"THEATRE ROYAL, DREARY LANE. - This Evening, their Majesties' Servants will
perform
THE MANAGER IS IN DISTRESS;
To which will be added the
serious Extravaganza of
THE HOT CROSS BUNN;
The principal Character
by the Manager.
The whole to conclude with
THE DEVIL TO PAY.
On
Monday next, Mr. SWING will exhibit his extraordinary performances on the
Tight Rope. - N.B. On this occasion all persons on the Free List will be
suspended."
from The Comic Almanack
an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, Containing
Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips and Oddities, First Series, 1835-1843
Texts
Live
November 27, 2024
Amatuer Night: Mike Frazier and Stephanie Bruno, Your Mother Should
Know, Redshift, Dead Bars
Sunset Tavern, Seattle
It has been years since I spent so much time in a dive bar with loud music.
Mike and Stephanie hosted the evening with introductory songs and
stories before each band.
Your Mother Should Know is my lovely wife
Karen and her brother (and my long-time collaborator) Neal Kosály-Meyer.
It had been many years since they had played a whole set out in public,
and I found myself falling back into my "will it be a disaster?" mind warp. It
wasn't.
Redshift is a three piece and I suppose they are entertaining in
the same manner as competitive power lifting, arm wrestling, or scrotum
clenching might be, but they really weren't my thing.
Dead Bars are loud
with good feelings, and hard not to enjoy.
But the highlight of the
evening for me was just before they came on,
when Mike and Stephanie led
us all in an enthusiastic sing-along of Woody Guthrie's
All You Fascists Are Bound To Lose. It felt good.
Recorded
The Dublin Three - SeaStar [from Sinners and Angels]
sea shanties
in their modern popular iteration
and their ilk
are a subset
of rural
nostalgia for the seas
as ruled
by the British Empire
from a working people's point of view
Subvector Colloquy (whole, edited) - Tom Baker, Keith Eisenbrey, Leanna Keith, Jim Knodle [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, March 2, 2023]
listening to a recording of ones self improvising
I put on my self
judgment hat
removing it
might allow an appraisal
of what
that pianist is doing
within this music
without recourse
to
second thoughts
the persistent delusion
that the past can be
improved
also difficult to remove
from the question
of what
that pianist is doing
the taint of my memory
of what I was
thinking
including
that past thinking's self-doubt
perhaps
when I can succeed at this
and get a few moments of clarity
I can allow myself some credit
approaching the subject with gradual eternity
I think I would have enjoyed this show
had I been in the audience
and I am in awe of my fellow colloquials
then and now
Geistliche Chor-Music, Op. 11, SWV 369-397 (1648), Volume 2: XXIV. Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
partaking of trombone authority
composed to impress and pacify
Gelobet seit du, Jesu Christe, BuxWV 189 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
music to grace the music of worship
Triosieme Ordre (ut): Menuet - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
spine straight
or
corsets bite back
Invention in F minor, BWV 780 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
its eyes open wider and wider
Keyboard Sonata in C Major, Kk. 251 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
clockwork dancer
a delightful contrivance
Symphony in A Major, Wq. 182 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - English Consort, Trevor Pinnock
immediately disbalanced
sequences of suspensions
are a tonality pressure
release mechanism
Mass in C minor "Grosse", K. 427 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis, Helen Donath, Heather Harper, Ryland Davies, Stafford Dean, London Symphony Chorus, Arthur Oldham, John Constable
this music doesn't invite us in right away
opens with solemn spectacle
idealizes the personal
in the voice of a soprano soloist
it's
easier for everyone to keep together
if one thread of the music
is
keeping time like a little clock
imposingly grand
the Credo
is a miniature symphony
inside the larger symphony
of the
whole Mass
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54 #2 - Franz Joseph Haydn - Endellion String Quartet
a learned discussion
among the elitest of elites
has a way of
sucking one in
don't it
there is more music in this
than can be imagined
how does phrase balance feel
as it goes by
as the oppression of
societal norms
or as a potent idea?
