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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
"Magical operations are time-span forms: like musical performances or poetic texts, they compose the very time of their enactment - a time that encloses not only their composition but also their reception. But receptivity is an inalienable part of the act of composition: the internal feedback that simultaneously accompanies each gesture of making. The artist's (or magician's or alchemist's) management of the degree to which this is so is an essential ingredient of his or her art. Too much self-consciousness derails the performance. Inattention utterly wrecks it."
Charles Stein - "The Light of Hermes Trismegistus"
Texts
Live
May 25, 2023
Ann DuHamel, Prayers for a Feverish Planet
Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Ann plays quite well
but
throughout this concert I was frustrated
by the way in which
what each piece was
or might have
managed to be
was occulted
nearly entirely
by its "subject
matter"
and by the "theme" of the night
I'm sure I'm an outlier on this issue
but I simply don't understand
how a music can be about anything
outside of itself
except
by verbal assertion
which assertion
among other
things
unfailingly leaches all possible internal musical ambition
out of the piece in play
but the attitude that music must be about something else
has become
in our culture
a dogma and is not to be challenged
Solipsismo - Erick Tapia
local
at least
texture-register invariance
concert hall
dramatic
Forgive Them Not, For They Know What They Do - Karen Lemon
figuration texture
expands from the top down
exhausted
it
wafts from the middle
into Scriabinland
Heat Island - Frank Horvat
plangent sonority building
dissipates into the upper octaves
Air - Laura Schwendinger
figures compounding concentrate
then wash away
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
old school evocative
balanced phrases are still balanced
even if
smudged a bit
Stop Deforestation! - Darío Duarte
big sonority blocks
within which
figuration nearly vanishes
White Parasol - Ian Dicke
tri-figured
tri-registered
a fourth register-figure
breaks
the ice
Perforation - Alex Burtzos
simultaneity figures
a rhythmic motto
What We Can Say - Robert Adámy Duisberg
prelude
fugue
interlude
and double fugue
wistful
nostalgifications
Landscape of Shadow and Light - David Evan Thomas
fulsome
sonorous
late 19th Century sentimental
Our World So Freely Given - Vanessa Cornett
hymnal homophony
Recorded
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Pavana "Delight", Fvb. 277 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
modal
in the sense
that every move
is part of a negotiation
among modes
or
perhaps
that diatonicism
had come
unstuck from its modal origins
to float freely
within a newly
configured pitch world
Mazurka in E Major, Op. 6 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
each phrase
the expression on a face
enjoying the dance
in
its own way
Lied ohne Worte in E Major, Op. 38 #3 - Felix Mendelssohn - Edmund Battersby
when it gets in trouble
it flaps emptily
to light on more solid
footing
Song 4 - Charles Ives - Kia Sams, Russ Warner
its about the weather
impressionist moody
Over in Glory Land - Sam Morgan's Jazz Band [from Goodbye, Babylon]
stanzaic musical rhetoric
the first part of each line
is the
subject
the answer part of each line
predicates it
(fact,
attitude)
or places it
colors it
gives it a vector
Love Is The Strangest Game (take B) - Erroll Garner [from Erroll Garner on Dial]
it's a balance among its three functional parts
the boom chick bass
the melody and its figurations
and the glitter and other
effusionary fills
My White Knight - Meredith Wilson [from The Music Man, Original Cast Recording]
what she's looking for
or so she says
must be the end of the act
You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles [from Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music]
the studio chorus is so smooth
match the violins
Good Times - Aretha Franklin [from I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You]
celebrating the pleasure of musical sociality
Judy Is a Punk (Live at the Roxy) - Ramones [from Leave Home]
the onslaught thrill ride rush
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
a busy Caribbean style groove
Playground - The Outfield [a Rescued Record]
the stray long notes that introduce
are there so that
when the
song proper begins
it's not a cold open
but fills in
to an
