Preface
"whirl mehitabel whirl
spin mehitabel spin
thank god you re a lady
still
if you have got a frozen skin
blow wind out of the north
to hell with being a pet
my left front
foot is brittle
but there s life in the old dame yet
dance mehitabel dance
caper and shake a leg
what little blood is
left
will fizz like wine in a keg
wind come out of the north
and pierce to the guts within
but some
day mehitabel s guts
will string a violin"
Don Marquis - from "archy and mehitabel"
Texts
Recorded
April 6, 2024
Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 55 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Alfred Cortot
pulse meter rhythm
all serve the lyricism of the melody
malleable
as to any aspect
that allows the melody to breathe
Album für die Jugend - Soldatenmarsch, Op. 68 #2 - Robert Schumann - Eric Le Sage
binary form
still the go-to for your vanilla piece
a traditional
piece-shape
tried and true
Romanza in A minor, Op. 21 #1 - Clara Schumann - Susanne Grützmann
begins in suspension
floats above
Concerto in D Major, Op. 17 (#1) - Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns - Philharmonia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, Pascal Roge
1
slow burn opening gambit
sneak in through the horn calls across
the vale
the fashion was for symphonic heft
the Beethoven model of acceptable
concerto-ness
2
a chaconne-ready bass line
in periods of eight
stepwise
sequences of figures
the steps are an additional figure
that
transforms the instances
of the figures
that constitute the
sequence
likewise
the reverse
the sequence-figures
transform the step-figures
and vice versa
3
avuncular piano
vigorous sport
St. Francois d'Assise: la predicationaux oiseaux - Franz Liszt - Stephen Hough
inventing the soundtrack
a musical depiction
of a visual image
within which visual image
a narrative transpires
the Wagnerian attitude toward opera music
the music envelopes the drama
wholly
and is wholly infused by it
the particular facilities required of a pianist in this
are formidable
but much of it is delicately simple
Ein Deutsches Requiem - Johannes Brahms - Atlanta Symphony and Chorus, Robert Shaw, Arleen Augér, Richard Stilwell
a clear simple sound
carefully balanced
each activity within the
polyphonic fabric
distinguished
in no hurry
to need to
release you
from the contemplation
of these few words
a sermon and a service in one
holds tension across its entire expanse
grief is a process of repetition
April 8, 2024
Suite campestre, Op. 18 - Ferrucio Busoni - Wolf Harden
modulatory passages
with irregular increments of modulation
try to
keep track
or hang with the effect
of each increment
upon
the present
including
its retro-definition
of the past
contrapuntal procedures
kept in plain sight
no frills
La Chasseur Maudit - César Franck - Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Jean-Marie Martin
wave upon wave
swelling tide
time allowed to set the mood with
lighting
one strategy
depict elements extracted from their narrative time
another
depict them in tempo
1
bucolic fantasy
dark forest
at last the shining castle
itself
2
village market
as a dance number
intermezzo
gentle
grace
waltz of innocence
3
transfigured folk song melody
free floating variations
float free of one theme
to fix upon another
finds itself in
the dark forest
by the magic pool
here's our escort
to
return us
to the outside
4
under attack
hand to hand
in the halls
swords and
daggers
the gentle balm of comfort and healing
danger approaches
is here!
at the gate!
to arms!
is
that the cavalry we hear?
still far off?
they're here!
all
is saved!
we will make the world safe for D Major
but first
the dark forest
abides in the distance
must pay respects to the spirits there
then
a sudden D!
glorious D!
1
listening to lots of late 19th Century symphonic music
reminds
me of adolescence
on headphones
inside my head
reads
as behind me
or
too clearly made of microphones
the contrastingness of the first to the second theme
is made extreme
takes me right back
suddenly its the Disney cosmic battle
scene
2
pesky timpani part
phrasing a repeated strike
in a
quintuple time waltz
in which
the third beat
is confounded
with the sense
of a new downbeat
two three-beats
joined in the middle
an exaggerated duplicitous meter
3
the power of empire
sure of its privilege
absolute
it goes on and on about itself
phew!
