Preface
"We can read the following remarks of {J. K.} Randall as responding to {Milton} Babbitt, for while the modernist Babbitt will conceive of music listening as perceiving, as a distanced, disinterested observation, and hence as a form of experience susceptible to scientific discourse, the mature Randall seeks to involve himself, and implicitly us, in music's unfoldings: 'In any case a question "Can we perceive this structuring?" never seriously arose, since I've never thought of music-listening as perceiving or identifying. (A listener undergoes, or becomes, or simply is, the music, the utterance: is within, happening -- not without, observing)'. Whether or not Randall ever conceived of listening as perceiving or identifying, Randall here elevates Erfahrung over Erlebnis, conceiving music listenings as occasions for rather than of experience."
Scott Gleason, from Composing Modernism | Musical Formalism and the Experimental Turn in the Princeton School
Texts
Recorded
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, S173/R14 (excerpts): I. Invocation - Franz Liszt - Philip Thomson
stern and forceful
majestic
distant
impersonal
grand
be awe struck or else!
Blue Sky Timelapse - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
we are shown the interior of a long tube
20 miles left 20 miles right
the surface inside pulses
an object of sound
Break Out (AKA Bust Out) - Wendy Rene [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
does the setting of endless songs of infidelity
to familiar patterns of
music
serve
to normalize the behavior
(and attitudes toward
that behavior)?
Szenen aus Goethes Faust, WoO 3, Part V: Mitternacht - Robert Schumann - Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Daniel Harding, Christian Gerhaher, Christiane Karg, Alastair Miles
singing words lifts them off the page
setting a scene to music lifts it
out from the stage into the space
projecting the verse-drama into a
space of lifted expression
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, S173/R14 (excerpts): II. Ave Maria - Franz Liszt - Philip Thomson
quiet peace as in a chapel
At The Window - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
an indistinct crowd in narrow confines
short sharp percussive thrusts
Walk On Back - Unknown Artist [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
we imagine the lives that generated these statements
Szenen aus Goethes Faust, WoO 3, Part VI: Fausts Tod - Robert Schumann - Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Daniel Harding, Christian Gerhaher, Christiane Karg, Alastair Miles
orchestration:
not unskilled but not coloristically forward in the
Berliozian manner
or
more muted colors
more focused on the
tonal rhetoric
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, S173/R14 (excerpts): III. Benediction de Dieu Dans la Solitude - Franz Liszt, Philip Thomson
a room
a decorated room
the experience of a decorated room
a
room decorated with an experienced sensibility
engulfs
with each
new exquisite detail
an enchanting hook
intoxicating and heady
you've been caressed
deal with it
and when you're suitably
softened up
we'll slip the moral lesson pill
onto your tongue
Hot Dog Hang Dog - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
an afternoon plucking and strumming
coming apart like an old mattress
interrupted by space aliens
acquired partially
by alien
sensibility
translation technology imperfect
but remarkable
Come On Down - Mack Rice [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
selling an image of living
and how to behave
Szenen aus Goethes Faust, WoO 3, Part VII: Fausts Verklärung - Robert Schumann - Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Daniel Harding, Christian Gerhaher, Christiane Karg, Alastair Miles
would be interesting to compare this last part of Schumann's Faust
to
the 2nd part of Mahler's Eighth
(same text source)
and to the
Deutsches Requiem
sudden appearance of a solo cello and a tenor
Bach-like orchestration
(but sans oboe)
pretty fabulous boy choir in there
calligraphed expression
those small ensemble numbers are intense
musical poetry
or poetry
made into a music
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, S173/R14 (excerpts): IV. Pensee Des Morts - Franz Liszt - Philip Thomson
this music exposes the fine quality of the microphones the engineers used
now that's some fear and trembling if I ever heard it
bu'bye! Giovanni!
hammered fast and grim
moral spectacle
Rolling On - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
long shot from above the endless prairie
hoorah! a circus! with sparkly
lights! that never stop!
endless carousel
Can't Make Enough - William Bell [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
the man's complaint
worker blues
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
a room for quiet study and contemplation
escape room for self
recollection
Pressed a Nerve - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
we'll be cycling through Liszt Layton and Stax for a while now
as we
approach the end of this listening cycle
you try it with me!
it's
a bit of a trip
each resets the former
it's the wailing guitar
human drum spider
and the friendly synthesizer
Love Is You - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
ecstatic valentine card
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, S173/R14 (excerpts): VI. Hymne de L'enfant a Son Reveil - Franz Liszt - Philip Thomson
some words of comfort
Watching The Revolving Door - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
swanky place too
sleek to the nines
gets a tad sketchy in the wee
smalls though
Let's Get Down to Business - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
with firm confidence
Sonata in B minor, S168: R21 - Franz Liszt - Jenő Jandó
this piece knows it's some serious shit
it performs its own greatness
idées fixe/Leitmotiven as freestanding axioms
make a
melodrama of doing transformation
a committed performance
Stayin' Alive - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
groove slanted at an alarming angle
Stone for Stone - Henderson Thigpen [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
street wisdom
Ballade No. 2, S. 171 - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
wind upon the open moor
a cozy haven
you must! pay the rent!
