemble's. And it was five big harps, that was it. That’s the version I still live with. I hear the, a lot of them are the real violin-y versions, but that Harp Ensemble, it sounded like dulcimers to me.
This 1985 rendition may be the one he listened to. Click on the image, close your eyes and listen for yourself. Do you see what he means?
