"THE LORD:
Appear quite free on that day, too;
I never hated those who were like
you:
Of all the spirits that negate,
The knavish jester gives me
least to do.
For man's activity can easily abate,
He soon prefers
uninterrupted rest;
To give him his companion hence seems best
Who
roils and must as Devil help create.
But you, God's rightful sons, give
voice
To all the beauty in which you rejoice;
And that which ever
works and lives and grows
Enfold you with fair bonds that love has
wrought,
And what in wavering apparition flows
That fortify with
everlasting thought.
(The heavens close, the Archangels disperse.)
MEPHISTO (alone):
I like to see the Old Man now and then
And try to be not too uncivil.
It's
charming in a noble squire when
He speaks humanely with the very Devil."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - from "Faust", translated by Walter Kaufmann
Texts
Recorded
Theme and Variations in C Major - Ferruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
let's be square
let's be square again
we'll be square for awhile
quite charming
but square
we'll be so
in the face of anything else
that might happen
out there
in figuration land
Serenade for Wind Instruments in D minor, Op. 44 - Antonín Dvořák - London Symphony Orchestra, István Kertész
ceremonial and celebratory
but not cheerful
more like a parade of
judges
and other very self-important people
trailed by urchins and
their caretakers
a most pleasant picnic
the kiddos play spinning games
turns trills appoggiaturas
all the old graces persist
as
signifiers of lyrical flowingness
to play a note
one must understand its place within its utterance
one's understanding of it
becomes it
but
in a
variously fraught synthesis
of it
and of understanding
what did I mean by that?
by that
I meant
that
that I
meant
the judges process off
with no loss of self-importance
Khovantchina, Act I - Modeste Mussorgsky - Sofia National Opera, Atanas Margaritov, Dimiter Petkov, Todor Kostov, Lyoubomir Bodourov, Stoyan Popov, Nikola Gyuzelev, Alexandrina Milcheva-Nonova, Milen Paounov, Maria Dimchevska, Dimiter Dimitrov, Nadya Dobriyanova, Verter Vrachovsky
drunkenness from the night before
interrupts the peaceful morning
conversational
not in the rhythms of actual conversation
but in
the schematic presentation of pulse-organized music
or
this
singing isn't pretending to be speaking
this singing completes its
sentences
balancing its phrases
the stage populates with chorus members
the Greek chorus has become an
active character
voice of the people
and suddenly
the maiden
enters
in peril
at the top of her lungs
he keeps setting her off
the audience is addressed
as a narrator might provide some analysis
or commentary
a drama of musics
acts out
in the drama of stage
that sounds like the curtain
Don Juan, Op. 20 - Richard Strauss - Staatskapella Dresden, Rudolf Kempe
impatience
then total focus to overwhelm
irresistible
only
to refocus
cadence through a chromatic thicket
adventure time
this is presumably Byron's Don Juan we have here
Karelia Suite, Op. 11 - Jean Sibelius - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
music arises from below
or from a distance
the victorious parade
past
in their wake a waste of sorrow
taking apart Das Rheingold's opening upward sweep
Spring will come one morning without permission
whistling merrily off to
the happy fields
pompous palace
busy streets
Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 23 (#3) - Alexander Scriabin - Michael Ponti
struggling through an impasse of so many possibilities
round and round
testing each door over and over
rattle the hinges
melody and figuration cross paths in opposite directions
Quartet in F Major - Maurice Ravel - Budapest Quartet
fantastical limpid delights
nymphs and naiads
civilized polish
over what is not spoken of
painted in muted tones and flowing lines
faerie peril
faerie weariness
faerie furioso
hangs on its penultimates
to turn elsewhere
Quartet in B Major, Op. 7 (#1) - Béla Bartók - Juilliard String Quartet
expressionist anguish
it melts alone
they meet in secret
furtive glance across shoulder
stern words
keep it quiet
a flickering screen
a slow pantomime
string quartet as expressionist theater
Peccadilles Importunes - Eric Satie - Frank Glazer
a mechanical device
deflationistical
4 Songs, Op. 13 - Anton Webern - London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, Heather Harper
the illusion of melodic cohesion interrogated
doublings of instruments set aside with derision
imitation dissected
divided for study
Der Geburtstage der Infantin - Franz Shreker - Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Lothar Zagrosek
far from the cares of the kingdom's subjects
a princess
functionally
was a pawn
in a global game
of keeping
peace
by arranging marital relations
among a set of
dysfunctionally inter-related ruling families
lush expansiveness of nostalgia for the Empire
as it once stood in our
fond remembrance
An American in Paris - George Gershwin - Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
imbuing Paris
with the image
of the heartland
of America's
self-mythology
a series of vignettes
complete with fleeting chinoiserie
may as well be a broad appeal movie
sound-stage Paris
though I think Gene Kelly & Company improved on
it
great tunes
but arranged more like a medley than like a piece
we must be back near the hotel
there are the car horns honking
Chinatown - Louis Armstrong [from That Devilin' Tune]
a seriously noisy surface from the vinyl
energetic performance
live?
