Harry Partch - And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma
In recalling the circumstances that gave rise to the composition of And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, Partch refers to one of his sabbatical returns to California: "I had been away from the part of the world I generally consider home for six years. In the seventh year I found a studio in the unused Pioneer Hatchery in Petaluma, California. However sentimental or Oriental that may sound, the fact remains: it was the time of falling petals, and this music followed."
"The work consists ," notes Partch, "of twenty-three one minute duets and trios, which later - through electronic synthesis - become ten quartets and quintets, and a concluding septet."
Although it would appear that "Petals" stands as one of Harry Partch's rare essays in so-called "absolute" music, such is by no means the case. For, speaking of the instruments here and the melodic-rhythmic sonority textures they produce, he observes further: "The instruments used in this work were incubated in a world of their own, almost totally. And the sounds which enliven the audio aspect of their being have become the musical sinews of a larger concept, a full-blown integration - Delusion of the Fury-a ritual of Dream and Delusion - as yet unperformed, unseen, unheard. Here, in the notes to that larger work, nothing is elaborated, nothing is 'developed'. An idea is stated in sparest form, and abandoned. Another idea is stated in sparest form, and abandoned."
In another communication to this writer, Partch has summed up his attitude toward his own work, of which Delusion of the Fury is the culmination: "The work that I have been doing these many years parallels much in the attitudes and actions of primitive man. He found sound-magic in the common materials around him. He then proceeded to make the vehicle, the instrument, as visually beautiful as he could. Finally, he involved the sound-magic and the visual beauty in his everyday words and experiences, his ritual and drama, in order to lend greater meaning to his life.
"This is my trinity: sound-magic, visual beauty, experience-ritual."
The following scheme indicates the order of the thirty-four verses comprising And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, together with the instruments used. Verses (24 through 34) are composites generated through over-dubbings of the first twenty-three verses: 1/2 - 3/4 - 5/6 - 7/8 - 9/10 - 11/12 - 13/14 - 15/16 - 17/18 - 19/20 - 21/22/23. Verses 1 to 17 are on Side One of the disc; Verses 18 through 34 are on Side Two. (liner notes)
Performed by the Gate 5 Ensemble.
Tracklisting:
All tracks are around a minute long.
1. Verse 1 [Zymo-Xyl and Crychord]
2. Verse 2 [Surrogate Kithara and Bass Marimba]
3. Verse 3 [Harmonic Canon I and Blue Rainbow]
4. Verse 4 [Chromeleodeon II and Koto]
5. Verse 5 [Mazda Marimba and Boo]
6. Verse 6 [Cloud-Chamber Bowls and Diamond Marimba]
7. Verse 7 [Chromelodeon II, Bloboy and Kithara II]
8. Verse 8 [Zymo-Xyl and Spoils of War]
9. Verse 9 [Harmonic Canon I and Kithara I]
10. Verse 10 [Diamond Marimba and Boo]
11. Verse 11 [Kithara II and Marimba Eroica]
12. Verse 12 [Koto and Spoils of War]
13. Verse 13 [Harmonic Canon I and Cloud-Chamber Bowls]
14. Verse 14 [Surrogate Kithara and Diamond Marimba]
15. Verse 15 [Chromelodeon I and Kithara I]
16. Verse 16 [Koto and Castor & Pollux]
17. Verse 17 [Adapted Guitar II and Mazda Marimba]
18. Verse 18 [Harmonic Canon I and Marimba Eroica]
19. Verse 19 [Drone Devils, Gubagubi and Castor & Pollux]
20. Verse 20 [Koto and Crychord]
21. Verse 21 [Spoils of War and Bass Marimba]
22. Verse 22 [Chromelodeon I and Boo]
23. Verse 23 [Zymo-Xyl, Blue Rainbow, Gourd Tree and Cone Gongs]
24. Verse 24 [Zymo-Xyl, Crychord, Surrogate Kithara and Bass Marimba]
25. Verse 25 [Harmonic Canon I, Blue Rainbow, Chromeleodeon II and Koto]
26. Verse 26 [Mazda Marimba, Boo, Cloud-Chamber Bowls and Diamond Marimba]
27. Verse 27 [Chromelodeon II, Bloboy, Kithara II, Zymo-Xyl and Spoils of War]
28. Verse 28 [Harmonic Canon I, Kithara I, Diamond Marimba and Boo]
29. Verse 29 [Kithara II, Marimba Eroica, Koto and Spoils of War]
30. Verse 30 [Harmonic Canon I, Cloud-Chamber Bowls, Surrogate Kithara and Diamond Marimba]
31. Verse 31 [Chromelodeon I, Kithara I, Koto and Castor & Pollux]
32. Verse 32 [Adapted Guitar II, Mazda Marimba, Harmonic Canon I and Marimba Eroica]
33. Verse 33 [Drone Devils, Gubagubi, Castor & Pollux, Koto and Crychord]
34. Verse 34 [Spoils of War, Bass Marimba, Chromelodeon I, Boo, Zymo-Xyl, Blue Rainbow, Gourd Tree and Cone Gongs]
(1)
Many thanks, I discovered Partch with Delusions...this one is intriguing, at least.
ReplyDeleteAllt he best to creative bloggers as you
Thank you once again.
ReplyDeleteHola he añadido tu blog a
ReplyDeletehttp://rock-blogroll.blogspot.com/
grey calx, thanks for this wonderful share!
ReplyDeletei know this piece from the harry partch collection vol. 2 cd. there it's mentioned being recorded in 1964 in petaluma, ca, an in 1966 in venice, ca, played by partch's gate 5 ensemble, and edited by partch + charles spiller. it's mentioned being 1st released by cri in 1968.
gate 5 ensemble, directed by harry partch:
danlee mitchell, harry partch, michael ranta, emil richards, wallace snow and stephen tosh.
cheers
Thanx for share
ReplyDeleteSuperb - thank you very much :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing :-)))
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comments everyone. You're all welcome.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------
Lucky, thanks for the additional info. My LP copy doesn't have the same information as the Harry Partch Collection Vol. 2 CD such as recording dates and names of musicians. Although the LP mentions that it was composed in 1963 and 1964 and revised in 1966 which could explain it also being recorded in Venice, CA in 1966.
Yes, my LP copy is the one that was released by CRI.
Cheers.
salut, gc!
ReplyDeletea quick side note: i don't know if i mentioned it before, but i just now realised that your avatar shows one of my dada idols: hans arp. i do like him as a painter and sculptorist, but i adore him as a poet!
(: lucky :)
Funny as you mention that, I changed my avatar for the holiday season (as you can see).
ReplyDeleteI promise I'll bring back Hans Arp after the holidays end.
how sad that you change arp for poor sanity claus... :D!
ReplyDeletein my mind this red-hatted chap will always be connected to the marketing campaign of coca cola, i can't help it. happy holidays to you, nevertheless!
cheers
sanity claus LOL ;)
ReplyDeleteI do remember Coke using Santa for its advertising. I think the company still puts his face on its cans and other merchandise during the holidays. It's been a while since I drank the stuff so I'm not sure if I'm right.
I'll always remember my first encounter with Santa, not in a story, but in some department store as depicted in my avatar.
Happy holidays to you, too. Cheers.
a great share! thank you, as always.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Partch. Most interesting and original.
ReplyDelete