"'At this very moment, the gentleman in sky-blue turning round, and seeing the young lady with her face uncovered, vented an exclamation of rage and jealousy; and, turning his weapon against her beautiful bosom, pointed a thrust at her heart, which caused my uncle to utter a cry of apprehension that made the building ring. The lady stepped lightly aside, and snatching the young man's sword from his hand, before he had recovered his balance, drove him to the wall, and running it through him, and the panelling, up to the very hilt, pinned him there, hard and fast. It was a splendid example. My uncle, with a loud shout of triumph, and a strength that was irresistible, made his adversary retreat in the same direction, and, plunging the old rapier into the very centre of a large red flower in the pattern of his waistcoat, nailed him beside his friend; there they both stood, gentlemen, jerking their arms and legs about, in agony, like toy-shop figures that are moved by a piece of packthread. My uncle always said, afterwards, that this was one of the surest means he knew of, for disposing of an enemy; but it was liable to one objection on the ground of expense, inasmuch as it involved the loss of a sword for every man disabled."
Charles Dickens - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Live
March 16, 2024
Lockrem Johnson Centennial Celebration
The Chapel Performance Space,
Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Susan Payne Barnes, soprano
Keith Eisenbrey, piano
Peter
Nelson-King, trumpet
Sonatina for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 35 (1950)
Chaconne for Piano, Op.
29 (1948)
Last 2 Songs, Op. 52 (1973)
2 Songs to a Child, Op. 27
(1948)
5th Sonata for piano, Op. 34 (1953)
24 Preludes for Piano,
Op. 50 (1967)
Thank you Peter and Susan for your fabulous performances
and thank you
Doug Rice for your tireless support!
More information, and possibly a
video, of the concert are or will be available at
www.LockremJohnsonEstate.com
Recorded
Brother Louie - Stories [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
I had a friend in high school
who had a similar problem with his dad
when he
my friend
was dating a woman of Chinese ancestry
the idea of which
(the problem that he had his dad)
was
to me a personal flabbergast
Honesty - Billy Joel [from The Essential Billy Joel]
there's more than a hint of Elton John about this
and it's not just the
bangy piano playing
this bridge is a stinker
both musically and wordily
Intermezzo 3 - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, March 17, 2007]
gentle bell sevenths
no pitch of which
can match pitch function
with another
of matching pitch
performed 17 years ago today
In 'N' Out of Grace - Mudhoney [from Superfuzz Bigmuff]
performative transgression
Banned Rehearsal 317 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [January 8, 1993]
language
and our psycho-auditory mechanism
grew up together
part of that
involves our ability to recognize a human sound
of
any kind
by virtue of its impetus
in a human
(we are clearly
in this sense
psychic)
from the same cradle
emerged our optimized ability
to distinguish
between human language sounds
and human not-language sounds
again
a psychic ability
so
among all sounds
we have
those that
first are
human-made sounds
and those that
are not
humans making sounds
that are like non-human-made sounds
are
engaged in mimicry
perhaps
are those human-made sounds
that mimic aspects of language
and perhaps
another order of music
could be
a mimicry of mathematics
or of both language and mathematics
language and music
share our psychic powers
since
after all
they are us
lots of tape filling cymbal shine in this one
not a bad funmaker
contribution either
Aaron sneezes
as he must have at Dempster's
Abbey
funmaker intonation play with recorder tones
play with bell
play
(toddler words)
panno piano bammo bamjo planno
Aaron shares home improvement words
and sneezes again
the Mystery Chord!
that was some hoot
three ways to stop banging pipes
terminal screws
cold turkey
oven sweats
oven burns unproperly
refrigerator doesn't run
pilot doesn't stay lit
then I realized I was
Professor Bad Trip, Lesson I - Fausto Romitelli - Seattle Modern Orchestra, Julia Tai [streamed on November 19, 2021]
sounds of preparation
chat and tuning
tools etch a spinning
surface
centered on a constant pitch
spark sounds leap off and
fade to the floor
the surface spins
the tool etches a thin mark
finishing touches guided by delicate hands
it cools
Preludes 17 - 20 - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, February 24, 2018]
a group of melancholical moods
played pretty darned well I think
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Track 1) - Douglas Adams
confession:
I'm not much of a fan of his writing
(but this was a
gift so here it is)
which has a tediously smug voice
the first
point of view character
is described as being a New Yorker
but
uses brit locutions
("... she was cross")
and the narrator
narrates her thinking
in a brit accent
geezers for geysers
and glass ears for glaciers
and
he relies on that tediously
smug voice to amuse us
and be funny
it succeeds at neither
both point of view characters
in this track
have the same voice
narrating their actions and thoughts
these four brief pieces are lovely
and composed with care
and I
play them well
Asu mo Zangai - Yuji Takahashi - Takashi Matsudair, Shinya Hashimoto [from Open Space 43]
the serpent discusses things with the voice
which reacts
and
commiserates
and queries
Demolition - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded January 4, 2023]
2023 was a year
in which two nearby older non-adjacent houses
were
torn down
to be replaced with construction sites
and eventually to
become six condominium units
of which some are still for sale
there was noise associated with this process
and I recorded some
of it
this was the first demolition's sounds
recorded from our
driveway door
pitched sounds appear intermittently
which might
have been me
but I don't think so
I kind of like what they
the
pitched sounds
are doing
but it doesn't sound like me
to me
it might be something to do with the destructor's hydraulics
an
airplane surveils loudly past
hearing these sounds through the signal
and speakers
miniaturizes them
honey, I shrunk the world
one
of the effects of wall-challenged recording?
fewer surfaces to rebound
against
it dissipates so quickly
for it to be as loud as it
was
Nunc Aperuit Nobis - Hildebard Von Bingen - Sequentia, Barbara Thornton [from Canticles of Ecstasy]
centers on a pitch
but that pitch is not a spinning surface
it is
a shining radiance
Come Esser Puo Ch'io Viva - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
cadential tactic
bring all the voices together
to resolve in one
moment's motions
Benedictus Dominus - Peter Philips - The Choir of Royal Holiday, Robert Gough, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble [from Cantiones Sacrae Octonis Vocibus]
I followed a brass played tune into a cathedral
whose vaults and naves
breathed words in solemn song
Er wird das Szepter von Juda, SWV 369 - Heinrich Schütz - La Chapelle Royale, Philippe Herreweghe, Agnes Mellon, Greta de Reyghere, Monique Zanetti, Howard Crook, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, Herbe Lamy, Renau Machart, Peter Kooy, Peter Lika
emergent imitation
we apprehend it in its midst
for each number
a change of scenery and dress
David et Jonathas, Act III - Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Pinchgut Opera, Antony Walker, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Dean Robinson, Paul McMahon, David Parkin, Andrei Laptev, Anna Fraser, David Greco, Cantillation, Anders J. Dahlin, Simon Lobelson, Richard Anderson, Sara Macliver, Ashley Giles
two low men's voices come to an agreement
and resolve into the mind of
Saul
discontinuous strings leap into the ongoing continuo
somebody
stomps off
there is a dance with tambourine
Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 - Antonia Vivaldi/Johann Sebastian Bach - Stanislav Surin
if a composer liked a piece
and wanted to play it
they would take
it
and amend it to suit
the flute stops
in the second
movement
rough and pungent
honestly unrefined
almost as
though
there was a strangeness about the mic setup
that didn't
allow close sine tones to record evenly
a fibrillation
it might
also
I suppose
be an artifact of the acoustics of the
architectural space
Sinfonia a 8 concertanti - Jan Dismas Zelenka - Camerata Bern, Alexander van Wijnkoop
conceptually
does the play of figures amongst themselves
emerge
prior to the Fuxian tonal structures they enhabit/elucidate?
or
are those said Fuxian motions
embedded in the figures
or
is there some synthesis involved?
there may be other possibilities
and more well-formed queries
are we even correct
in discriminating the one from the other?
what
would it mean to be correct?
or to be incorrect?
if we are correct
it is a tactic to take the music apart
if we are in-correct
perhaps it is a tactic to enter into the process
by which the
music arises
as we hear it going
Noel sur le flutes - Louis-Claude Daquin - Marie-Claire Alain
in this case we make an historical presumption
we presume
that the
melody
(made of figures)
is the starting point
and that the
fabric of this presentation
unfolds around it
and from it
I don't know Handel's Xerxes
but I wonder if the violin solo in
this recording
is a stand-in for a singer
it seems likely
Keyboard Sonata in E minor, Wq. 65.5 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
we hear a figure start twice
from different registers
and then
proceed in different directions
the Fuxics here
are a negotiated
motion
as is the meter
alive to the space
in which the sound
clears
as the strings are damped
negotiations get aggressive in
the third movement
Voluntary VIII in D minor - John Stanley - Stanislav Surin
by the book
nothing doing
that Handel wouldn't do
more
likely less
a fugue subject that descends in stepped sequence
as
does the rest of the piece
Ou s'en vont ces gais bergers? - Claude Balbastre - Marie-Claire Alain
the figures here serve the sound of the stops
orchestration play
pipes with personality
Symphony in f minor, "La passione" Hob. I:49 - Franz Joseph Haydn - Cantilena, Adrian Shepherd
the Passion
as in
The St. Matthew Passion
I think
just
one that is silent
as to the words
unusually for a Haydn symphony
it opens with an Adagio (that isn't an introduction)
this trio of
this menuet
isn't trying to be important
just pleasant
something uncertain
but exciting
seems about to happen
at a furious clip
sounds as though engineered for radio broadcast
but without the added obscurity
of having been recorded at the
receiving end
what is it about the sound
that makes me think so
a sense of distance
or empty space
around the sound
as
though
recorded from a spot in a hall
with no individual micing of
instruments
a consistent seat in the hall
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 10 #3 - Muzio Clementi - Howard Shelley
poised on the edges of sparkling turns
my genteel is more genteel than
your genteel
but so sweet and pure
wickedly tricky rhythmic games
in the last movement
as though part of the figuration got stuck in
another room
and has to bang on the door to be let out
Sonata in D Major, Op. 10 #3 - Ludwig van Beethoven - Stephen Kovacevich
1
as figures follow on each other lickety split
a thread follows
each moment through into the next
2
midnight thoughts
for screwing one's eyebrows at
sleep may
be troubled
3
a bright and hopeful morning
quick calisthenics and a good
crossword and coffee
4
you busy?