guess so there's the applause
An Outdoor Overture - Aaron Copland - London Symphony Orchestra, Aaron Copland
music for another hokey ballet?
{NB, no, not so it would seem}
sharp orchestration
using simple means with an ear open
change scene
play with tune bits for a bit
then play the tune the
bits are from
get all big
change the scene
narrative
Evocations - Carl Ruggles - Buffalo Philharmonic, Michael Tilson Thomas
grumpy
occult
bad news
music turned inward
American
Expressionist
Lord Will Make a Way - Elder A. Johnson [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
wild vocal yodels
right into the guitar's upper squeal
Have I Waited Too Long - Faron Young [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
home on the range
cowpoke dance
Break-Up - Jerry Lee Lewis [from Sun Records Definitive Hits]
an excellent example of his pianistic shenanigans
nicely done Mom!
School Boy (William Blake) - Allen Ginsberg [from Holy Soul Jelly Roll]
a translation
using pitch to follow the rhyme
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
comes at you from all angles
Eppesithalamium - Milton Babbitt [from Eric Carlson's Slowly Expanding Milton Babbit Album]
everything a conversation could be
No Art In The West - The PKs [recorded live in the Bickleton Manse, 1983]
great drum playing Karen!
back in youth
when the image was clear
and clean
It's Christmas All Over The World - London Symphony Orchestra, Placido Domingo [from Joy To The World]
the sea sun of joy
brings us by a sudden lurch of recirculation
slam whap
into the ridiculous
(type: fucking;
as in
"fucking ridiculous")
Banned Rehearsal 316 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [January 3, 1993]
our common play time
nursery school rules
don't be a hog
don't stomp on others
our own uniquely liberated intonation
improvisationally developed linguistics
this was recorded in the Northwest Room
now lair of young men
before we framed in the half-garage
it has a right-in-your-face
sound to it
the boy speaks in single word poetry natively
briefly
punctuational yawns
is this music?
why would it want to be?
it is a record of an episode in our lives
an intentionally staged
phonograph
what does music hide?
keep obscured behind?
stupendously too much for direct-to-cassette mastering
so gloriously
resplendent tintinnabulation
pan pipery
bow bouncing
box
thumping
we demonstrate
that our free reeds
are free of a common
intonation
and the Aaronsbundler makes a cameo
a surface to rub vigorously
the outfielder is not responding at all
jolly John!
