good music, bitter or sweet

[Kraig Grady, TD 187.1, re: Kronos's version of _Barstow_]
>
> I care not to witness anyone else's experiments

[Jon Szanto, TD 187.8, re: Burt's performance of _Bitter Music_]
>
> I actually don't like the inclusion of Bitter Music on a more
> fundamental basis -- because Partch didn't want it published!

Fair enough.

The only argument I can give is that often composers withhold
or destroy their work because they consider it unworthy...

(Of course, there may be other reasons: _Bitter Music_ has quite
frank discussions of Partch's sexuality, which he rightly may
not have felt society was ready for during his lifetime.)

...but, in many cases, in a composer whose work is interesting,
his 'unworthy' pieces, unifnished pieces, or even experiments,
are worth hearing for their own sake or for the light they
shed on his accepted canon of works.

I'm led to this opinion mainly by my love of Mahler's _10th
Symphony_, which he did not live to complete. It's been
'completed' by four different people by now (Mazzetti's version
is the latest and best), and it's a musical experience that
I, as a serious Mahler fan, would not want to be without.

The (expensive) score of Cooke's version (the first one to be
published) clearly distinguishes between what Mahler actually
wrote and what was added by Cooke, and for someone like myself
who's intimately familiar with Mahler's sound-universe, it's
easy to see that the work was virtually complete in his mind,
and I do not look upon it as an experiment or 'final sketch
made audible' - I consider the _10th_ to more than hold its own
against the other 9.

(BTW, Mahler was an inveterate reviser of his symphonies,
making changes to his scores after every rehearsal - note how
his *ear* was always his final guide. He never lived to hear
_Das Lied von der Erde_ or the _9th_, let alone the _10th_, and
he was still making changes to the _5th_ during the last months
of his life. If he had lived longer, I'm sure *all* of his
symphonies would be different today from the versions we know.)

The point I'm digressing around is that works not officially
published or produced by a composer are frequently very much
worth hearing, either for their own intrinsic value or for
their 'filling out' of our picture of that composer. Who
would argue that Mahler's _9th_ is not worthy of the concert
hall because of its incompleteness? No one that I know of.

This also brings to mind the knowledge we have of Beethoven's
work habits, because of the survival of his sketchbooks.
(actually, this applies to Mahler too)

It may be impossible to argue whether or not an artist is the
best judge of his own work, but my personal opinion is: save
everything and let posterity see (and hear) it all.

Imagine what we'd be able to know about Partch's work if he
*hadn't* burned all those old compositions!

> But if I ever were to want to hear it, it would be on a
> dreadfullyoutoftune bar-room piano, with Tom Waits
> singing/intoning.

Yes, exactly!
That would be the ideal performance of _Bitter Music_!

(I never said I was overly fond of Warren Burt's performance,
altho I'm glad to be able to hear, and not just read, _Bitter
Music_.)

(Do you know Tom by any chance? Wonder if he'd be interested...)

Joseph L. Monzo monz@juno.com
http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/homepage.html
|"...I had broken thru the lattice barrier..."|
| - Erv Wilson |
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