4
oh despair!!
why is it considered brave and genius
to end something pianissimo?
for this reason among others
it doesn't beg for applause
it
begs for sympathy
apotheosis of cri de cœur
Symphony in B-flat, Op. 20 - Ernest Chausson - Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson
1
notes carefully chosen
carefully placed
turning inside out
as it goes
through the door
a new place
vibrant and unstable
heroic gargantuanism
2
swelling with feelings
held in check
we are civilized here
we must consider
dissect
big frowny disapproval
the
hammer descends
inner virtue survives the trial
3
but now the adventure test
storm at sea
each of these movements is a mood contrast
flighty
uncertain how
to feel at any moment
tempestuosity stopped short
by stern moral
instruction
Prelude in B-flat Major, Op. 23 #2 - Sergei Rachmaninov - Evgeny Kissin
even a prelude must contain all the passion of a full life
gets a bit
much to my ear
Arkansas Traveler - Len Spencer [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
regional smartassery
Sonata in F "Black Mass", Op. 68 (#9) - Alexander Scriabin - Michael Ponti
a boiling brew of everything
Rag-Time for 11 Instruments - Igor Stravinksy - Columbia Chamber Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky
prominent banjo part
an image of some of our music
as heard from
far parts
La Creation du Monde - Darius Milhaud - Orchestre de L'opera de Lyon, Kent Nagano
vamping repetitions
holding pattern
directly clear rhythms
those new rhythms
from over here
all the rage
over
there
show-tune jazz
Gershwin style
this piece is much more
fun
if I forget its title
perhaps it's incomplete?
La Creation du Monde (en le tumulte noir)
Stack O'Lee Pt. 2 - Cliff Edwards [from Really The Blues]
just got up and kicked the bucket
I wants my body to chill
with
Stack O'Lee
songs to amuse ones porch mates
Piano Concerto #1, Op. 35 - Dmitri Shostakovich - Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, Carol Rosenberger, Stephen Burns
tumult serene
memory smashed
recovered
music-box magic
overtaken
time to get to work
we've got some notes to play
and a game with the trumpet
a surface of alternating throbs
they slip upward
pressure from
below
erupts in splinters
back to ground mud
Savior God Above - Duke Ellington - Prospect Choir, Kia Sams
Hallelujah We Shall Rise - Sauceman Brothers [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
popular radio fare
for the low falutin'
Ballet Mecanique - Goerge Anthiel - Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Spalding
a circus procession
into the bigtop
and through the streets
industrial society
and all its hoopla and trickery
You've Got To Lose - Jackie Brenston, Ike Turner [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
a series of warnings
best take heed
A Fine Fine Boy - Darlene Love [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
a brag
I am sitting in a room - Alvin Lucier - Alvin Lucier, Simone Conforti
in what sense
is the notion
that Mr. Lucier is in the same room I
am in now
true?
a virtual room
invented by us together
the actual room I am in now
but
the status of the text's "I"
is unusual
it
is a sound speaking
as itself
(in English)
why do I want to smooth out irregularities?
why does "I" want to?
all but rhythm destroyed
to abstract one's own self
articulated by speech
but also by electronics
presumes that the
artifacts of the recording process itself
are utterly transparent
(they aren't)
a concept art
in a virtual room
because we know what he's saying
we can distinguish many words
long past where they would be understandable
if come upon cold
articulation is a two-way street
a differently colored sound
for having gotten there
like Marvin
who went the long way around
exposing the acoustic devils in architecture
Deryck Cooke interview with Jascha Horenstein
this was tacked onto the end of a Nielsen recording
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash [collected from Nancy's Mix]
and immediately
I'm back at the Oaks in Barrytown
I could almost
read you the titles of the books on the shelves
vocals in an echo
chamber
instruments not allowed
Euro Tour - Janus Circus [from Bard Sampler 82 & 83]
stray recorded sounds
from someone's adventure
the key is the word
reality
OK alright
Cantus - Keith Eisenbrey - Fehrwood Ensemble [from Purple Stripe]
figures gradually coalesce
out of long tones and ostinati
passed
through and out
Encore - Berthold Goldschmidt, Hansheinz Schneeberger, Koklja Lessing
squirrels chase around a tree trunk
{journal comment from the past (September 3, 1998):
witty and wistful
occasionally a bit square
but engaging throughout
a whiff of
Stravinsky
but not so metrically off-the wall}
Minute Etudes Book 1, "Languid" - Emily Doolittle - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded June 17, 2022]
played clearly
I could give the big hiatus more time to hang in mid air
Wye: Lynes Composed for Tintern Abbey - Robert Morris - Deborah Norin-Kuehn, Margaret Kampmeier
pitch constellations
figured sequentially and vertically
an organ
capable of moving in an instant
to a different room
Who Would True Valour See - Keith Eisenbrey - University Temple Chancel Choir, Chris Vincent [recorded in the Chapel of University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, May 13, 2018]
violating no rule of proper voice-leading
well
maybe that one
cadence
has a bit too much Stravinsky to it
to pass muster
Anglican parody
The Gospel I heard last night - Chris DeLaurenti
a distant preaching
behind the system sound
Banned Rehearsal 949 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt [January 1, 2018]
a jam-ready beat
is not just a sound
it is also a deeply encoded
social invitation
a proposal for intercourse
according to its
dictates
which makes resisting it
an awkward social situation
anti-social
but why would my consent to engage
in that
thusly dictated intercourse
be presumed?