playing ball off the headbone
and the unmistakable
shriek of 18 month old glee
I deliver the lecture toward correct
parenting
boncy ball boncy ball boncy ball
my foot is completely numb
slow entry
timed perfectly with the tea kettle whistle
I have no recollection of why I have this album
Preludes 1 - 4 - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, October 6, 2006]
I love how his rhythms trip over themselves
catching up with their
continuations
nicely sensitive playing there past me
yes I have my moments
Again a Gun Again a Gun Again a Gun Again a Gun - Empty Cage Quartet [from Stratostrophic]
a thornbush opening
clearing into trumpet
helped by drums and bass
ministrations
relaxing down to just the bass
taking time
the
winds
entry with drum
who plays with the bass
while reed and
brass lengthen the line
set a time plan
now we're all cheering on
the drums
Puppet Pieces - Kam Morrill - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded at The Tintinabulary, Seattle, July 20, 2018]
cues for a never-to-be puppet show
Wire Sculpture for Ben - Craig Pepples - Julia Hsu [from Open Space 43]
the pitch of the sounds leads through itself
we view these notes
lengthwise
Banned Rehearsal 1067 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [recorded at The Tintinabulary, Seattle, January 2, 2023]
we trend toward quiet
but a case is opened
and out comes the banjo
joined soon by seed pod rattle
xylochatter
tenor banjo
xylophone
snare drum
plus additional percussion
as
might be handy
not a performance of music
but an episode of playing with sounds and
noise makers
O Vis Aeternitatis - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia, Barbara Thornton, Laurie Monahan [from Canticles of Ecstasy]
furling into emptiness
outside of its confines
the wicked world
Baci soavi e cari: Quanto ha di dolce amore - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
and here we are
in it
I suppose there is word painting in there
if one knew the language
but also
clearly
working with the sounding rhythm of the
words
as they form their poem
O quam suavis est a 8 - Peter Philips - The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, The Choir of Royal Holiday, Robert Gough
flowering from concord
dancy rhythms for sacred use
Erhore Ich Wenn Ich Rufe - Heinrich Schütz - University of Puget Sound Women's Chorus, Sylvia Munsen
tempos in tempos
Praeludium in D Major, BWV 139 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
a procession with great anticipation
sit down folks
this is
serious business
an extensive prelude
must have been quite the
event
Messe pour les Covent - François Couperin - Barbara Baird
fills its container
roots reporting in
all committees present
every moment of ceremony is filled with experience
music
if
nothing else
is available
this is intense
I wish the engineers hadn't cut off the reverberation of the ends of these pieces
begins honestly enough
with a ballet in praise of the producer
a
master of the small moments
playful bass lines
the procedure is
irregular
but the result is gracious
opera number:
an enactment of a dramatic moment
narrative clues
this is a ballet
you may chatter
we live in an age of revivement
of recollection
and
reenactment
conversation hinge aria plate
it splays feelings out into the world
at right angles to time's flow
music and language share a time scale
or several
in our cognitive
apparatus
each character always in character
puppet-like
must be a happy act
ending
the chorus scatters confetti and rice and tickertape
trumpets no less
how thrilling
music is a means of keeping chaos constructively in order
Nach dir, Herr, verlangt mich, BWV 150 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Gächinger Kantorei, Helmut Rilling
endless weeping figures
the choral me
a construction of notes
moralistic
keep things
in line
constructing the bones of a Lutheran Liturgy
competing
with the whole of the past
does the choral me exist before Bach?
as a ghost behind the Mass perhaps
dunno
but
if it did
did it contain so may individuated
voices?
units within the choral me
Sonata in C Major - Daniel Purcell - Stanislav Surin [from Hudba v Trnavskej Katedrale]
polite life loves its happy endings
and endless flattery
but alas
no happy happy happy shall last
plate upon plate
four upon four
confounds accounting
the chorus was instructed to enunciate the k of hark
so that it wouldn't
sound like they were singing har har har
so
the enunciation aids
the comprehension of the text (the words)
but not of the music
which is as perfectly clear with har as with hark
(the enunciated
k does not make it less silly)
whining
disdaining
over and over
life is a pain
indeed!
altogether too fond of melismatics that run on and on
here comes the
party crasher
morendo endo for Acis
poor chap
he is no more
no more
no more
Concerto in D Major, RV 93 - Antonio Vivaldi - Chamber Orchestra of St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Vladimir Altschuler, Marco Tsessos
a movement is a costume
an impression to be made in an extended moment
Noell 11, en Recit en taille - Louis-Claude Daquin - Marie-Claire Alain
ornate upper registers
clear and functional bass
a two voice
counterpoint
as a contrasting continuation
Keyboard Sonata in C Major, Wq. 65.8 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
very polite when folks are paying attention
but playful when backs are
turned
rarely lands where one knows he must have
same platform
different geometry
loves phrase ends cut short
or spilling off into glittery figure play
La Felix - Jacques Duphly - Christophe Rousset
the naming conceit in French keyboard pieces
a piece is
or depicts
an object
animate or un
or a state of moment (mood)
often
the specific connection is lost to time
and
generations of speculation
Sinfonia in E-flat Major - Johann Christian Bach - Camerata Budapest, Hanspeter Gmür
1
a burst of sound
then fiddly stuff
signifying theatrical
expectancy
the appearance of a second subject
means
you'll
have to be patient
so get all your sitting down
and fidgets
done with
2
such polite grace
on all points of etiquette
the picture
of idealized society
the form without the subterfuge
3
then we can be happy and gay
all is innocent peace
(pre-fall)
there is a clear practical benefit
for operas to be constructed of
individual pieces
they could then be swapped in and out
as
occasion suggests
hey Joe
could you crank out a tenor aria for tonight?
