Partch film "Delusion of the Fury" this Sunday, SF

List,

A last-minute notice, as I am unfortunately dead-swamped with a major 'issue' this weekend, and haven't been able to get it together sooner - thanks to Rick McGowan for posting to MMM. I actually was supposed to 'introduce' the film, but I have to be in San Diego on Sun/Mon, so I'll have to skip. There will be another viewing later at the Pacific Film Archives in Berkeley, a few weeks in the future, but I'm not sure of details. The copy of the film is from our archives and is a pristeen Kodacolor original print, so it should look/sound good. Hope some of you can make it!

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Harry Partch on Film: Delusion of the Fury
Sunday, March 7th, 2004
7:30pm
$7 general / $4 students, seniors

The Harry Partch Foundation has given us a very rare opportunity to see the original 16mm film of maverick composer Harry Partch's masterpiece and most elaborate work.

Partch is well known in new music circles as an iconclastic composer and instrument builder. Born in Oakland, he spent much of his life working in California, systematically developing a rich body of work that reaches back to antiquity and archaic musical principles of music theater.

Unfortunately his hand-made instruments are difficult to transport and so more difficult to hear in person, let alone to be present at a staging of his naturally theatrical works. As he once said "Hell, i'm not like John Cage. All Cage needs is a gong, a carrot juicer and a toothbrush."

"Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual Dream and Delusion" enacts two interlocking fables, one Japanese and one African. It was written for six actors, four singers and a large ensemble of Partch's own handmade instruments, and premiered in January 1969 at UCLA. The piece is the culmination of Partch's work with concept of "corporeality," a kind of total theater, integrating music, dance, stagecraft and ritual.

The film version incorporates this idea, integrating camerawork and montage, to bring vividly forth on screen this challenging and rarely staged work. It was released in 1971, directed by longtime Partch associate Madeline Tourtelot and edited by Les Blank.

Presented in cooperation with Other Minds.
Programmed by Konrad Steiner.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

The copy of the film is from our archives and is a pristeen Kodacolor
original print, so it should look/sound good. Hope some of you can
make it!

I hope some film preservation work has been done on this!