I cannot! pay the rent!
fear not the money has arrived!
we'll live heroically ever after
Paint The Sky - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
above the sea horizon
I Won't Do You No Dirt - William Bell [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
has a reputation
for breakin' hearts across the nation
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
Ballade No. 2 in B Minor, S171, R16 - Franz Liszt - Jean Dubé
broad swathes of dark foreboding
angelic brightness comforts from above
new subject
passionate struggle against the forces of foreboding
peace remains
calm and bright foreverall
back to battle
peace abides
glory waits
Panic Now - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
a set of sound making objects
making sounds
in a set of spaces
articulated
by the sounds
of sound making objects
sounding through each other
channeled
each sound object
space
is coming through its own channel
along a different conveyor
belt
from a different organ of the factory
Just Too Right To Be Wrong - Mack Rice [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
these tracks
as a body
are focused on soap opera relationship
points
Andante finale und Marsch aus der Oper König Alfred, S421/R233: (Raff) - Franz Liszt - Soyeon Kate Lee
how was the opera this evening Maestro Liszt?
wonderful
especially
these two pieces
I'll play them for you now
or
were these transcriptions moneymakers publishing-wise?
to what
forces do we owe these artifacts?
Liszt the human recording device
Summer Letting Go - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
a room of rooms
a community of music spaces doing their thing
their music thing
Song #2 - The MGs [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
it's a groove we found
that might be useful to you
Bénédiction et serment, S. 396 (2 Motifs de Benevenuto Cellini) [After H. Berlioz] - Franz Liszt - Feng Bian
enamored of the theater of religion
its air and simple pretense
its meaning-laden enactment
September's Song - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
the seventh month is the ninth month now
guitar and keys spar at each
other
Too Much Sugar for a Dime - Homer Banks [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
like it is
Huldigungsmarsch, S. 228 (2nd Version) - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
Liszt invented Hollywood film scores
but not the budget-minded producer
Why Aren't I Still Here - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
the sort of question I could imagine George Quasha asking
taking the ears
out for a listen
Too Much Sugar for a Dime - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
same song differently sassed
perhaps this collection is among my
favorite soaps
Huldigungsmarsch, S. 228 (Second Version) - Franz Liszt - Christopher Williams
here we go again
banners to the morning breeze
each company in
regalia full
creased trousers no less
the battle is retold
victory bright national honor composition
amid the clamor of
polities
Move and Breathe - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
internet connection enabled collaborations
You Knock Me Out - Homer Banks [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
we are pulled into these people's lives
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
now there's a word not heard much these days
legend legendary
(superlative with numen attached)
numen is a species of charisma
heroic mojo
sainthood
like one of those genius painters
who were drawn to religious themes in
their maturity
Liszt loved halos
Three Portals - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
portal channel
portal channel
let's call the whole thing off
a recording is in the form of a riddle
from these marks
what can
be constituted
what if a score were an experience
we listen in
order to compose
I Should Have Changed My Ways - Jimmy Hughes [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
leaps into the song with a swallow's flight holler
a cry of virtuoso
contrition
Deux Legendes (S175: R17): St. Francois de Paule marchant sur les flots - Franz Liszt - Jenő Jandó
tell the whole story every time
every frame every wash of wave every
buffet every stroke
hoorah!
rescued in the nick of time's jaws
when the dead address us
can we answer for ourselves?
Hanging by a Thread - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
sentenced to be hung by a thread until dead
how Kafkaesque
Till You've Been Loved By Me - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
street level come on
Légendes, S. 175: I. St François d'Assise. La prédication aux oiseaux - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
it is rather odd
to have the history of western music
as expressed
in my listening
reduced to Liszt Layton and Stax songwriters
what
a strange world it is
there's Francis vanquishing the worldly again
just like you were there
The Message - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
a compromised inscription from the past
it may even not be a message
difficult to determine
what is it about the metaphors we use for
music
that seems apt
Deaf and Dumb - Mack Rice [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
reading the signs
repent!
