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02-19-10, 06:35 PM
Harry Partch is a true American original, and along with Mingus, Ives, Varese, Monk, and Hendrix, will always dwell in my personal pantheon of American music geniuses (genii?).
It is unfortunate that his music is not better known, but there is a certain degree of strangeness one must overcome in listening to this music. Partch (1901-1974) was not only a brilliant composer, but also a great music theorist (the equal of Schoenberg), an instrument creator (of necessity, in order to perform his microtonal music based on just intonation), as well as a teacher and organizer of a musical community to perform his unique visionary music.
One of his more accessible works is Barstow: Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California. A veteran of riding the rails in the Great Depression, Partch sometimes referred to this work as his "Hobo Concerto." A nice plus is that it is often side-splittingly funny - the voice of the narrator in this performance is Partch himself:
Listen to Barstow. (http://rickintx1125.fileave.com/Music/Partch%2002%20Barstow.mp3)
More Partch info. (http://faculty.washington.edu/kendo/partch.html)
My blog entry on Partch. (http://musicfromnowhere.blogspot.com/2009/11/harry-partch-barstow-eight-hitchhiker.html)
Thanks for listening.
It is unfortunate that his music is not better known, but there is a certain degree of strangeness one must overcome in listening to this music. Partch (1901-1974) was not only a brilliant composer, but also a great music theorist (the equal of Schoenberg), an instrument creator (of necessity, in order to perform his microtonal music based on just intonation), as well as a teacher and organizer of a musical community to perform his unique visionary music.
One of his more accessible works is Barstow: Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California. A veteran of riding the rails in the Great Depression, Partch sometimes referred to this work as his "Hobo Concerto." A nice plus is that it is often side-splittingly funny - the voice of the narrator in this performance is Partch himself:
Listen to Barstow. (http://rickintx1125.fileave.com/Music/Partch%2002%20Barstow.mp3)
More Partch info. (http://faculty.washington.edu/kendo/partch.html)
My blog entry on Partch. (http://musicfromnowhere.blogspot.com/2009/11/harry-partch-barstow-eight-hitchhiker.html)
Thanks for listening.