already present sound world
going for that big venue sound
The Long Goodbye - Bruce Springsteen [from Human Touch]
drums open the door
good enough tune
good enough groove
good
enough changes
Dear John Letter - Whitney Houston [from Just Whitney]
multiple voices
interleaved
or underlining
words carefully
arranged rhythmically within the groove
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Gradus 124 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [August 6, 2007]
so let's listen to some notes
that we needn't valorize as music
the flip-side of the Cagean assertion
that noise is music
is
the question
of whether and why
we might need it to be
we
call an experience music
if we presume
that "as music"
is
the highest and best way to understand it
or to accept it
the
experience of listening to Neal play these three A-naturals
doesn't need
us to take it in as music
the need
if there is one
is within
us
but
what is it we need
when we need an experience
to be an experience of music
one might make the same observations
and queries
regarding language
what is it we need
when we
need an experience
to be an experience of language
possibly
as a mode of access to our fellows
in both cases
music and
language
different modes of access
possibly for different aspects
of our fellows
"our fellows" here
being regarded as expansive
enough
to include at least our own personal selves
as many have
discovered
we write or speak or compose
in order
to know
what we think in those particular modes of thinking
that we can
bring our writing speaking and composing
to uncover or elucidate
Jesus Christ - Ian Bell, John Teske [from Embers of Discontent]
every movement
in these states
feels it necessary
to abscond
with Jesus
for their punching dummy
Banned Rehearsal 940 - Pete Comley, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Neal Kosály-Meyer [July 31, 2017]
respiration flows amongst us
and the sound of traffic
we take the
evening air
we give the evening air
session characterized
by
the mix of instruments in play
rather than
in how well or
potently we are playing them
how the sounds mix
is what they are
the mix of us
as we go about our sounding business
with the
rest of the audible arena
as it
goes about
its
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Galiarda, Fvb. 278 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
scales
reptilian
overlap voices
allow fluid motion
My Heart Keeps Singing - Elder J. E. Burch [from Goodbye, Babylon]
rough and ready harmony singing
robust cast iron
whop to the head
I Wished On The Moon - Billie Holiday [from Songs for Distingué Lovers]
pattern of instrumental inclusion
stanza to stanza
keeps it lively
Enfant - Ornette Coleman [from Ornette on Tenor]
surface of the road
as we whiz along on it
path through the world
in a tunnel now
back in the open
we have arrived
The Black Angels Death Song - The Velvet Underground [from The Velvet Underground & Nico]
2nd generation beat(nik) rap
Bullet The Blue Sky - U2 [from The Joshua Tree]
a machine is activated
it will do its thing
while Bono presumes to
say something about America
What? - A Tribe Called Quest [from The Low End Theory]
nada nada nada not a thing
a series of Jeopardy responses
Basket Weaver Song from the Wanapum People of Eastern Washington - Johnny Moses [from When The Humans Thought They Were People]
healing by snake pit
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Keep This For Me - The Hope [from In The Deep]
the figure and the harmonies it expresses
the melody
and the words
that ride the figure
accumulate strings and a drummer
the words
accumulate specificity of application
while expanding possible
extensions
into us
it all fits
321 North - Cowgirls, The [from Compilation]
the right kind of crackle
intent on particularity of the sound
of
particular sounds joined
in a plainness of beat
that's so heavy
I Met Krist Novaselic - Alone in Dead Bars [recorded live in The Victory Lounge, Seattle, April 27, 2017]
subject matter of text
report of a life event
and its immediate
fantasy
dirt level aesthetics
Sonata in G Major, Op. 2 #1 - Cecilia Maria Barthélemon - Seattle Baroque Orchestra [streamed October 2, 2022]
galant era and style
gracious manners for an ordered world
or
a world in an older order
much missed
or soon to be much
missed
chaste wit for social delight
Miserere, Fvb. 279 - John Bull - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
a twig on a stream progresses irresistibly
chaotic
inexorated
downstream
