"The natural aptitude of the French for seizing the picturesqueness of things seems to be peculiarly evinced in what paintings and engravings they have of their whaling scenes. With not one tenth of England's experience in the fishery, and not the thousandth part of that of the Americans, they have nevertheless furnished both nations with the only finished sketches at all capable of conveying the real spirit of the whale hunt. For the most part, the English and American whale draughtsmen seem entirely content with presenting the mechanical outline of things, such as the vacant profile of the whale; which, so far as picturesqueness of effect is concerned, is about tantamount to sketching the profile of a pyramid. Even Scoresby, the justly renowned Right whaleman, after giving us a stiff full length of the Greenland whale, and three or four delicate miniatures of narwhales and porpoises, treats us to a series of classical engravings of boat hooks, chopping knives, and grapnels, and with the microscopic diligence of a Leuwenhoeck submits to the inspection of a shivering world ninety-six fac-similies of magnified Arctic snow crystals. I mean no disparagement to the excellent voyager (I honor him for a veteran), but in so important a matter it was certainly an oversight not to have procured for every crystal a sworn affidavit taken before a Greenland Justice of the Peace."
Herman Melville, from Moby-Dick; or The Whale.
Texts
Recorded
All I've Got To Do - The Beatles [from With The Beatles]
what is fame
as to a song
when we're listening to it
that is
when that song
is being
its real self?
a stumbling
block
relative cultural importance
as ontologized
into our consciousness
Bookends Theme (instrumental) - Simon and Garfunkel [from Bookends]
LP album concept or conceit
structural as to song order
Candle In The Wind - Elton John [from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road]
fame itself
as the subject of a song
that has gathered its own
measure
of it
Main Street Saturday Night - Carole King [from Welcome Home]
a well tucked bed
of rhythm
to groove on
happy days
party in the streets
MFA Octet (Part 1) - Ben Boretz, Jill Borner, Nancy Chase, Keith Eisenbrey, Bruce Huber, Anne McLellan, Dan Sedia, Chuck Stein [recorded at Bard College, June 19, 1983]
a glorpy motion
gastropedal
accreting space
unto itself
it nears us
a village swarm
digging
in
The Wild Truth - T Bone Burnett [from The Talking Animals]
a big empty room
obscures the detail
of everything
Banned Rehearsal 343 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [October 22, 1993]
Daddy made the baby cry
stressed out times
stressed out sound
it barks and whistles
runs back and forth
tongue wagging
shrill and close
Titans of noise
whipping in the gale
loud for long stretches
press the walls outward
noise
density
phew
a breathing space
we must permeate these walls
with sound
properly primed
not
neutral
synth is too forward in the mix
to my ears
not even the Mighty W
can quite compete with it
how does one relate
to an omnipresent sound
a being
without
breathing
humans communicate
between breaths
clinging clangor
{journal entry of October 27, 1998:
more silliness with synth and organ}
A Rose Is Still A Rose - Aretha Franklin [from A Rose Is Still A Rose]
text trope:
advice and encouragement
after a breakdown
or
breakup
the text
is in the guise
of direct address
to someone
an individual
I could imagine it
being taken personally
but
how about the
music part?
the notes rhythms instrumentations et cetera
to my ear
its placement
is not to be taken personally
it
confers authority
Banned Rehearsal 649 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [May 9, 2003]
prolongation
of feeling out the space
well into its proper
inhabitation
we melt into a pool
on the floor
an active pool
a cogitation
puddle
agitated
feedback's empty stare
If Wishes Were Horses - Star Anna and The Laughing Dogs [from Crooked Path]
under the wide western sky
out of town
is not far
Banned Rehearsal 837 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [Mary 27, 2013]
setting out the tokens
rattling sabers
settling in
to be
conveyed
wait for the rhythm-freight cars
to pass
idly idling
each at their own lab table
some sharing across
a difficult nut to crack
suddenly
we find ourselves
in a new
space
next door
stuck
in a groove
counting play
Found in X Minor - Josef K [from Found on the Stone Pitch]
synthetic dream state
but why synthetic?
a designed space
cinematized architecture
we are immersed
then
abandoned
outing
ones in
by abandonment
Demolition - Keith Eisenbrey [March 31, 2023]
an engine
and scraping
and striking
and snapping
the image of the space
those sounds are in
is not obviously
like the image
of outdoor space
one has
while
in
an outdoor space
the imaged space
is much smaller
restricted
to the space
between the speakers
sounds do not blend here
they coexist
without touching
Madrigals, Book IV: "Io mi son giovinetta" - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
music
as fleeting
as tongues
can trip
Ich bin eine rufende Stimme, SWV 383 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
sing it again
heavily underscored
the notion
that it is
essential
to understand
in order to accept
or acknowledge
Grace
Nun lob, mein Seel, der Herren, BuxWV 213 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
is there a line
between an arrangement of a song
and a composition
using that song
as a cantus firmus?
