Saturday, May 4, 2024

Playlist

Preface

"outcast bones from a thousand biers
click us a measure giddy and gleg
and caper my children dance my dears
skeleton rattle your mouldy leg
this one was a gourmet round as a keg
and that had the brow of semiramis
o fleshless forehead bald as an egg
all men s lovers come to this

this eyeless head that laughs and leers
was a chass daf once or a touareg
with golden rings in his yellow ears
skeleton rattle your mouldy leg
marot was this one or wilde or a wegg
who dropped into verses and down the abyss
and those are the bones of my old love meg

these bones were a ballet girl s for years
parbleu but she shook a wicked peg
and those ribs there were a noble peer s
skeleton rattle your mouldy leg
and here is a duchess that loved a yegg
with her lipless mouth that once drank bliss
down to the dreg of its ultimate dreg
all men s lovers come to this

prince if you pipe and plead and beg
you may yet be crowned with a grisly kiss
skeleton rattle your mouldy leg
all men s lovers come to this"

don marquis - from "archy and mehitabel"

Texts

Recorded

April 27, 2024

Sinfonia in B-flat Major, Op. 3 #4 - Johann Christian Bach - Camerata Budapest, Hanspeter Gmür

choice of key
involves considerations
of how the string sections' open strings appear within that key
and its prolongations
and
what horns sound like
on those notes 

in this movement
the horn sound is high and bright

Symphony in G Major "Alte Lambach", K45a(A221) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood

vigorous effective orchestration
primed for maximum whammy

April 28, 2024

Keyboard Sonata in A Major, Hob. XVI:26 - Franz Joseph Haydn - Christine Schornsheim

ideas begin in their several boxes
converse across the cubicle walls
some do so at length
underground communication
irregular channels

Variations on La folia d'Espagne, Wq. 118/9 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi

the theme could hardly be more plain
jumps right into figuration play
played on a fortepiano I think
for the power available
and that nice mute stop
delicate

Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 9 #3 - Muzio Clementi - Howard Shelley

if Romantic sensibilities leaked out of the late Galant
what might its tells be 

a penchant for somewhat less ornate melodies
a sense of an individual inwardness
(personal depth)
a tendency to go all dreamy
ever ready to reverize
a love of display

Piano Concert in B-flat Major, Op. 19 (#2) - Ludwig van Beethoven - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, George Solti, Vladimir Ashkenazy

an insistent urge to struggle
to heroify
mercurial moods
secret places
the role of theater
the importance of cadenzas
and fanciful sequiturs
dark corners to be wandered into 

softens up his keys with heavy blows of clenched fists

April 29, 2024

Caprice in E minor, Op. 1 #3 - Niccolò Paganini - Salvatore Accardo

dramatic cold open
in parallel octaves

12 German Dances, D. 790 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel

melodies in flowing draperies
stolidly graceful
not an art-dance
such as found in baroque suites
but more like program music
depicting particular episodes of dance
such as Chopin waltzes 

charmed times recalled
as slumber approaches

Fantasy on Polish Air, Op. 13 - Frédéric Chopin - Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord, Garrick Ohlsson

the soloist
as an imagined singer
less effective with the noodly arpeggiations
a series of musics
with little concept of doing more to help them
than direct abutment
hadn't figured himself out yet

6 Concert Studies on Caprices by Paganini, Op. 10: #1 in A-flat Major - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig

multiple bases for metrical reference
through the magic of figuration
and scale-degree echo
syncopations
in the polyphonic play of implications

6 Melodies: #2 "Allegretto" - Fanny Hensel - Beatrice Rauchs

keeps to its mood

Loreley - Clara Schumann - Dorothea Craxton, Hedayet Djeddikar

an urgent propulsion
has us by the throat

Vallee d'Obermann - Franz Listz - Alfred Brendel

hypnotic
in its ever narrowing focus
the needle's eye of the needle's eye

Sonata in F minor, Op. 5 - Johannes Brahms - Yefim Bronfman

1
annunciatory calling card
to the stage of culture fame
a group of contradictory impulses 

2
an early intermezzo
could stand alone as its own sonata 

3
the circus clown is back
to turn somersaults
play card tricks
and tell stories
lose theirself daydreaming 

4
revisit our intermezzo
brooding in a corner 

5
our better natures
offer comfort
and encouragement

Mefistofele: Prologue - Arrigo Boito - London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, John McCarthy, Norman Treigle, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Cabeallé

the idea
was to incorporate all of it
the whole universal shebang
what else was worth grasping 

the age of megalomania 

this Mefistofele wears Prada
the sense of an operatic offstage realm
the stage's outside realm

April 30, 2024

Symphony in B-flat Major (#5) - Anton Bruckner - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler (October 25/28, 1942)

try not to think who might have been listening in the hall 

1
it approaches more quickly
than is quite comfortable
then finds the strangest distance
to be at
from us
huge
and right up close too 

an older
live recording
the drums sound amazing
lifted from a 78 rpm master? 

this music thinks to itself
we're not invited
but there we are
suddenly
we dropped right out
of where anything can be
to play this back properly
I would need to be listening
where I was
within the presumed Sonata Allegro form
I would not know how this music is
there is no else for music to be
besides what you hear 

2
mirror movement
prism movement
light bender
through the glass obliquely
the music keeps going away suddenly
obsessive balance
balances
balancings 

3
the outsider movement
full of distractions and temptations
devious and intriguing games
offset metrical universes 

4
obliquely go we again
the refractory
get to work
we've got a whole fugue to haul

here
I guess God talks
with full brass choirs
here
divine victory
more glorious triumphal

Le Chasseur Maudit - César Franck - Orchestre Philharmonique De Liege, Paul Struass

I love the space around this recording
non-generic
and the orchestra is out for blood
no foolin'

Symphony in E minor (#5) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Wiener Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel

to show just how heart-on-sleeve a fellow can get
in this day and age
when being about something
was what music was about
denying any specific target
is obfuscation
every episode
is clearly
about
something
you supply the thing
it is about 

it's like cartoon high school
so fraught
and then to throw an idée fixe into the mix
practically begging
to be about stuff
even jumps out of the closet at you 

doesn't help
that I played timpani in this
at Orchestra Camp
back in the day 

and here
we have Idée Fixe
in his palace
full honors
imperial pomp
banners stream
cannons blast
cavalry charges
such glory
victorious army
marching on parade

May 1, 2024

Symphony in E minor, Op. 95 "The New World" (#9) - Antonín Dvořák - Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti

two big long-familiar E minor symphonies in a row
I remember being puzzled
as a kid
as to how composers decided
to stop doing one thing
and start doing another
I surmised
that each segment
must
correspond
to one day's work
new day
new music 

if this symphony
is modeled on an operatic trajectory
and the first movement
stands in the place of the overture
then
the second movement
is the curtain open
to present the first scene 

relies on the charisma
of the long line

the flutes enter
and many pages are turned 

happy peasant charm

Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 23 (#3) - Alexander Scriabin - John Ogdon

sonatas must be both symphonic and operatic
and symphonies must also be operatic
this music goes for symphonic
but keeps getting distracted by its own workings
which come apart
when observed much 

as the old galant era tonality
was then disintegrating

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 42 - Jean Sibelius - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Walter Hendl, Jascha Heifetz

1
no overture here
cold open
on the Finnish steppe 

hero in the watchtower 

pizzicato low strings 
texture of nervous worry

wide-screen engineering
relies on the charisma of the soloist
the music needs to make it plain
it is the real
name-brand
soloist
with all their fame
with them
there
on the stage
all for you 

2
let's try this again
and again its going all appassionato 

3
new approach
vigorous work
a crowd at the gates

Gaspard de la Nuit - Maurice Ravel - Vlado Perlemuter

whatever an orchestra can do
a piano can also
and should
without respite 

keyboard clouds
a landscape painting
muted colors
quiet water
indistinct horizon 

color as effect
as
what it's about
relies on its picturesqueness

Les Pantins dansent - Eric Satie - Frank Glazer

stakes its claim
elsewhere
firmly not fancy

Pan og Syrinx - Carl Neilsen - Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt

everything breaks apart
the bonds no longer hold

Whirligig - Ruth Crawford Seeger - Jenny Lin

a clever toy

'Taint So Honey, 'Taint So - Al Bernard [from That Devilin' Tune]

