"August {1835}"
George Cruikshank, from The Comic Almanack
an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, Containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips and Oddities, First Series, 1835-1843
Texts
Recorded
September 15, 2024
To God Our Strength - The Robert Shaw Festival Singers [from Amazing Grace]
open thy mouth
and I will fill the same
an imperative and a promise
(a covenant)
Banned Rehearsal 484 - Isaac E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [February 13, 1998]
the Mighty W and the piano circle warily
percussion keeps it civil
giving space
to express
with supportive commentary
amen
preach it
mostly
the W takes up the given space
a feedback has gotten loose
quivers slowly among the standing wave nodes
tin drum talks it
down from the rafters
and makes friends with it
Isaac has a bit of fuss
fade to vanish
without coming to an ending
W is back
and
shaker
a pile of verbal text sound
at first a duet
between organ and piano
percussion and honkhorn
interrupts
someone sits at the drumkit
organ broad and sustained
swallows almost everything else with it
all else
is heard in
its context
personnel change
there is a difference
between sounds
heard
as abstract nonhuman sound-only music
and sounds
heard as evidence
and content of human exchange
abstract aesthetic tokens
given and
taken
as sensual wave-form structures
sound and not intent
as soon as sound
has intent
has human content
is part
of a social interaction
we must address its
and our
personhood
not just
those aspects of human eloquence
that are only
or even that are best
uttered
as music
but rather
just those aspects
which are not being so uttered
utterance
both
from within itself
to us
as we
inhabit it
but also
utterance to the other complexes
within
its own self
as though
we
were only partly intended
to
overhear
Isaac babbles}
Wired (for luck) - Tom Baker [from Sounding The Curve]
a guitar is being played
and devices
that play the guitar's sound
are also played
Track 7 - Aaron Keyt [from 7(7)]
a computer synthesized sound
made of memory locations
created by
inscribing a signal
generated by sounds
picked up on a microphone
a digital
musique concrète
with most of the sounds
being unashamedly musical
most
but not all
none of it
would be surprising to hear
in a piece of live acoustic concert
music
such as has been composed in the last 20 or 30 years
Ahpook - Sage [from Forked]
action movie soundtrack
adrenalin pump music
when we portray our
doings
as heroic
mythic
we myth ourselves
we project
an invention
onto our actions
drawing a long straight line
with a viola tone marker
quiet bells
occasional starts and snores
from the back
benches
being present to an occasion
presenting an occasion
present at an
occasion
a set of compositional attitudes
as to social function
there are chimes
or autoharp
we move our bodies
to new locations
and find other
noisemakers
angklung
drum
shakers
radio chatter
accordion
Bright Bouncers - Steve Layton [from Red Sky]
chrome pillars
flashing colored lights
upscale hip
we start
again
along the same ride
on a track
in a circuit
a
closed loop
ride's over
exit to your left
mind the step
Vos Flores, Rosarum (De Martyribus, Responsorium) - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia [from Spiritual Songs]
the intersection
of scholarship
centered on antique musical praxis
and popularity trends
arising
from even the best of
intentions
and virtuous motives
is a perilous one
being
without expertise
on 12th Century musical practices
I am
without insight
into how much of what is presented
is
plausibly authentic
and how much
might have accreted to it
to make it 'presentable'
I just don't know
for instance
was singing a line
over a held tone
(a drone)
known
to be how these were
or might have been
sung
Geistliche Chor-Music, Op. 11, SWV 369-397 (1648), Volume 1: XV. Ich bin eine rufende Stimme - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
this music forwards an interpretation of the text
a commentary or sermon
music
as a means of theological elaboration
Fantasia super "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ", BuxWV 188 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
the chorale tunes
were a teaching tool
the congregation will
remember the words
because of the tune
so
any repetition of
the tune
within its native culture
even without words
will
remind the congregation
of the words
they have sung
and of
course
a spectacle to lure them in
repetition of a figure
in the middle two
of four spans
ABBC
the B figure
trades position function
(2 of 2
to
1 of 2)
Sinfonia in G minor, BWV 797 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
if it is a polyphonic answer
then
the second B figure
has
two position functions
(2 of 2
and
1 of 2)
Keyboard Sonata in C Major, KK. 242 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
