Two harps are frequently used to get past pedaling problems. If you want continuous harp sound but you're modulating a lot, a single harp can't keep up with all the pedal changes. Instead you write for two harps and they take turns playing, typically alternating with each > bar.
Me again, following up on my own post.
A very clear example of this technique is in the final bars of Neptune from Holst's The Planets. Indeed, that entire movement is a study in writing for dual harps. Another passage in the same piece has the two harps tuned the same doing simultaneous glissandos in opposite directions, a fairly common technique.
Another good score to study for dual harps is Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. Ravel occasionally has them take turns for smooth alternation between similar chord/tonalities (eg, C-D-E-F#-Gb-A-B# alternating with C-D-E-Fb-G-A-Bb), but mostly he uses them for a large variety of textural effects.
mdl
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