Can't Put A Bridle On That Mule This Morning - Julius Daniles [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
the eternal struggle between man and mule
Then You've Never Been Blue - Judy Garland [from Alone]
deflected cadence
it doesn't deceive
it just misses
with
style
Softly Say Goodbye - Morgana King [from Gemini Changes]
transformation of an event into a movie moment
to jerk the tears
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
sneaking into the song via the scribble door
Kassandra - Iannis Xenakis - Philip Larson, Steven Schick
comes on like a beat
an announcement or pronouncement in pitched tongues
theater percussives
ceremonial
May 24, 2023
Did You Do It? - Madonna, Andre Betts, Shep Pettibone [from Erotica]
banking on provocative
Hilary Billary - Dubious Duo [from Children of Siberia]
a rough patch
gimcrack bridge
just holds
whew
Banned Rehearsal 724 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [August 13, 2007]
make a sound
let it go
strike a light
let it fade
extend duration
let it go
tintinnululate
placidating
type up the report
enter the sparkly grotto
keep typing
shake the rattle pans
bong
the bong
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
let it go
the moan tubes
moan their moans
each sound transforms
without obscuring
Song 1 - Peterman [recorded live at The Blue Moon, Seattle, October 4, 2012]
shake the cobwebs off
you hear it all baby
Steam Train Mix - Keith Eisenbrey [August 6, 2017]
Karen's recording looped
and mixed with mine
just for fun
renders the chatter largely incomprehensible
all to the good
Worms - Tom Swafford [from Rough Spaces]
wiggly squirmy
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Tell Mee, Daphne, Fvb. 280 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
a motion answered at a new speed jostles
The Church and The Kingdom - Elder J. E. Burch [from Goodbye, Babylon]
preaching on a raised tone
answered by a hymn
as might be applause
So Blue - Peggy Lee [from Dream Street]
it is not necessary
for purposes of bringing off a song
to match
the mood of the music
to the apparent mood of the lyrics
matching
the ironic slant of the word play will do it
G Waltz (Live at The Village Vanguard) - Bill Evans [from California, Here I Come]
tempos within tempos
riding the tops of tempos
sneaking about
tempos
slapping around tempos
Their Equinoctal Habits - Benjamin Boretz, Anna Dembska, Linda Smukler [from Inter/Play]
made just a few months before I arrived at Bard myself
we beasts
move about
bellowing into the wind
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
is where we are
the beasts wander where they go
the goal
as it developed
was not a music/performative one
so
much as
a hands-on workshop in social organization
how might music
be made
together
without competition
or other murderous
intent
not about making it go
or do
but hanging in there
with the
activity of being in its space
by
being a full part of the being
of that space
a voice
briefly
up to the microphone
like a curious wild
critter
nose to the camera lens
the wind is left to itself among the parting bells
Alec nade mna Wenus - Mikolaj of Krakow - Tielman Susato Krummhorn Gesellschaft [from The Glory of the Krummhorn]
motet shaped
Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore - Giuseppe Verdi [from World's Greatest Choruses]
well hammered in
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| Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon |
Loves Embrace Interlude/Loving Me - Christina Aguilara [from Stripped]
vocal over vocal
to provide multiple readings of any moment
non-vocal music is the stage and the shiny lights
Walk To You - Rachel Harrington [from The Bootlegger's Daughter]
first time to the hook
to help make the ambiguities clear
lap
steel guitar?!
effective use of vocal dissonance against the harmony
Well I Swear I Heard That Train Whistle Blow - Andrew James Robison [recorded live at The Blue Moon, Seattle, October 4, 2012]
a strum and a song
no more needed
Do The Snub - The Snubs [from Witness Protection Program]
a song is a personal statement
for collaborative invention
do the
funky snub
Cozy - Beyoncé [from Renaissance]
competitive sexiness
imaginative play of the textual delivery rhythm
In Session at The Tintinabulary
May 22, 2023
Banned Rehearsal 1076 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
we gathered on the patio and thus joined the evening sounds
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1994
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