and then the figures begin to come apart
Sonata in A Major, W1. 65/32 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
devious games
of position function
and quick spin changes of
figure
any 2nd of 2
can be manipulated
in multiple
transformative modalities
it can seem to be several
among many
contained
as a figure
more than one way to climb a ladder
concertante:
an attitude of orchestration
finding ensembles within
ones ensemble
subgroups and individuals
instruments
inhabiting the position of a song singer
within the music
partitions the orchestra
into functions
solo
and
accompaniment
all
while holding the tonal
and voice-leading
functions
intact
socially
a concertante serves
to boost the visibility
of the
soloist(s)
a career opportunity composition
a resume
internal consistency
any moment's figure
could be worked
so
as to
begin
to continue
or to end
position function plasticity
this movement
is for our oboist
newly arrived from wherever
could use some assistance
shower them with gifts
tips
accepted
service economy
use of compositional devices
L'infideltà delusa, (continued) - Franz Joseph Haydn - Orchestre de Chambre de Laussanne, Antal Doráti
I sense a conspiracy among the young folk
I keep hearing the word
matrimonio
a cute little coughing cavatina
coloratura coughing
can't be easy to accomplish
quite darling
who's that
knocking on the stage-set door?
in a staged number opera of this era
the stage set
and character
to character interactions
only need to exist
during the
recitatives
they should vanish elsewhere
a drama
transpiring
in alternating times
recitative time
and aria time
there's
that word again
the one that rhymes
with testimonio
Concerto in C Major for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Neville Mariner, James Galway, Marisa Robles
following the outlines
of what became
shortly
the model for
concerti
deviation from which
became
soon
worthy of
admonition
and comment
he is enjoying the play
between the two soloists
being instruments
of different types
flute like a voice
harp like a keyboard or
guitar or lute or orchestra
Symphony in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastorale" (#6) - Ludwig van Beethoven - NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
1
we are propelled through the countryside
as on a cart
what
passes by
does so
at our pace
what we pass
holds
still
2
we breathe in the brookside air
so pleasant and cool
3
pleasures vigorous and cheery
4
I think we're going to get wet
off go the clouds
here
comes the sun
5
let's dry ourselves out
see if we can find some supper
and
a bed
a single music
separated at the waist
sutures are swiftly applied
see
good as new
said pants to shirt
Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960 (#20) - Franz Schubert - Paul Badura-Skoda
1 & 2
touches the low trill lightly
what would the piano of today be like
had it been optimized
for
Schubert
rather than for Beethoven?
maximize
rather than minimize
timbre differences
across the
register span
the pianist's chord voicing
is exquisite
how many gradations
of dynamic
and color
and voicing
can there be?
and the figuration
isn't even all that fancy
there are whole swaths of this Sonata
that
though familiar
are always stranger
than one remembers
the abyss
is now a familiar feature
just keep away from the edge
if your balance is weak
3
does this belong in this company?
yes
but only after it
has nearly exhausted itself
the abyss cannot be hid
from all
eyes
4
mood and mode
shift from one end of a phrase
to another
certainly not stable
between paragraphs
nor within them
figurational voice leading
the extraordinary
arises
out of
the unextraordinary
Prelude in E-flat Major, Op. 28 #14 (alternate tempo) - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlson
much slower than the usual tempo
dire
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 - Johannes Brahms - London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, Henryk Szeryng
modulations that lose themselves in thought
a sunsoaked opening
and a sudden solo entrance
with things to say
in this recording
the violinist
seems to have their own stereo
image
it stands apart
from that of the orchestra
audio-engineered
aural spotlight
the soloists
bestow their blessing
on the sunny land
Horn Concerto, Op.l1 (#1) - Richard Strauss - Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe, Peter Damm
after the manner of Mendelssohn or Schumann
and ably pastiched too
Symphony in E minor, Op. 64 (#5) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Leningrad Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky
1
nice bass line in the motto theme
care was taken
with its
orchestration
which strings it gets played on
in the double
basses
I played timpani in this piece
at an orchestra camp
way back in
the way back
2
waddayaknow
another horn concerto!
