Cage pointer (haven't I mentioned this before?)

In light of the recent couple of posts on the late Mr. Cage, I just thought
I'd mention again that I've found James Pritchett's book "The Music of
John Cage" [Cambridge University Press] to be one of thos volumes that
has actually gone a long way toward providing light rather than heat on
the subject of Mr. Cage's music [since that's what it's about. Scores and
everthang....] *and* its aesthetic and historical contexts. It's quite a
short read, and - at the very least - the explication of the overall
architecture of Cage's early percussion works is worth the price of
admission alone. I think it should provide you with a good idea of the
range of Cage's compositional output over the course of his career, as
well. I'd sure like to see a volume of as high a quality on Mr. Partch....

An interesting aside: he alludes to it a bit in the introduction to the
book, but James *certainly* didn't start his musical career as a
fan of Cage's work - if anything, quite the reverse. What changed his
view was a serious look at the work itself, and the experience of meeting
and getting to know Cage. I think that at least some of the insight gained
helps to make this an interesting book, and I commend it to your
attention.

With regards,
Gregory

_
I would go to her, lay it all out, unedited. The plot was a simple one,
paraphrasable by the most ingenuous of nets. The life we lead is our only
maybe. The tale we tell is the must that we make by living it. [Richard
Powers, "Galatea 2.2"] Gregory Taylor/Heurikon Corporation/Madison, WI



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Bob Gilmore's Partch bio turns up an interesting bit in a letter from
1950. Contrary to the Jon Szanto position regarding the substitution of a
sythesizer for the chromelodeon. Mr. Szanto, I move for you to strike
from the record (e.g. your web site) this unfair statement. The web
site reads: "If Mr.Reinhard has used a syth, then he has either
ignored or simply not comprehended a Partch truism..."

Partch writes in February to Lauriston Marshall (on p. 190 of the Gilmore
book) "I shall use the Chromelodeon very little from now on; its
musicality doesn't satisfy me, though it is indispensible from the
standpoint of theory..."the need either for an electronic tone or a reed
made out of some alloy less susceptible to temperature changes than
brass."

On April 6 Partch and Marshall won a Guggenheim Award for "studies toward
the development of an electronic instrument with electronic tone and
manual keyboard." (Gilmore p. 191)

What do y'all think? Should I be impeached?



Johnny Reinhard
Director
American Festival of Microtonal Music
318 East 70th Street, Suite 5FW
New York, New York 10021 USA
(212)517-3550/fax (212) 517-5495
reinhard@idt.net
http://www.echonyc.com/~jhhl/AFMM