Harry Partch
The Harry Partch Collection Volume 1
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This newly remastered reissue marks a welcome return to the catalog of the first volume of the classic 4-CD collection that was formerly available on the CRI label. The works recorded on this disc span the first six years of what Harry Partch (1901–1974), slightly tongue-in-cheek, called the “third period” of his creative life. They show him moving away from the obsession with “the intrinsic music of spoken words” that had characterized his earlier output (the vocal works of 1930–33 and 1941–45) and towards an instrumental idiom, predominantly percussive in nature.
This path was to take him through the “music-dance drama” King Oedipus (1951)—the culmination of his “spoken word” manner—to the “dance satire” The Bewitched (1954–55), in which his new percussive idiom manifests itself. The three works on this disc show Partch before, during, and after this period of transition.
Format
Tracks 1-11 Recorded in 1950–51 in Gualala, California, by Harry Lindgren. First released on Partch Compositions, a five-record 78 rpm set by Lauriston C. Marshall, Berkeley, California.
Tracks 12-25 Recorded in 1953 in Sausalito, California, by Oscar Anderson. First released as Harry Partch Trust Fund First Edition in 1953.
Tracks 14-17 ("Ring Around The Moon") are composed for Speaking Voice (on tones), Adapted Guitar II, Kithara, Harmonic Canon, Chromelodeon I, Chromelodeon Sub-bass, Cloud-Chamber Bowls and Marimba Eroica (one player), Diamond Marimba, Bass Marimba.
Tracks 18-25 ("Even Wild Horses...) are composed for Adapted Viola, Adapted Guitar III, Kithara, Harmonic Canon, Chromelodeon and Sub-bass, Diamond Marimba, Bass Marimba, Cloud-Chamber Bowls, 9/8 Marimba Eroica, wood block and cymbal, tenor saxophone and/or baritone voice.
Track 26 recorded in 1958 in Evanston, Illinois, by James Cunningham. First released on Gate 5 Records, Issue B, in 1962.
Release notes
Tracks 1-11 Recorded in 1950–51 in Gualala, California, by Harry Lindgren. First released on Partch Compositions, a five-record 78 rpm set by Lauriston C. Marshall, Berkeley, California. Tracks 12-25 Recorded in 1953 in Sausalito, California, by Oscar Anderson. First released as Harry Partch Trust Fund First Edition in 1953. Tracks 14-17 ("Ring Around The Moon") are composed for Speaking Voice (on tones), Adapted Guitar II, Kithara, Harmonic Canon, Chromelodeon I, Chromelodeon Sub-bass, …
| Eleven Intrusions (1949–50) | |||
| 1 | Study On Olympos' Pentatonic | 1:20 | |
| 2 | Study On Archytas' Enharmonic | 2:02 | |
| 3 | The Rose | 1:42 | |
| 4 | The Crane | 1:41 | |
| 5 | The Waterfall | 1:11 | |
| 6 | The Wind | 1:44 | |
| 7 | The Street | 2:46 | |
| 8 | Lover | 1:53 | |
| 9 | Soldiers - War - Another War | 2:02 | |
| 10 | Vanity | 0:48 | |
| 11 | Cloud-Chamber Music | 4:02 | |
| Plectra And Percussion Dances - Satyr-Play Music For Dance Theater (1952) | |||
| I. Castor And Pollux - A Dance For The Twin Rhythms Of Gemini | |||
| 12 | Castor: Leda And The Swan/Insemination (Kithara & Surrogate Kithara And Cloud-Chamber Bowls) / Conception (Harmonic Canon And High Bass Marimba) / Incubation (Diamond Marimba And Low Bass Marimba) / Chorus Of Delivery (All The Foregoing Instruments) | 7:41 | |
| 13 | Pollux: Leda And The Swan/Insemination (Kithara & Surrogate Kithara And Low Bass Marimba) / Conception (Harmonic Canon And Cloud-Chamber Bowls) / Incubation (Diamond Marimba And High Bass Marimba) / Chorus Of Delivery (All The Foregoing Instruments) | 7:49 | |
| II. Ring Around The Moon | |||
| 14 | Phase One - Well, Bless My Soul! (Well, Bless My Soul!) | 2:48 | |
| 15 | Phase Two - One, Two, Three, Four - X, Y, Zee | 2:12 | |
| 16 | Phase Three - Shake Hands Now, Boys, And At The Sound Of The Bell Come Out Fighting! | 2:55 | |
| 17 | Phase Four - Mumbo Jumbo, Hocus Pocus, Hoity Toity, Hotsy Totsy, Acey Ducey, Hoochy Koochy (Look Out! He's Got A Gun!) | 1:31 | |
| III. Even Wild Horses - Dance Music For An Absent Drama | |||
| 18 | Act I, Scene 1: A Decent And Honorable Mistake (Samba) | 2:42 | |
| 19 | Act I, Scene 2: Rhythm Of The Womb - Melody Of The Grave (Heartbeat Rhythm) | 3:00 | |
| 20 | Act I, Scene 3: Happy Birthday To You! (Afro-Chinese Minuet) | 2:46 | |
| 21 | Act II, Scene 1: “Nor These Lips Upon Your Eyes” (Rumba) | 3:26 | |
| 22 | Act II, Scene 2: “Hunger, Thirst, Shouts, Dance!” (Nañiga) | 2:11 | |
| 23 | Act II, Scene 3: “Land Of Darkness And Of Whirlwinds” (Slow, Fast, Wild!) | 3:30 | |
| 24 | Act III, Scene 1: “Had I Not Once A Lovely Youth?” (Conga) | 2:47 | |
| 25 | Act III, Scene 2: “Let Us Contemplate Undazed The Endless Reaches Of My Innocence” (Tahitian Dance) | 2:29 | |
| Ulysses At The Edge (1955) | |||
| 26 | Ulysses At The Edge (1955) | 6:38 | |
- Horace Schwartz
- Conductor (12-25)
- Harry Partch
- Lead Vocals, Performer [Instrumentalist], Composed By (1-11), Marimba [Diamond], Percussion [Cloud-chamber Bowls], Composed By (26), Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble], Composed By (12-25)
- Danlee Mitchell
- Marimba [Bamboo], Percussion [Cloud-chamber Bowls] (26)
- Allen Smith
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Henry Jaramillo
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Jerry Schimmel
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Lynn Ludlow
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25), Vocals (14-17)
- Marc Smith
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Meyer Slivka
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Richard Barnett
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Robert Garfias
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Ruita Churchill
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Vincent Delgado
- Performer [Gate 5 Ensemble] (12-25)
- Ben Johnston
- Performer [Instrumentalist] (1-11)
- Betty Johnston
- Performer [Instrumentalist] (1-11)
- Bill Snead
- Performer [Instrumentalist] (1-11)
- Donald Pippin
- Performer [Instrumentalist] (1-11)
- Harry Lindgren
- Recorded By (1-11)
- James Cunningham
- Recorded By (26)
- Oscar Anderson
- Recorded By (12-25)
- Dick Schleppe
- Saxophone [Alto] (26)
- Allan Louw
- Vocals (18-25)
- David Reid
- Vocals, Saxophone [Baritone] (26)
