Harry Partch CDs at Amazon

I recently ordered something called "Enclosure 5", a box set of Harry Partch
music, from Amazon. The reason I picked this one is that it contains
"Revelation in Courthouse Park", which is the only Harry Partch work I've
seen performed. The URL is

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000F1TT/boraskyresear-20/

According to their page they only have one in stock. I should have my copy
next week; it was shipped today.

--
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, MS, MNLP, NST, FBG, PGS & PTA
mailto:znmeb@borasky-research.net
http://www.borasky-research.net

Have You Hugged Your Saguaro Today?

>I recently ordered something called "Enclosure 5", a box set of
>Harry Partch music, from Amazon.

Yeah, that's a killer album. Enjoy!!!

>The reason I picked this one is that it contains
>"Revelation in Courthouse Park",

You might also look into the Tomato release. IIRC it's out of
print, but the JI Network store might have some copies left.

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "M. Edward Borasky" <znmeb@a...> wrote:

> I recently ordered something called "Enclosure 5", a box set of

> Harry Partch music, from Amazon. The reason I picked this one is

> that it contains "Revelation in Courthouse Park", which is the

> only Harry Partch work I've seen performed.

IIRC, Ed, you actually saw the *original* performance, right? If you
saw it at U of I in the late 50's, then this is the same recording
from that production, which Partch produced on his Gate 5 label.

I know Enclosure 5 intimately: I did the analog to digital transfers
from Partch's archival tapes for a number of the selections on this
set, and I also was happy that Philip Blackburn was able to track
down, 17 years after we recorded it, our performance of "The
Bewitched" in Cologne, Germany, from 1981. I would say it rocks the
house, but then again I had a great time that night and could hardly
be called objective. :)

If you want to be fetishistic about "Revelation", I may have an extra
copy of the Tomato (Philadelphia 1987 production) recording. While it
is sonically pretty good (nice space), it has it's own ensemble
wrinkles (this Rev was my last performance with a Partch instrument,
until tomorrow that is). It might be worth having for the booklet
alone, which was nicely produced; you can also find copies on eBay
fairly frequently.

There's a bunch of Partch and Partch-related news to share in the
upcoming days, so I'll leave it at this for now. Happy listening to
E5!

Cheers,

Jon

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma <clumma@y...>"
<clumma@y...> wrote:

> You might also look into the Tomato release. IIRC it's out of
> print, but the JI Network store might have some copies left.
>
> -Carl

i have the tomato release, and it's excellent, except the wind
instruments (and sometimes, vocalists) seem to be stuck in 12-equal
most of the time . . . the strings are doing better, as of course are
the partch-created instruments . . .

>> You might also look into the Tomato release. IIRC it's out of
>> print, but the JI Network store might have some copies left.
>>
>> -Carl
>
>i have the tomato release, and it's excellent, except the wind
>instruments (and sometimes, vocalists) seem to be stuck in 12-equal
>most of the time . . . the strings are doing better, as of course are
>the partch-created instruments . . .

I pulled it, along with Enclosure V. In neither version does
the brass band really pull of good JI, but the earlier band
does seem to get a bit closer (the harmonic series lines in the
Fanfare and March of Chorus One, for example). Both versions
are must haves.

Maybe Jon knows if the band parts are indeed in standard
notation, as I suspect?

The real treat of Enclosure V, though, must be Oedipus, which must
stand as a cornerstone of 20th century art.

-Carl

Carl,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Islington Bile <ekin@l...> wrote:

What's with the new email handle?

You mentioned:

> Maybe Jon knows if the band parts are indeed in standard

> notation, as I suspect?

I believe so (it isn't convenient right now for me to get a score out
of the archives...). I think Revelation, as his other uses of
traditional wind instruments, simply notates in 12 and then uses his
system of colored lines above or below the note (for raising or
lowering) and relies on the performer to tune the interval
appropriately in relation to the pitch field around them.

> I pulled it, along with Enclosure V. In neither version does

> the brass band really pull of good JI, but the earlier band

> does seem to get a bit closer (the harmonic series lines in the

> Fanfare and March of Chorus One, for example).

This is one of the areas that the gulf between theory/talking about
microtonal music and actually performing it is wide: in both
productions, but *especially* the Philly one in 1987, rehearsal time
is precious, and while the performers on the Partch instruments were
involved in weeks of rehearsals (and therefore got in deep into the
subtleties), the band was brought in towards the end, and not all were
able to adjust to the new intonation as well as one would like. In a
perfect world, it could happen.

In recording, it is certainly a noticeable (to the right people) flaw;
in performance, the band was a more than respectable part of the
pageantry, which is probably the more important point: the drama of
the performance supercedes any collection of pitches, if one or the
other has to suffer.

> The real treat of Enclosure V, though, must be Oedipus, which must

> stand as a cornerstone of 20th century art.

Shame is that not many people see Oedipus that way. Oh well.

Cheers,

Jon

> What's with the new email handle?

Recently switched back to client mode. We'll see how it works.
Just thought I'd be cute. I chose that particular name for
"obvious reasons". But just in case they weren't obvious, I've
discontinued the handle.

-Ca.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma <ekin@l...>" <ekin@l...>
wrote:

> Just thought I'd be cute. I chose that particular name for

> "obvious reasons".

You wear your shoes backwards? :)

Cheers,

Jon