clearly
no
at least
not a clear line
Premier Ordre (sol) - Les Abeilles. Rondeau - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
fabric that sparkles as it drapes
by means of canonic procedures
the various spans of melody
are
heard
at once
it fits
with itself
dissonance
resolution
provides
the recited text
with a
charisma
of solid factiness
Protestentism's
endless commentary
but
with some time to think
and respond
Sonata in B-flat Major, Kk. 267 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
economical figuration
the same figure set
at every turn
Les Boréades, Act II - Jean-Philippe Rameau - Orfeo Orchestra, Purcell Choir, György Vashegyi, Sabine Devieilhe, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Bendikt Kristjánsson, Philippe Estèphe, Thomas Dolié, Tassis Christoyannis, Gwendoline Blondeel
dance
as an articulation
within the drama
artifice
preferred to verisimilitude
as a matter
of cultural control
we trust
what we have made
sooner
than we believe
in
what appears to be true
Sonata in A Major, K. 331 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Mitsuko Uchida
pianist thinks vocally
the articulatory breaths
are all there
even though
the legato
rarely lifts
a light and clear tone
the Haydnesque sized sonatas of Mozart
served
one thinks
a
different social
and economic
and intellectual purpose
than
Scarlatti's?
this particular sonata
is dramatically inert for Mozart
open with the stupid version
or
did that ever really happen?
finish
with comic swordplay
Sonata in G minor, Op. 22 - Robert Schumann - Peter Frankl
a fusillade of notes
to soften us up
quick answers
ricochet
off the offbeats
we find ourselves
finding a key
to be in
a song
as it disappears
along the mountainside
lord of misrhythm
virtuoso
impresario
Scherzo in E Major, Op. 54 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
coy
about letting on
it knows
its key
stomps its foot
and proceeds
to tell
a long
sad
story
broken hearts
and passionate declarations
the curtain
slams shut
Slavonic Dance in D Major, Op. 46 #6 - Antonín Dvořák - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - John Farrer
an antique country dance
all done up pretty
Prelude in E-flat Major, Op. 42 #8 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
we hear a bunch of notes
and figures
though connecting the one
to the other
can overwhelm
keeping track
of midges
in a cloud
Preludes Book II: #11, Les tierces alternees - Claude Debussy - Walter Gieseking
quick
lightfooted
squirrel scurries
When The Jazz Band Starts To Play - Tom Morris [from That Devilin' Tune]
clown school
practiced bits
Sawmill Moan - Rambling Thomas [from Really The Blues]
pulse and balance
lurk nearby
in constant reference
Having Myself A Time (take 1) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
each rhyme sequence
clearly melodicized
Four Transcriptions from Emerson (1938): No. 1 (abandoned) - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives Plays Charles Ives]
going through attic junk
Sonatas and Interludes: Sonata VII - John Cage - Adam Tendler
withheld intimacy
close to us
but blank-faced
it would be interesting
to hear these
without the preparations
Melancholia - Duke Ellington [form Piano Reflections]
mood poem
Moscow-Cheryomushki, Act 2 - Dimitri Shostakovich - Residentie Orchestra The Hague, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
life
as a circus
often malevolent
everybody's living
situation
comings and goings
The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came [from The Life Treasury of Christmas Music]
a little cantata
in three stanzas
Stormy Monday - ? And The Mysterians [from The Best of ? And The Mysterians]
blues aloft
Drive-In Saturday - David Bowie [from Aladdin Sane]
the messed up recent past
remembered
in the messed up recent
present
Track 1 - Bruce Springsteen [from Live at Roxy July 7, 1978]
a bunch of cheering
and an announcement
more cheering
hey! hey!
say a few things first
Allergies - Paul Simon [from Hearts and Bones]
show-off vocal
stutter nerves guitar
the last sounds I made
in Bard Hall
part of a multimedia piece
Ben was putting together
for a thing
in Syracuse
the last time
I was in New York
I played
("...my chart shines high where the blue milks upset...")
while
other things were happening:
Ben and Penny
read from portions of
Language ,as a Music
Bruce
played occasional quiet electric
guitar{?} sonorities
and Tildy
I think
was in charge of a
visual element
that included pages
of
If I Were a Musical Thinker
and
may have also played
some quiet Crumar tones
{unless that was Bruce}
I played my bit
pretty true
Penny gets the last word
Crumar fades us out
{lightning in the
southern sky}
conversation emerges
from out of hiding
{rain on the street}
{and there's the thunderboom}
Lonesome Cities - Nina Simone [from A Single Woman]
calling forth cinematic sweep
on a Vegas stage
complete with Amen
Banned Rehearsal 499 - Isaac E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 20, 1998]
a continuous cognizance
in making sound oneself
of every other
sound
in the space
including ones own
I'm of a wonder
whether some of this
is sound
made out of
doors?
one mic out
one mic in?
a space inside a space
performative avante gardity
poly-spatial audio curation
I can't easily picture
how we made this sound
such distances
singing together
how many echoes of us
do we hear?
