The World of Harry Partch

Harry Partch - The World of Harry Partch
Harry Partch is an American visionary and stubborn individualist. . . . He has built his own musical world out of microtones, hobo speech, elastic octaves and percussion instruments made from hubcaps and nuclear cloud chambers. Recently. . . . an army of young music lovers stormed New York's Whitney Musuem to hear Harry Partch and his thirteen disciples produce a music that was totally personal and eclectic in the best sense. African polyrhythms, and ancient Greek modes, bits of Babylonia and the pulse of the American diesel engine all gathered into a richly erotic, primitive, fresh and stirring drama of sound. (Newsweek)

DAPHNE OF THE DUNES

Harry Partch - adapted viola

Other performers: Frank Berberich, Gary Coleman, Dean Drummond, Richard Lapore, John McAllister, Robert McCormick, Todd Miller, Emil Richards, Michael Ranta, Linda Schell

Instruments heard on this recording: Adapted Viola, Kithara II, Surrogate Kithara, Harmonic Canons II and III, Chromelodeon I, Cloud-Chamber Bowls, Spoils of War, Gourd Tree, Diamond Marimba, Boo (Bamboo Marimba), Bass Marimba, Pre-recorded Tape (Note: No more than four instruments are used simultaneously.)

DAPHNE OF THE DUNES is here recorded for the first time live. Originally the sound track for Madeline Tourtelot's film WINDSONG, Partch recorded it alone, by the process of overdubbing. The film, a modern rendering of the ancient myth of Daphne and Apollo, is a classic of the integration between visuals and sound. Partch explains his approach to the score:

"The music, in effect, is a collage of sounds. The film technique of fairly fast cuts is here translated into musical terms. The sudden shifts represent nature symbols of the film, as used for a dramatic purpose: dead tree, driftwood, falling sand, blowing tumbleweed, flying gulls, wriggling snakes, waving grasses."

BARSTOW
Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California

Harry Partch and John Stannard - voices

Other performers: John McAllister, Danlee Mitchell, Michael Ranta, Linda Schell Instruments heard on this recording: Surrogate Kithara, Chromelodeon I, Diamond Marimba, Boo (Bamboo Marimba)
BARSTOW, begun in 1941, is a setting of eight hitchhiker inscriptions copied from a highway railing on the outskirts of Barstow, California. This work shows Partch's style with language, as well as his approach to harmony and structure. Each inscription is stated, then humorously expanded, sometimes sung, other times intoned. Tonality is strong but ever-shifting. The over-all harmonic effect is quite smooth, as it would be in just intonation, with tones resolving to others by a subtle few vibrations as well as larger leaps. A masterpiece of Americana in song, it is more than that; it is musical dramatic narrative. Partch calls it his Hobo Concerto. As the word hobo itself is an American word, so is the music of Harry Partch an American music - probably the first truly American music since the American Indian.

CASTOR & POLLUX
A Dance for the Twin Rhythms of Gemini from Plectra & Percussion Dances

Performers: Gary Coleman, Dean Drummond, John McAllister, Danlee Mitchell, Emil Richards, Michael Ranta, Linda Schell

Instruments heard on this recording:
CASTOR
1. Leda and the Swan (Kithara II, Surrogate Kithara, and Cloud-Chamber Bowls)
2. Conception (Harmonic Canon II and High Bass Marimba)
3. Incubation (Diamond Marimba and Low Bass Marimba)
4. Chorus of Delivery From the Egg (All the foregoing instruments)
POLLUX
1. Leda and the Swan (Kithara II, Surrogate Kithara, and Low Bass Marimba)
2. Conception (Harmonic Canon II and Cloud-Chamber Bowls)
3. Incubation (Diamond Marimba and High Bass Marimba)
4. Chorus of Delivery From the Egg (All the foregoing instruments)

CASTOR & POLLUX is a dance-theater work with a beguiling program. It is structured in two large sections, each section comprised of three duets and a tutti. The first section is entitled CASTOR, the second, POLLUX. The first duet of each section is titled Leda and the Swan (insemination); the second, Conception; the third, Incubation; and the tutti, Chorus of Delivery From the Egg. By its contrapuntal texture, CASTOR & POLLUX shows well the melodic capabilities of the instruments, and the two tutti section grand finales to the glory of birth. In the liner notes to PLECTRA & PERCUSSION DANCES, first issued by Partch on his own GATE 5 record label, he relates the story:

"It begins with the encounter of Zeus, the male swan, with the beautiful Leda, and ends with the hatching of the fertilzied eggs - first Castor, then Pollux. From the moment of insemination, each egg uses exactly 234 beats in cracking. All of the right heavenly houses are in conjunction, and misfortune is impossible. Pairs of instruments tell the story in characteristic ways."

(Notes by Danlee Mitchell)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Daphne of the Dunes {16:53}

Side 2

1. Barstow {9:06}

2. Castor & Pollux {15:50}

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