Symphony in G minor K173dB(183) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood
we are led by the hand
our attention is taken and directed
nothing
is hidden
interrupting continuation
the cellar is a few steps deeper than that sir
we love our easy chairs
parasol boat
floats blissfully
but
with feelings
(inner drama)
in hinted words
full blown Sturm und Drang
very fashionable
at all the
finest opera houses
and concert halls
so exciting
Sonata in D Major, Op. 10 #2 - Muzio Clementi - Howard Shelley
a two-movement sonata form
from Clementi no less
charming as
always
there is a notion about keys
that they are associated with specific
things or ideas
if they were
then that would be like a mass
synesthesia within a cultural milieu
or defining its own cultural
milieu
is culture itself a mass synesthesia?
Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 5 #3 - Jan Ladislav Dussek - Tulja Hakkila
and another!
all the rage
composes with coquetry
all the
passion of an elopement adventure
in the dead of night
for your
imagination to wander upon
each key
a window into the story so far
whole lotta banging going on
adventures of a lovable me
so
charming
living the Don Juan life
Chico Dussek
who me?
Sonata in E Major, Op. 14 #1 - Ludwig van Beethoven - Artur Schnabel
I worked on this one for quite awhile
it's a pretty radical piece in its
way
for its plainness if nothing else
each bit is exactly that bit
and not its neighbor bit
with an appassionato melody in the second
section
out of thin air
such specific figurations
tears
pulse apart
and wrestles the parts to the ground in triumph
1
I am being grand indeed
but there's trouble hidden in me
no doubt produced here
on a grander scale than Franz ever heard it
with
go straight
until lost
then turn
keep going
you'll
find it for sure
2
so exquisitely tasteful
hold up
where is this from
the
inside does not match the outside
oh the tragicomic irony of it
reveals an undertow
3
makes hay out of the extra figure
thrown in for fun
differentiated menuet
and more homogeneous trio?
definitely
4
all are working to the common end
an exciting theater of
spectacle and noise
Caprice - Niccolò Paganini - Nathan Milstein
gymnastic theater
circus act
or the image of a circus act
as
something else
Sonatina in C Major, Op. 55 #1 - Friedrich Kuhlau - Loredana Brigandi
lessons in compositional comportment
suitable for all sexes or mixed
company
another two-movement-er
Polonaise in B-flat Major, Op. 71 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
the key has been redecorated in the strangest taste
lovely but
idiosyncratic
In Session at The Tintinabulary
February 25, 2024
Castle Street - Keith Eisenbrey
February 26, 2024
Banned Telepath 102 South - Steve Kennedy
Banned Telepath 102 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
Banned Rehearsal 1095 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy
February 27, 2024
274 Jesu, geh voran auf der Lebsenbahn - Aaron Keyt
274a after Jesu, geh voran auf der Lebsenbahn - Aaron Keyt
February 29, 2024
203 O König Jesu Christe - Aaron Keyt
243 - Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verdebt - Aaron Keyt
277 Mir ist Erbarmung widerfahren - Aaron Keyt
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 14: 2011-2012
After having worked closely as a pianist with the prelude cycles of my local colleagues Lockrem Johnson, Greg Short, and Ken Benshoof, and being a long-time admirer of the cycles of Chopin and Scriabin, I began to wonder what a set of preludes written by me, one in each key, would be like.
"Welcome to my planet. I come in peace." started as an idea for something else entirely that took on a life of its own. Prior volumes are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2021
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