Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup tuning Harry Partch on the radio and TV

Finally, in honor of the centenary of his birth, there is some additional exposure of the general public to Harry's music on WNYC-FM, the PBS radio station in Manhattan. They gave a brief introduction Monday evening at about 9 pm, followed on Tuesday with "Delusion of the Fury", except for its introduction, between about 9 and 10 pm. Nothing last night, but more is scheduled for tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow at about the same times. Their website gives more details, which I haven't looked at.
It might be noted that my first encounter with his music was on WNYC-FM in the early 1950's on a program titled "Adventures in Music", airing between 5 and 5:30 pm. I was so entranced that I wrote to the station to get the address to send for the record, "Plectra and Percussion Dances", privately issued and available only from the composer. It mentioned the " Oedipus" recording (two LP's) and his book, "Genesis of a Music", which I later had to special order through a bookstore because they didn't carry it.
About a year ago, WQXR-FM, the New York Times commercial classical music station, had a little of his music as part of a program on Sunday early afternoons, "This American Century".
As I recall, about a year after his death, Channel 13 ran the half hour "Dreamer" video at midnight on a Saturday night.
There may have been other broadcasts in this area that I'm unaware of. Let us hope that it won't take another hundred years for the next wave.

🔗David Beardsley <davidbeardsley@biink.com>

WQXR? That's a suprise! I've heard him on WFMU (independent freeform radio), WKCR (Columbia U.),
WPRB (Princeton U.) and of course WNYC which is very friendly to microtones.

My first exposure was from the New World recording at my local library when I
was about 21 or 22.

David Beardsley
----- Original Message -----
From: John F. Sprague
To: tuning@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:15 PM
Subject: [tuning] Harry Partch on the radio and TV

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🔗Michael Saunders <michaelsaunders7@hotmail.com>

I don't recall ever seeing/hearing him in the mass
media (except maybe the BBC), but this brings up
some nostalgia. My first exposure to him was at a
night dedicated to "Harry Partch, the hobo genius"
at Club Lower Links in Chicago. They showed "The
Dreamer that Remains", "Daphne of the Dunes", "US
Highball" and possibly some others. I was charmed
to death by the old man.

-m
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🔗Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>

The "Dreamer that Remains" was shown repeatedly on PBS after it was made. It those days such
things were normal. Now they call it experimental. It shows you how much we have moved backwards.

So much of the recent "fad" for Harry seems to have done more to water his message down as
much as possible. "He really didn't mean that when he said that " seems to be the basic
reactionary newspeak being used to turn him into "one of the boys".

It seems there are those, either independently or as members of a group, who can explain the
non necessity of elements of Partch's music that really aren't essential elements. Here is the
formula for his deconstruction!

We need not build new instruments
We need not use Just intonation
We need not have music composed out the the movements of the human body.
We need not have any visual element of any kind
We need not have to have human beings on stage
We need not have a stage
We need not have something that is comprehensible to human listeners.
We need not avoid abstraction regardless of how it sounds.

We have omitted the above elements because we have found them "inconvenient".

It seems these followers have omitted Harry Partch

Michael Saunders wrote:

> I don't recall ever seeing/hearing him in the mass
> media (except maybe the BBC), but this brings up
> some nostalgia. My first exposure to him was at a
> night dedicated to "Harry Partch, the hobo genius"
> at Club Lower Links in Chicago. They showed "The
> Dreamer that Remains", "Daphne of the Dunes", "US
> Highball" and possibly some others. I was charmed
> to death by the old man.
>
> -m

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm

🔗Michael Saunders <michaelsaunders7@hotmail.com>

Kraig Grady:

>
>So much of the recent "fad" for Harry seems to have done more to water his >message down as
>much as possible. "He really didn't mean that when he said that " seems to >be the basic
>reactionary newspeak being used to turn him into "one of the boys".
>
> It seems there are those, either independently or as members of a >group, who can explain the
>non necessity of elements of Partch's music that really aren't essential >elements. We have omitted the above elements because we have found them >"inconvenient".
>
>It seems these followers have omitted Harry Partch

I still like him no matter what you say.
I'm surprised you think I'm one of his followers.
The way I make music is very different from the
way he did it not out of inconvenience, but because
1. I wouldn't enjoy using his methods.
2. Decades of poorly educated amateurs playing by "ear"
have made an the abstract an extreme rarity; I love
the abstract.

-m
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🔗Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>

🔗Paul Erlich <paul@stretch-music.com>

--- In tuning@y..., "Michael Saunders" <michaelsaunders7@h...> wrote:
>
> Kraig Grady:
>
> >
> >So much of the recent "fad" for Harry seems to have done more to
water his
> >message down as
> >much as possible. "He really didn't mean that when he said that "
seems to
> >be the basic
> >reactionary newspeak being used to turn him into "one of the boys".
> >
> > It seems there are those, either independently or as members
of a
> >group, who can explain the
> >non necessity of elements of Partch's music that really aren't
essential
> >elements. We have omitted the above elements because we have found
them
> >"inconvenient".
> >
> >It seems these followers have omitted Harry Partch
>
> I still like him no matter what you say.
> I'm surprised you think I'm one of his followers.
> The way I make music is very different from the
> way he did it not out of inconvenience, but because
> 1. I wouldn't enjoy using his methods.
> 2. Decades of poorly educated amateurs playing by "ear"
> have made an the abstract an extreme rarity; I love
> the abstract.
>
> -m

This was a _very- strange reaction, Michael. I have no idea how any
of it makes sense as a response to what Kraig wrote. Is there some
conversation from another list or off-list that would clarify this
exchange?