that is how it can be coercive
last two minutes pianississimo
an amazing sound
the transients
of the means of production
and the steel drum blossom
of the strings' clear ringing
we share a love of hymnody
he plays this music in its own skin
he doesn't play this music
in
the skin of another music's pretension
Instrumental Piece - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia [from Spiritual Songs]
an instrument
is a device
by which
sounds are made
that are
the voice
of the object
if
a device
is a class
of objects
Mentre madonna il lasso fianco posa: Ahi, troppo saggia nell'errar - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
music is a trick
our social brains play upon each other
it
particularizes each now
to such an extent
we are forced to focus
upon it
what a strange thing for someone to make
Ecce panis angelorum a 8 - Peter Philips - The Choir of Royal Holiday, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Gough [from Cantiones Sacrae Octonis Vocibus]
voices in a cathedral
image of a world apart
So fahr Ich hin zu Jesu Christ, SWV 379 - Heinrich Schütz - La Chapelle Royale, Philippe Herreweghe, Agnes Mellon, Greta de Reyghere, Monique Zanetti, Howard Crook, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, Herbe Lamy, Renau Machart, Peter Kooy, Peter Lika
characterization by effective voice-leading
Danket dem Herren, denn er ist so freundlich - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
turns a delightful corner
enticing
and now a new one
again
there went the slap! of a quick page turn
Médée, Act II - Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Les Arts Florissant, William Christie
the orchestra discusses things among its constituents
then turns its
attention to the singers
inscribing their commentary
on the drama
unfolding
aria/recitatve :: formal/casual :: prepared/extemporary
a form of
politesse
Allemande l'Auguste - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
a most ornate dedication
in ones best duds
Sinfonia in C minor, BWV 788 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
trills out of the blue
Let The Bright Seraphim (from Samson) - George Frideric Handel - David Di Fiore [from The Grand Organ of the Castle Church of St. Catherine Kremnica vol. 2]
Handel can't successfully be prosecuted
for lack of extravagance
Sonata in F Major, Wq. 62.8 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
surface simple
bass in the left hand
simple
more ornate
melody in the right hand
two voices is plenty
Symphony in D Major (#13) - Franz Joseph Haydn - The Hanover Band, Roy Goodman
1
slow and stately
persists within a cloud of nervous activity
to keep it plumped and comfy
only so much adventure is allowed
to excite its nature
2
a cello solo
3
a menuet of deep curtsies and archaic charmers
4
on our way back home now
letting loose with gossip and hot
topics
we all try on the pompous face
for laughs
now we'll
sing a fugue
in pompous face
Symphony in G Major "Neue Lambach" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood
1
scrubbing on single tones
in the rhythm of scrubbing in runs
lots of scrubbing
for that brilliant shiny chrome sound
2
a guide to musical etiquette
3
last movement opening trope
contrast
a little
with
a big
expand on each
1
the fortepiano's quickness of touch made evident
2
and the glorious noise it makes as the dampers lift
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 9 #1 - Muzio Clementi - Howard Shelley
required
a willing suspension
of all your cynicism
else
you will be deaf to this music
Sonata in D Major, Op. 10 #3 - Ludwig van Beethoven - HJ Lim
1
quite the time we're having
and we're not to the hinge yet
lively in every move
2
simpler to fall
than to rise
but go we must
back
into dust
3
the genteel dinner
with the grumpy old codger
fuming in
his beard
quick with a joke for the youngens
4
a question repeated
is answered
in variable costume
Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 40 - Friederich Kalkbrenner - John Khouri
1
heavy-handed and poundy
and for variety's sake
more
pounding with heavy hands
an expansive and heroic age
Napoleon and
all
2
either
I don't like the sonority of this particular fortepiano
or I don't like this person's playing
or I don't like the piece
or all three
or any set of two
to the point
where I'm
not sure I can get a reasonable idea
about the piece that Kalkbrenner
wrote
neither touch
nor pedaling
endear
3
the risks of finding performances posted on the webs
these tunes
should sing not shout
dancing in heavy boots
Symphony in G minor (String Symphony #12) - Felix Mendelssohn - English Bach Festival Orchestra, William Boughton
opens with a grave fugue
how adolescent!?
honestly
fugues must be earned in our current rhetorical climate
there is music appreciation scuttlebutt flitting about
that
Mendelssohn's string symphonies
are as adventurous and imaginative as
Beethoven's late quartets
they are not
though
they are not
uninteresting
but
they are not that
nothing that isn't that
is that
however in all fairness
I don't think Beethoven
at the age
Mendelssohn was
when he was writing these
wrote anything
even remotely like these
but
not every young person
has a music school
at his beck and call
at that age
either
a thread into the Romantic age:
baroque nouveau
a holdover from a
past age
when galant and baroque coexisted
whip that page!
only the notes absolutely necessary
all else left out pointedly
and yet
the graces spill over each other
delicacy in a crude
world
Allegro Assai, Op. 4, #1 - Fanny Hensel - Beatrice Rauchs
this one doesn't begin
it just is going
atop this ever-gurgling
harp figure
done with an ink blot {??}
Tristia - Hector Berlioz - The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Chorus, George Szell{?}
the role that vowels play in choral music
untranslatable
without
also translating the music
far beyond retrieval
deeply weird
weren't there interesting things happening in Paris at about this time
{1848}
the Old Terror still lurks
this follows no common rubric
it charts
where
out there
was
back then
pretty darned far
as far goes
La Traviata, Act I - Giuseppe Verdi - Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Antonio Votto, Renata Scotto, Giuliana Tavolaccin, Gianni Raimondo, Franco Ricciardi
graces added
to clothe the raw expression
frivolity allowed
through open doors
dance floor
salon
where Romanticism
transpired
a party consists
of the point-of-view character
and everybody else lumped together
the lovers bond over the high
notes
party's over
time for regret and fatalism
sorry dude
you'll never get those high notes she manages
and she's
consumptive
In Session at The Tintinabulary
April 7, 2024
Cephas - Keith Eisenbrey
April 8, 2024
Assembly Rechoired 63 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
April 9, 2024
486 Hüter Israels, behüte uns - Aaron Keyt
505 Herr, es ist von meinem Leben - Aaron Keyt
April 11, 2024
507 Hirte deiner Schafe - Aaron Keyt
513 Ach Herre, du gerechter Gott - Aaron Keyt
that's all 40 of these. I listened to the whole set last night. I may need to adjust the volume on at least one of them, and perhaps redo one or two
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 16: 2015-2016
Études d'exécution imminent - Commentary
I spent 2015 and 2016 both trying out different approaches to the use of row forms and simplifying my expressive rhetoric. Second Thoughts (2015-2016) were recorded in 2017. Corollaries (2016 rev. 2018) were recorded in 2023.
Track List:
"9 - Second Thoughts"
01 A a B a B b C a C b C c
02 D a D b D c D e
03 E a E b E c E d E
e
04 F a F b F c F d F e F f
05 G b G c G d G e G f
06 H c H d
H e H f
07 I d I e I f J e J f K f
"10 - Corollaries"
08 Up's Up
09 Down's Down
10 Down's Up
11 Up's Down
Prior volumes are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2021
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