loves to start things
with the double basses
and here's the set-up
for the big
fortissimo wallup
later in the movement
3
everybody loves a scene
set at a ball
some action in the
kitchen
among the whispering staff
out front
the whist
tables comment
on the glitter
4
ceremonial
by way of being
honors and awards
and diplomas
the hope of the nation
now the storm of meet and greet
ah Empire!
here come the nobly triumphant troops
in proud ranks
such shining
swords
such crisply goose-stepping jackboots
Das Orgel-Büchlein, BV B 27: No. 6, Herr Gott, nun schleuß den Himmel auf (After J. S. Bach's BWV 617) - Feruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
while one is arranging a setting
for a given melody
the question
of suitable garb arises
how might I dress this melody
to bring out
the qualities
I wish to attend?
as Bach/Busoni are doing herein
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 38 - Alexander Scriabin - Michael Ponti
the waltz glitters and pulses
giddy with lust and sensation
all
that's heightened
is heightened
to the max
it was just
the dreamiest
a performance temptation
to make more of what is there
than what
is there
to perform one's image
of what is there
and not
what is there
to produce The Masterpiece
rather than
the
mere composition
Igor brilliantly finds rhythms in there
I haven't elsewhere heard
the sound engineering
is perhaps a bit too surreal
to be
believable
but not egregiously so
however
a composer's stated opinion
about performance practice
is not
and can't be
their original intent
at most
a poem
from the same lips
was this recorded for broadcast?
something about the way they're
adjusting the loudness
hoping for our ears to adjust
for the size
of the sound
in something other than just amplitude
our ears can
accommodate
a much larger span of dynamic range
than can
successively be broadcast via radio
now
this
is the elder's music
not music
depicting them
and yet
to what extent
is Igor depicting
puppeting
the dancers
on stage
another set of puppet strings
Le Sacre du printemps
as a puppet ballet
huge puppets
bonfires
puppet dances
into a fiery frenzy
just like
Burning Man
but scarier
poke it
with sticks
till it
dances
till it bleeds
till it is dead
this
is not a
nice piece
magic is done
fiendful procedures
the gruesome
corpse
under total control
no it
left
but
its
shell
only
empty carapace
Taras Bulba - Leoš Janáček - Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Masur
operatic scene-setting
a tone pantomime
getting music ready for
the movies
pantomime
relies on a repertoire
of stock gestures
a signing
language
can the musical depicton
of stock gestures
indirectly evoke
what the depicted stock gestures mean
as stock gestures
this music is loads of fun
in despite of the fact
that each of the
three movements' titles
mentions someone's death
ah!
there's our happy tonic triad
so satisfying
A Fugal Concerto, Op. 40.2 - Gustav Holst - The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Hogwood
it is essential
to exhibit
our correct knowledge
of
time-honored practices
none of that Gothic monstrosity of Expressionism
nor of Slavic Primitivism
we are English after all
America, an Epic Rhapsody for Orchestra: II. Sorrow - Ernst Bloch - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Chorale, Gerard Schwarz, Richard Sparks
some tunes are gathered here
to remember our ante-bellum paradise
and its innocent pleasures
how it was wrecked and ravaged
Wild Goose Chase - Casa Loma Orchestra [from That Devilin' Tune]
this is not a puppet
but a hand drawn
animated film
the
playing of it
is a show
like Paganini
Irish Suite for String Piano and Small Orchestra - Henry Cowell - Continuum, Joel Sachs, Cheryl Seltzer
hyper-realism
of fantastical images
special effects
three
cryptids
for your enjoyment
tonight only
on a stage near you
Banshee, Leprechaun, and Faery Bells
sure as shootin'
there
they are
just as one would expect them to be
no surprises
Joao Cambuete - Heitor Villa-Lobos - New York Chamber Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, Robert Bonfiglio
the last song
on the evening porch
Duo 1 - Arthur Berger - Joel Smirnoff, Christopher Oldfather
voices move
from instrument to instrument
some pitches
contain acute corners
their simultaneities
don't behave like
chords
neither the figured bass kind
nor the chord-change kind