🔗Michael Saunders <michaelsaunders7@hotmail.com>

Paul Erlich:
>This was a _very- strange reaction, Michael. I have no idea how any
>of it makes sense as a response to what Kraig wrote. Is there some
>conversation from another list or off-list that would clarify this
>exchange?

What's strange, Paul, is what Kraig said to me.
I simply offered my reminiscence about discovering
Partch at a bar in Chicago ten or twelve years ago.
Kraig responded with a rant about the recent fad
for Partch and how nobody really understands him,
though many claim to imitate him. You can look this
up in the archive. I felt like I was getting jumped
on for being unworthy to mention the great man's
name. Unlucky me! Well, I read the book, heard the
music and saw the films and, to myself at least,
I _appeared_ to understand. Maybe I didn't. In any
case, I never considered myself a "follower" of
Partch as Kraig suggested, just another admirer.
I prefer making music in a very different way, and
I think that a lot of badly-done corporeal music
has replaced the badly-done abstract music that he
took issue with, so I'm pleased to work with an
abstract approach myself. In any case, Kraig clarified,
saying that his response to my post was not about me
(or, as far as I can tell, about what I had said
originally). If Partch is a fad, it's probably the
best fad around, and I wouldn't worry too much if a
lot of people misunderstand his work; it stands on
its own. I prefer, today, to remember the first
day I heard of the "hobo genius."

-m

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🔗Paul Erlich <paul@stretch-music.com>

--- In tuning@y..., "Michael Saunders" <michaelsaunders7@h...> wrote:
> Paul Erlich:
> >This was a _very- strange reaction, Michael. I have no idea how any
> >of it makes sense as a response to what Kraig wrote. Is there some
> >conversation from another list or off-list that would clarify this
> >exchange?
>
> In any
> case, I never considered myself a "follower" of
> Partch as Kraig suggested, just another admirer.

Are you sure that the message in which Kraig suggested you were a "follower" of Partch was on
this list? I didn't see it. Maybe one of the other lists?

🔗George Zelenz <ploo@mindspring.com>

Saunders,

what list had a post from (? i can't remember) that inferred you were probably a eunich?

I seriously doubt your a eunich. But if you are, thats O.K. This list loves everybody.

Sincerely,

Paul Erlich wrote:

>
> Are you sure that the message in which Kraig suggested you were a "follower" of Partch was on
> this list? I didn't see it. Maybe one of the other lists?
>

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>

Paul, and everyone else:

--- In tuning@y..., "Paul Erlich" <paul@s...> wrote:
> Are you sure that the message in which Kraig suggested you were
> a "follower" of Partch was on
> this list? I didn't see it. Maybe one of the other lists?

Michael slightly misread a post that Kraig has slightly written
unclearly. Michael has explained his reaction completely, so let us
just drop this.

Write clearly, read clearly. Seems so easy, but it's not.

Michael, if you *do* happen to read this one, your reply did bring up
an interesting thing about badly done amateur pieces, and you later
clarified that you referred to inferior 'corporeal' musics keeping
your focus on the abstract. One would also hope that the badly done
attempts won't forever take you away from an interest in non-abstract
music, but the main point is that any era will have it's share of
ineptitudes and charlatans. And my guess is that bad corporeal
performances would at least be easier to find a laugh at than a bad
abstract concert! <g>

It would be interesting to hear your particular musical path some
day...

Cheers,
Jon

🔗John F. Sprague <jsprague@dhcr.state.ny.us>

The media does this to everything of any complexity, partly because they haven't the time to understand what they are talking about and partly because they don't think their audience could understand anything complicated even if they could explain it in simple terms. There are occasional "exceptions to prove the rule" such as some of the science programs on PBS-TV or the early morning classes for college credit. So instead of realism we have nominalism, for example: emphasizing that Partch's scale has 43 tones to the octave rather than that it is in just intonation, which then has to be explained.

>>> michaelsaunders7@hotmail.com 06/24/01 06:41AM >>>

Kraig Grady:

>
>So much of the recent "fad" for Harry seems to have done more to water his
>message down as
>much as possible. "He really didn't mean that when he said that " seems to
>be the basic
>reactionary newspeak being used to turn him into "one of the boys".
>
> It seems there are those, either independently or as members of a
>group, who can explain the
>non necessity of elements of Partch's music that really aren't essential
>elements. We have omitted the above elements because we have found them
>"inconvenient".
>
>It seems these followers have omitted Harry Partch

-m
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🔗Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>

Michael!
Once again sorry you took it this way. You started off talking about the "rare " airing of
Partch's Dreamer and such, and i happen to remember when they aired it quite frequently. I could
not help and reflect on how his ideas over these years (you should see that i was reminiscencing
with you ) are suppressed by reducing him to nothing but a "celebrity". This continues on another
post about James wood comment

Michael Saunders wrote:

> What's strange, Paul, is what Kraig said to me.
> I simply offered my reminiscence about discovering
> Partch at a bar in Chicago ten or twelve years ago.
> Kraig responded with a rant about the recent fad
> for Partch and how nobody really understands him,
> though many claim to imitate him. You can look this
> up in the archive.

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm