Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup mills-tuning-list Dance of the Seven Veils

It is just over a week until the long-awaited Newband concert of Partch's
"Oedipus," and I have finally decided to complete my Newband CD collection.
Since I don't remember anyone reviewing this disc (and I have not yet
learned to keep my foot out of my mouth), I offer these comments and
descriptions.

** Newband: "Dance of the Seven Veils" (Music & Arts CD 931)

Newband, possessors of the Harry Partch instruments have once again
presented a CD which combines Partch's music with new pieces composed for
their unique ensemble. This record is especially notable for being the
first of theirs to include new works scored for Partch's instruments in
combination with others--commonly the flute and synthesizer.

The first work is Partch's "Castor & Pollux," which I admittedly do not
group with Partch's *great* music. Plodding rhythms in this piece are
accentuated by Newband's unenthusiastic playing, resulting in well-placed
notes which would probably not encourage a new listener to seek more of
Partch's music. Furthermore, I should point out that C & P is Newband's
second re-recording of Partch's highest-quality recordings (Newband's last
CD included "Daphne of the Dunes," which, along with C & P was on "The
World of Harry Partch" record). I suggest that to best serve the memory of
Partch, Newband would do well to record works like "Eleven Intrusions"
which exist only as shabby recordings.

The second piece, sadly, was also not to my liking. Anne LeBaron's
"Southern Ephemera," scored for flute, cello, surrogate kithara and
harmonic canon, is a knotty background with fragments of American-Southern
melodies floating through. At no point do I understand why one song or
another appears, nor can I find a connection between a melody and its
accompaniment. The music also fails to project an emotional "topic," and
it certainly avoids any sense of homage or nostalgia which is such a
dominant feature in the music of Charles Ives--an obvious point of
comparative reference.

The winning track turns out to be Elizabeth Brown's "Archipelago," scored
for flute, cello, synthesizer, surrogate kitharas, diamond marimba and
zoomoozophone. Accustomed to working with non-Western instruments, Brown
avoids the seductive impulse to play with Newband's colors while abandoning
creativity in the other musical parameters. In fact, aside from Partch,
Brown is the first of Newband's recorded composers to creatively work in
Just Intonation. "Archipelago" exhibits creative use of tonal flux, remote
modulations and sliding tones. Her zoomoozophone writing is clean, and her
use of Partch's instruments is creative. I hope that more works of this
calibre will be contributed to Newband's repetoire.

The final work on this CD is Dean Drummond's "Dance of the Seven Veils,"
decribed in the liner notes as being based on "Tom Robbins' 'Skinny Legs
and All'." From this I can only assume that Drummond is not familiar with
the opera of Richard Strauss, the play of Oscar Wilde, the biblical source,
etc. How embarrassing!

Drummond's piece is a whirling collage of beautiful sounds. While this is
not enough to be the essence of a masterpiece, it is notable that his
intimate knowledge of the instruments allows him to make stunning sounds,
brighter than Partch's with the wonderful addition of metal instruments
such as the zoomoozophone and juststrokerods. Even though I am very
familiar with all of the instruments, there were several moments in this
piece where I could not discern what was playing; the music is genuinely
"orchestrated" in the classical sense.

Overall, the CD is worth buying for Elizabeth Brown's piece. As for
Newband's future, I hope that an effort will be made to better acquaint
composers with the tuning concepts inherent in JI instruments as well as
the playing techniques involved. The work by LeBaron (as well as Julia
Wolfe's "Steam," not included here) exhibits a shallow relationship with
Partch's instruments; if Newband continues to commission new music from
established composers, this issue must be dealt with. Once it is, perhaps
they will establish themselves as a good force in bringing Just Intonation
music to the common composer.

_________________
Adam B. Silverman
153 Cold Spring Street; A3
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 782-1765

abs22@pantheon.yale.edu

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Dance of the Seven Veils

🔗adam.silverman@yale.edu

🔗mr88cet@texas.net (Gary Morrison)