tap at the door
the day busies itself in earnest
craftsmen craft
carters cart
servants serve
Sonata in C Major, D613/612 - Franz Schubert - Paul Badura-Skoda
reveals a human behind the music
as Beethoven does
also a complex
one
as Beethoven was
but clearly a different fellow
differently troubled
different approaches to addressing the
troubles
singing a pretty song will help
perhaps a nice dance
whistle a happy tune
Ouverture zu der Oper Euryanthe - Carl Maria von Weber - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler
in the full flower
of the first Romantic generation
lovely small
string ensemble bit
Polonaise in B-flat Major, Op. 71 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Peter Katin
the bewildering variety of quantities of events in play
within
ostensibly balanced phrasings
require us
to balance objects
that are likely to shift their weight around
they may be the same
durations
if we count measures
but not as we experience them
Selections from Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Wieck, Op. 5 - Robert Schumann - Charles Rosen
how did we get here so quickly?
let's head back
Andante in G Major, Op. 3 #1 - Fanny Hensel - Beatrice Rauchs
all voices kept in line
outfacing serenity
doubts remain within
closely guarded
Character Etude in A Major, Op. 755 - Carl Czerny - Martin Jones
his technical devices work on their own behalf
and for nothing else
La leggierezza - Franz Liszt - Claudio Arrau
whereas here we follow them
they are a part of the character
that
appears at the end of the magic wand
it isn't as technical devices that they live
but as characteristics of
the way the melodies go
Was Weinst du Blumlein, Op. 23 #1 - Clara Schumann - Dorothea Craxton, Hedayet Djeddiker
wild intervals
lightly applied touches on piano
leapy vocal leaps
witty and clever
Serenade in D Major, Op. 11 - Johannes Brahms - Concertgebouworkest, Amsterdam; Bernard Haitink
this is how much fun his symphonies could have been
how much
sunshine they might have had
so easy-going
allows a wandering mind
but welcomes it back at any moment
with something simple
and
delectable
and marvelous
droll clowns
decorative
Concerto in G minor, Op. 22 - Camille Saint-Saëns - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Charles Dutoit, Pascal Roge
1
enter as a giant
sing a giant's lament
show a tender heart
melodic through-line
2
a pleasant picnic
harmless enough
fun and games
company grins at vigorous ball play
the youngens will dance at
bubble chasing
3
uh oh
a stormy sudden gust blows the picnic all to pieces
we'll race the rain home
there stands the giant with arms akimbo
The Virtuoso Pianist - Charles-Louis Hanon - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded February 24, 2023]
I recorded this at the behest of Doug Rice
to compare to the Lockrem
Johnson Jazz Hanon etude that he wrote for Jerome Gray's "Jazz Hanon"
book
it discloses some clear weaknesses in my pianism
I guess I
didn't practice enough Hanon back in the way back
the rise of the professional concert soloist
as we know it today
in full swing here
concertos were their vehicle
becoming a
necessary part of the standard concert line up
the big name draw
playing a big-name-drawn type of concerto
to pay the bills
give the talent a spotlight
dim the rest of the lights for a
moment
breeds a cohort of aficionados
of instruments
of
soloists
and of vehicles
(cars drivers and courses)
a
composer might compose such a vehicle
upon request (commission)
or
on spec (to shop around)
this one is a pleasant course
charming
harmless
quite marriageable
but plausibly forgettable
Sunrise (from Khovantschina) - Modest Mussorgsky
recorded (poorly) off the radio by me in the dim dark past
I still love
it
I didn't catch the name of the orchestra or conductor
In Session at The Tintinabulary
March 17, 2024
Eglon (double) - Keith Eisenbrey
March 20, 2024
312 O Welt, ich muss dich lassen - Aaron Keyt
329 Alle Menschen müssen sterben - Aaron Keyt
March 21, 2024
366 Der Abend kommt, die Sonne sich verdekket - Aaron Keyt
402 O du fröhliche, o du selige - Aaron Keyt
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 15: 2014
Early 2014 found me completing the first part of Études d'exécution imminent - the project that would keep me busy into 2021. Another was written for Ben Boretz, in celebration of his 80th. J was composed while thinking about the late J. K. Randall. The six movements of Another are Sphinxes, Scarabs, Pools, Potions (first batch), Potions (second batch), and Smoke, which movements can intermingle in performance and sometimes do, and so I include here three quite different versions for your enjoyment - two on clavichord and one live version on piano.
J and the second version of Another were recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, The Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, in 2016; the other tracks were recorded at my home in 2015.
Prior volumes are available at www.keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2021
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