where do societal norms even exist
except
as the expressions of
individuals
Sonata in B-flat Major, "Hammerklavier", Op. 106 - Ludwig van Beethoven - Stephen Kovacevich
we'll take a tour through the registers
enter through the grand gate
the forte piano took off in the Romantic era
and was developed into our
modern instrument
because
there was a need for an instrument
that could transform
the entire strength of a human
into its
heroic potential
(Faust/Napoleon)
Beethoven's sonatas
pointed in that direction
this cathedral space
encloses its own temporality
(it is apart)
Moment Musicaux in A-flat Major, Op. 94 #6 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel
a phrase is a problem to solve
Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 17 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
in a narrow frame
an expansive memory
one brings to mind the next
a chain of associations
lurking back there
Kinderszene, Op. 15 - Robert Schumann - Peter Fankl
domestic life
as appropriate subject
of aesthetic regard
or
to experiment
(under cover of slightness)
with figures
and voice leadings
a group of drawings
of various sizes
this slow one
is the centerpiece
the ideal image
of the lot
Prelude and Fugue in C minor - Ferruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
excursus:
what does the geometry of pitch look like from above?
I value Busoni
for his valiance
diatonic forward march
the remnant of Bach's legions
pelling mell into
the future
Valse, Op. 1 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
the process of translating Chopin into Scriabin
(by Scriabin)
unleashed an ear
Symphony in E-flat Major (#2) - Franz Schmidt - Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ludovit Rajter
the first symphony ever
Filmed in Imax
Orchestrations by
Dolby
lose yourself in lush folds
cotton soft
feather light
we'll sneak the machinery of war in
under cover of great
cinematography
desperately shaking the fairy tale snow-globe
(Rosebud)
Brahms in the wrong century
this movement
moves
like
spoke-variations
or sprite-led variations
from what position
with respect to pitch space geometry
do we
construct partitions?
(or pitch-class for that matter)
watching polyphony dry
(going down triumphantly
ship and all)
Sheep and Goat Walkin' To The Pasture - Percy Grainger - Percy Grainger [from Percy Grainger plays Percy Grainger]
period animation
subtleties of construction
left at the vaudeville
door
for laughs
ribald and broad
recorded in
(and intended to sound like it was)
a studio
scientifically
hi-fi-ally
hi-isolation-ally
music for industrial use
war poem
from within
Mill Man Blues - Billy Bird [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
music in no need of a national stage
Quatre Romances Sans Parole: Romance III - Darius Milhaud - François Choveaux
containing comments
concerning its tonality
Mathis der Maler: Excerpt "Du Wirst Mich Verlieren" - "Laß Uns Doch Weiterlaufen" - Paul Hindemith - Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Leopold Ludwig, Pilar Lorengar, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
music made of strings of notes
in groups of strings
syllabic
Four Transcriptions from Emerson (mid 1930's): No. 1 (end) - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives plays Charles Ives]
hey Chuck!
I brought along a cheap recording device
let's go down
to the piano in the basement
and I'll record you playing some of your
stuff
What Is This Thing Called Love - Anita O'Day [from That Devilin' Tune]
quick cut tempo changes
hey ba-oody bop!
hip wiggle
around
the pitch
Fifth Sonata - Lockrem Johnson - Barbara Keck
sounds like it was recorded on a spinet with squeaky pedals
and a band
practicing a few doors down
and cupboard doors
of course
what she sings
is "Roll With Me"
probably too
suggestive
for radio play
Abraham and Isaac - Igor Stravinsky - Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
the vocal line
accentuates the diaphragmic
syllabic
physical
effort
of language
the difficulties
of saying
Chamber Piece 2 - Stefan Wolpe - Heinrich Hörlein, Hans-Christoph Sauer, Thomas Oepen, Eckhard Hemkemeier, Hand-Udo Helnzmann, Franz Behle, Michael Wagener, Wilfried Schoberansky, Markus Fank, Markus Eulinger, Stefan Geiger, Jürgen Lamke, Holger Garbs
a sculpture
that moves around you
wary
menacing
finish
with a naked drum
In Session at The Tintinabulary
November 24, 2024
Stephens - Keith Eisenbrey
November 25, 2024
Gradus 405 - Neal Kosály-Meyer
I've heard this one before
and may yet again
we listen intently
as Neal does not move
and makes no sound
(is this the part that's music?)
(is this?)
(are we sure?)
(is it music
because we assert that it is?)
mnemonic
notation
(just enough to recall)
(when this you see remember me)
slows as it drops
the first time
music must swim in
conversation
to be
Postscripts
Drops
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
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