{journal entry of May 15, 2006:
sitting next to the snare drum
comment
on passing denizens
mostly
not making much sound
other than
the snare drum
playing gently
batteries failing perhaps?
as though
from another room
except
the snare drum
in all its
glory
how did we do that?
perhaps we used the Sonys?}
Thru The Winter - Bettye LaVette [from A Woman Like Me]
a groove
can be a solid ground
upon which a song can pass
without faltering
in that sense
it can serve a worthy
function
within a culture of songs
Zither Film 11 - Keith Eisenbrey [March 20, 2008]
consisting
of a single
bp
a minimal texture
maximally
elaborated
Half Walk - Half Run - Jesse Canterbury - Jesse Canterbury, Tiffany Lin, Brian Cobb, Paul Kikuchi [from Crosstalk - Here Now]
motions above
beneath
and between
the sheets
of surf
wash
Corollaries: Down's Up - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded March 9, 2018]
probe balloon
passes upward
through the resonance spheres
Totem 22 - Sascia Pellegrini [from Totem VI]
nothing exists
save the signal set
and their doings
in a peculiar four
irretrievable
from the plunked chords
that introduce it
See That My Grave is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson [from Anthology of American Folk Music]
fiddly guitar fingerwork
under the ends of blues lines
Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland - Eddie Condon [from That Devilin' Tune]
taking turns in the spotlight
I Can't Give You Anything - Peggy Lee [from Rendezvous with Peggy Lee]
the post war night club circuit
incitement of baby boom
There Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down - Brother Claude Ely [from Goodbye, Babylon]
Grave
and
Down
each
significantly prolonged
a
duration rhyme
What Would I Do Without You - Ray Charles [from Yes Indeed!]
a pleading blues time
Frosty The Snowman - The Ronnettes [from A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector]
wall-o-sound
depersonified musicians
the singer
has a New
Yorkerine diphthong
on
the fraw
of frosty
Ugly Beauty - Thelonious Monk [from Underground]
the melody
spans its entire stanza
occupying every moment of it
Searching for the Right Door - Billy Cobham [from Spectrum]
making a music
with a technician's arsenal
Astro - Sun Ray with Walt Dickerson [from Visions]
flying by ear
we are the wind that blows after hours
a guiding incline
eight instruments
imitate an ocean drum
every tiny rolling orb
clearly drawn
across the head
we roll
jostlingly around
tilt maze
marble puzzle
we find ourselves
in tuba land
floating
in the drift
of the moment's sensibility
Strictly Business - EPMD [from Strictly Business]
sucked in
the ritornello
is the articulation
of rhyme
streams
Banned Rehearsal 344 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [October 29, 1993]
taping the microphones
to their spot
tuning pegs
for tuning
learning the anatomy
of an accordion
life is
full of forbidden brushes
there is a gap
between the sounds
that are in space together
and spaces
that are in a space together
sounds in rooms
||gap||
rooms in rooms
rooms contain sounds
or rooms
snares on
snares off
using words
language is discovered
is music also discovered?
the first moment
of recognition
that music
is a thing
that can be named
but described
only superficially
Keith in a cape?
lined in silk
with a graphic
of all the
Houston Cheerleaders
In Session at The Tintinabulary
March 23, 2025
Grafton - Keith Eisenbrey
March 24, 2025
Banned Rehearsal 1122 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy
March 25, 2025
("...my chart shines high where the blue milks upset...") - Benjamin Boretz
March 26, 2025
Prelude in D-flat Major - Lockrem Johnson
March 27, 2025
Prelude in B Major - Lockrem Johnson
Prelude in F-sharp Major - Lockrem Johnson
Prelude in B-flat minor - Lockrem Johnson
Prelude in A-flat Major - Lockrem Johnson
March 28, 2025
Prelude in F-sharp minor - Lockrem Johnson
Postscripts
Drops
One of the shining lights of the local music scene during the pandemic lockdown was Nonsequitur's Wayward in Limbo series: 134 commissioned recordings of new work by local musicians. I was honored to be asked for a contribution. The essential intimacy of the clavichord seemed fitting for the occasion, and I offer this series of short improvisations for your enjoyment.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