and they don't behave
like the resultants
of polyphonic
motions either
it is important
that each note
be clearly
heard
and yet
clear harmonic progression
and no lack of
counterpoint
{journal entry of January 31, 2006:
strenuous
loving
effort
is made
to take account
of all the parts
that moving one part
moves}
Octet I - Earle Brown
presumably spliced the old-fashioned way
blade and tape
originally for eight loudspeakers
but
is it important
to
hear
in the mix
where
each individual speaker speaks
or
is it just
the multiplicity
and spread
that
is necessary
I couldn't count them
and can't think
why I
would want to
Crossroads - Paul Bley, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
sounds like a scrap heap
Strange Feeling - Billy Stewart [from The Best of Billy Stewart]
awesome mix/arrangement
fabulous back-up singers
dimly
through our modern chatter
reference to the rearward
talk distracts
by reference
even the singing
is a
reference
to singing
the music
a reference to music
20th Century
fan art
big on tam tam
Stop - Karlheinz Stockhausen - London Sinfonietta, Karlheinz Stockhausen
bubbling cook pot
we hear notes
and echoes of notes
motion
reduced
to a sticky goo
notes
share their noteness
but aren't speaking with each other
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
tribal attitude marketing
All Out of Focus - Dan Sedia - Dan Sedia [recorded live at Bard College, March 18, 1983]
motions that breathe freely
That's Wild About Jack - U-Men
the strongest part
is before the drums come in
to regulate the
proceedings
Partita - Benjamin Boretz - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, May 14, 1993]
from the first recital I gave in Seattle
in this piece
I love how
the plain-as-day melodic thread
leaps among the registers
without effort
I rather made a hash out of most of it though
a pity
but spirited
Shard - Elliott Carter - Michal Nicolella
a thread of attention
finds itself in shifting time-garb
it's a
trick
to keep up with your clothes
Prelude in B-flat Major - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded May 12, 2022]
I re-recorded this
a week later
I wonder why?
maybe the last
sound was a little unclear?
Symphony 1 (first movement) - Chuck Graef
Chuck is a cousin of mine
(we share a set of great-grandparents)
who works in commercial music (film, etc.)
this is a loop/sample
based orchestral work
designed
(I think)
as a kind of resume
to demonstrate
a marketable skill
a test
I
would
have utterly failed
mood weaving
Banned Rehearsal 830 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [February 18, 2013]
let's create radio static
from scratch
a substrate
of
overlapping signals
we adjust
the fine tuning
inventory
reveals a subculture
of activities
I love it
when I can't figure out
how a sound
is being
made
going to ukulele town
wooden frog guiro and rattles
finger bells
and snores
tin can shakers
and tin can drums
I think we've moved out to the barnyard
there are birds in the
ceiling
evening by the pond
a hymn is intoned
LawNOrder - Darius Jones - Seattle Modern Orchestra, Julia Tai [from Black Lives Matter]
"this is not a performance it's a protest"
but aren't protests
performances?
there is a problem
with political relevance
slogan distracts
from image
one's own sympathies
are
irrelevant
to the problem
Sinfonia 1 (midi) (version of February 28, 2023) - Keith Eisenbrey
there were four subsequent revisions
and this was not the original
"finished" version
revisions
to the various Sinfonias
were guided
by what
bugged me
while workshopping them on clavichord
most of them had
fewer revisions than this first one did
I was still trying to work out
what kinds of things
these Sinfonias were
In Session at The Tintinabulary
September 15, 2024
Zephyr - Keith Eisenbrey
September 16, 2024
Gradus 401 - Neal Kosály-Meyer
a new counting!
a system of notation
that can't be fluently read
unless
the rung
has so few notes in it
that it can be
grasped
in ready memory
without reference to the page
each idea
of finger and hand
cross-checked
for
allowability
the pages are exchanged
front to back
and back to front
at
first
what was played
was in front
but now
it is in
back
and it is not played
and
what was not played
at
first
is now
in front
and is played
exchangeable pagination function
Postscripts
Drops
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