Légendes, S. 175: II. St François de Paule marchant sur les flots - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
climbing stepwise to heaven
gathering glory all the while
terminally triumphant
all contained in a gentle voice of balm
The Shadow Machine - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
a play of puppets on a screen
how the characters behave amongst
themselves
It's No Secret - William Bell [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
declaration of devotion
development department
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
Berceuse in D-Flat Major, S. 174 - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
remembering Chopin with ornately graced melody
Dance, Robot. Dance! - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
the heavy beats of commercial dance music
behave in the manner of
commands
impervious to interaction
the dancing floor is its
automaton
Somebody's Got You Baby - Marshall Jones [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
confession and plea
2 Légendes, S. 175: No. 2, St. François de Paule, marchant sur les flots (1863 Simplified Version) - Franz Liszt - Roman Kosyakov
simplified
but remains designed to impress
with the prowess of the
heroic individual
Sidewalk Nighthawks - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
the relation between title and music
seems to place the music
in
the position of an illustration
and the title
as the subject
thereof
giving the music a frisson of figurativity
as though it
weren't abstractly expressionist
suggesting a figurative reading
Something Keeps Holding Me Back - Mack Rice [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
this music is a person saying something to another person
Slavimo slavno, Slaveni!, S. 503 - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
a hymn from the other side of the schism
or just this side?
Last Call Long Gone - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
if figurative
like a painting
then we can plausibly consider all
aspects of that figure
dress posture expression
the life around it
Take It All Off - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
we are inside this person's head
Salve Polonia. Interludium aus dem Oratorium Stanislaus, S. 518 (Arr. of S. 113 No. 2) - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
the person of this music
is its perpetrator
we hear what they see
fit to tell us
controlling their narrative
their concerns pushed
into awareness
some of this comes across like newsreel footage
banners waving
big celebration
Mark The Shark - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
and his vibe on the street
we observe study analyze assess
Don't You Know I'm All Alone - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
we're on the next barstool nursing blues
hound dog won't even chew his
bone
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| Ohme Gardens, Wenatchee, WA |
nationalism raised its ugly head
as the 19th Century rotted
all
those Romantic heroes
needed a suitable pasture
military spectacle
complete with reenactment
humorous camp scenes
dramatic
battling
Migration - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
a flock gathers in the sky
or perhaps it's lobsters
dragging their
belongings along the seafloor
in lobster scaled airstream trailers
vast flocks of them
extending further than the eye can swim
clawing westward
manifestly destined
we wave as they pass by
Sweet Dreams (I Had of You) - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
how desire takes prisoners
2 Konzertetüden, S. 145: No. 1, Waldesrauschen - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
baldly depictic
his piano is his easel palette brushes and canvas
Go Home Summer, You're Drunk - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
let's hope they're not driving
Ain't No Love Like My Baby's Love - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
songwriter imagination
crossing gender boundaries
2 Konzertetüden, S. 145: No. 2, Gnomenreigen - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
the busy busy busy of the petty demiurges
Back Alley Shakedown - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Summer Sessions 2018]
anatomy of its going down
Just The Way You Loved Me - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
bargaining
Ave maris stella, S. 506 (Piano Arr. of S. 34/2) - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
enraptured harmonic functions spread across a figuration
First Night With The Mechanical Bride - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Many Voices in Our Heads]
like Fellini's Casanova's puppet lover
Glory Glory I Love Him - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
heaven he made
so we can be saved
Mazurka par un amateur de St Pétersbourg, S. 384 - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
narrative dance
Chant to Part the Clouds - Steve Layton [from Red Sky]
must be done as a collective
to amplify the need
Stay With Me - Eddie Floyd [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
sock it to me
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| Ohme Garden, Wenatchee, WA |
5 Hungarian Folksongs, S. 245 - Franz Liszt - Domonkos Csabay
unable or unwilling to resist making them his own
a bass line takes the
early lead
not transcriptions but compositions containing said folk
songs
or variously modeled on their shapes
Last Push to the Mountaintop - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Many Voices in Our Heads]
a swarm of sounds fills the awareness bubble
Three Meals a Day - Mack Rice [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
but you gotta take another man's life away
Klavierstück in F-Sharp Major, S. 193 - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
a music wafting through its key
Valley and Vale - Steve Layton [from Red Sky]
a study in few tones in few spaces
Everybody Is Talking Love - Bettye Crutcher [from Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
some guitar pedal effect going on in there
In Session at The Tintinabulary
November 1, 2026
Welby - Keith Eisenbrey
November 2, 2026
Banned Telepath 108 Magnetics - Steve Kennedy
Banned Telepath 108 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
Banned Rehearsal 1162 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
November 4, 2026
Detritus 5 - Keith Eisenbrey
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 35
Sabbatical Improvisations 2014-2015
Another album of solo improvisations for you.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream.
