Inquiring minds want to know....

Carl asks:

"Such as?"

I've been scouring the Internet in search of the Federal Law that says I
have to love everything Harry Partch (or JS Bach, for that matter)
composed without exception. I can't seem to find it, but I'll keep
looking.

[post "smiley face" here]

In the meantime, I can give you the "short" list of Uncle Harry's works
I *do* very much enjoy: "Castor & Pollux", "Daphne of the Dunes", "17
Lyrics of Li Po", and "Barstow".

Carl wrote:

"I see his overall artistic statement as much broader and
more significant than tuning alone. And Partch's tuning was
pushing forward, not calling the past."

Hmm. Let me clarify a previous statement a bit:

"His primary and most vital contribution [in my view, which mistakenly
differs from the consensus,] was to compel a much-needed [and
continuing] dialogue among Western composers/musicians about the
[historical, contemporary and future] importance of tuning
[considerations] in our system of [music. Posthumously, he serves as a
rallying point for determined imitators.]

[post "smiley face" here]

"I never quite know what to make of these kinds of remarks from
you. Just how serious/sarcastic are you?"

Half jest, half jape, and half serious -- and seasoned with
tongue-in-cheek. Let's say I was taking a good-humored jab at the idea
that other microtonal composers "fared less well" than Uncle Harry,
because they used less than 43 tones.

[post "smiley face" here]

Carl demanded:

"Why don't you enlighten us?"

It's at times like this that I ask myself, WNWJCS (What Nonsense Would
John Cage Spout)? Unfortunately, I have no pearls of inane pseudo-Zen
gibberish to dispense. BUT --

Our traditional diatonic scale structure of five tones and two
semitones, is a deeply woven thread in the fabric of our culture, and
our civilization. The same is true of the other Sumerian inheritors. It
is so ingrained by culturation, that it has survived unchanged in any
major respect since the Sumerians, nearly 4000 years. The *intonation*
of this scale however, has varied over historical periods, according to
the prevailing needs of the particular inheriting culture.

It seems evident that we're very much due for another intonational
shift, including expansion beyond 12 chromatic pitches (14-19 pitches
were in regular use on keyboards only a couple of centuries back,
remember) -- perhaps in the direction of either the Middle Eastern
model (primarily Pythagorean of 17-24 pitches) or the Indian model (just
intonation of 22 pitches, though the Pythagorean co-exists with it). New
and elaborate tuning schemes will most likely fail if they aren't a
natural outgrowth of this scale and it's *new intonation*...whatever it
turns out to be.

[no "smiley face"]

Why don't you enlighten us?

At 07:07 AM 10/27/2007, you wrote:
>
>Carl asks:
>
>"Such as?"
>
>I've been scouring the Internet in search of the Federal Law that says I
>have to love everything Harry Partch (or JS Bach, for that matter)
>composed without exception. I can't seem to find it, but I'll keep
>looking.
>
>[post "smiley face" here]
>
>In the meantime, I can give you the "short" list of Uncle Harry's works
>I *do* very much enjoy: "Castor & Pollux", "Daphne of the Dunes", "17
>Lyrics of Li Po", and "Barstow".

His work seems pretty consistent to me, which is why I asked.
Do you not like Oedipus, Revelation, Fury, or Dreamer?

-Carl

as i said the number of tones has nothing to do with it. i was not the one to put forward that such an idea was even relevent.
Partch influence and concept of theatre is quite in keeping of that discipline also

-----Original Message-----
From: J.Smith [mailto:jsmith9624@...]
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 10:07 AM
To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MMM] Inquiring minds want to know....

Carl asks:

"Such as?"

I've been scouring the Internet in search of the Federal Law that says I
have to love everything Harry Partch (or JS Bach, for that matter)
composed without exception. I can't seem to find it, but I'll keep
looking.

[post "smiley face" here]

In the meantime, I can give you the "short" list of Uncle Harry's works
I *do* very much enjoy: "Castor & Pollux", "Daphne of the Dunes", "17
Lyrics of Li Po", and "Barstow".

Carl wrote:

"I see his overall artistic statement as much broader and
more significant than tuning alone. And Partch's tuning was
pushing forward, not calling the past."

Hmm. Let me clarify a previous statement a bit:

"His primary and most vital contribution [in my view, which mistakenly
differs from the consensus,] was to compel a much-needed [and
continuing] dialogue among Western composers/musicians about the
[historical, contemporary and future] importance of tuning
[considerations] in our system of [music. Posthumously, he serves as a
rallying point for determined imitators.]

[post "smiley face" here]

"I never quite know what to make of these kinds of remarks from
you. Just how serious/sarcastic are you?"

Half jest, half jape, and half serious -- and seasoned with
tongue-in-cheek. Let's say I was taking a good-humored jab at the idea
that other microtonal composers "fared less well" than Uncle Harry,
because they used less than 43 tones.

[post "smiley face" here]

Carl demanded:

"Why don't you enlighten us?"

It's at times like this that I ask myself, WNWJCS (What Nonsense Would
John Cage Spout)? Unfortunately, I have no pearls of inane pseudo-Zen
gibberish to dispense. BUT --

Our traditional diatonic scale structure of five tones and two
semitones, is a deeply woven thread in the fabric of our culture, and
our civilization. The same is true of the other Sumerian inheritors. It
is so ingrained by culturation, that it has survived unchanged in any
major respect since the Sumerians, nearly 4000 years. The *intonation*
of this scale however, has varied over historical periods, according to
the prevailing needs of the particular inheriting culture.

It seems evident that we're very much due for another intonational
shift, including expansion beyond 12 chromatic pitches (14-19 pitches
were in regular use on keyboards only a couple of centuries back,
remember) -- perhaps in the direction of either the Middle Eastern
model (primarily Pythagorean of 17-24 pitches) or the Indian model (just
intonation of 22 pitches, though the Pythagorean co-exists with it). New
and elaborate tuning schemes will most likely fail if they aren't a
natural outgrowth of this scale and it's *new intonation*...whatever it
turns out to be.

[no "smiley face"]

Why don't you enlighten us?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]