"The Harp of Brandiswhiere" is wonderful for before & after poetry, but
for during (I assume, by accompaniment, you will be playing WHILE the
portry is being read) I think progressive arpeggios would be good.
You need to provide music to increase mood but it's important to avoid
drawing the attention to the harp. If the event is a poetry reading,
it's the poetry that needs the attention.
I'm interested in hearing what others have to say as I would like to
accompany poetry in the future. I've only had one accompaniment
experience so far, and that was to a wedding ceremony. Progressive
arpeggios went quite well (ie,
c-e-g,C-E-G,c-f-a,C-F-A,d-f-a,D-F-A,d-g-b,D-G-B and so on.)
One other thing, though - it helps to have the words of the ceremony or
poem in front of you while the poet reads, and to have heard the poet
read it once before you accompany it. You can treat it as your score,
and be prepared for where you need upward motion, where you need
downward, where you might need dischord, strength, passivity and all
that. This all, of course, is a goal to aim at. The poets could be a
tea-klatch who simply enjoy reading their frilly stuff or heavy, soul
searching teens with an interest in shock value. (As a poet, I've
participated in both types of reading.) For the former, ask them if you
should just play some light stuff and give them a demonstration. For
the latter, you've got a challenge I'm not up to even THINKING about
yet.
-Laura McKinstry