social entertainment
comic song clowning

May 2, 2024

China Town - Louis Armstrong [from That Devilin' Tune]

cookin' band
an image of prowess and showmanship

Organ Concerto in G minor - Auburn Sympphony Orchestra, Stewart Kershaw, David Di Fiore

recorded on an organ
in a space
neither of which
exists anymore 

an old-fashioned concerto
in the sense
of the image
of how the soloist's sound
interacts
with the orchestra's sound
id est
as an equal
contrasting sound
rather than
as a Napoleonic Hero 

a piece for organ and orchestra
as two choirs
but all
within an image
of what a piece must be
symphonic
dramatic
wide emotional scope

Your Hands in Mine - Florence Price - Lara Downes

concert arrangement of a song
using occasional Broadway inflected harmonies
a step aside from lounge piano

Sonatas and Interludes: Sonata II - John Cage - Adam Tendler

mechanical music for machine performance

Feelin' Good - Junior Parker (Little Junior's Blue Flames) [from Sun Records Definitive Hits]

cookin' guitar plucker back there

Rave On - Buddy Holly [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]

music as fashion accessory

Walking Along - The Young Men [a Rescued Record]

Seafair Bolo Records!!
wholly wholesome

Take Time to Know Her - Percy Sledge [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]

witness and preaching
complete with organ and choir

Angels of Mercy - Paul Revere and The Raiders [from The Legend of Paul Revere]

tuning into the sound o' the times
interesting synth/organ sound bright and shiny

NBC Mini-Series: Holocaust - Morton Gould - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz

I may have watched this mini-series back in the 70s when it aired

Intermezzo 3 - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at Bard Hall, March 18, 1983]

hanging sounds in space
as much installation as piece
tempo
(slow)
allows time to move
within the space
occupied by the sounds
as they are hung there
the out-of-tune piano is loving this

Wreckin' Ball - Girl Trouble [from Hit It Or Quit It]

massive school gym reverb

Banned Rehearsal 320 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [February 6, 1993]

we chose
as parents
that our kids
would be a part of the sessions
for as long as they would put up with it
thinking
it would
perhaps
be an influence
I presume it was
but immersive influence
is a multi-valent vector
not an artistic path
for the faint of heart 

dulcimer shaker and toddler and flute
brief hint of Aaronsbundler on dulcimer dolcissimo

as thought become words
words become thought 

J is all a fuss
says rattle
and enunciates the tt 

apple
rattle
piano
all rhyme 

Uncle Dij does dijeridu
too dark to find it
dij and dulcimer
and bell and whistle
two dulcimers
the dulcimera

pick
J learns the word
pick
on February 6, 1993 

squeeze box toy shakers
cleanse the sound
it's a nose pick
we learn something about music
as one among us
learns language 

an outsider theory
on the extinction of the dinosaurs
made the baby cry
it ends

good dog
gets the bone
good dog
bone
this old man
come rolling home 

the hint of Aaronsbundler
has awakened the Wurlitzer Funmaker Sprite
$200 at a music store
in Greenwood
acquired early in Banned Rehearsal history
before the move to Seattle
so
sometime in '84 

what's red and green
and goes 100 miles an hour
a frog in a blender 

shake
rinse 

microphones capture nothing
it all flows
right through
unimpeded
in principal 

ends on V

Superwise - Goodness [from Goodness 1995-1998]

opening sound
as though recorded over a pre-existing sound file
signifies a DIY vibe

24 Preludes: #5 - #8 - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, June 6, 2009]

such gentle-souled music 

Min Hametzer - Kia Sams - Prospect Choir, Kia Sams

if
the meaningfulness of an episode
is
what the words are saying
first
then
without translation
or other outside help
we
are left adrift
with the music
only
even
if clearly
not the show

Banned Rehearsal 828 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [January 21, 2013]

playing
and exploring
and trying
and hearing

some sounds
maintain a constant presence
some lurk
in shadows
some enter
shyly
through the underbrush 

tam tam gets all excited
we are a coalesced sound
well worth an inquiry
about
how each part
might be being done
and with what 

so many
one-of-a-kind instruments
so many possible techniques
and activities thereof

May 3, 2024

So Dawn Chromatically Descends to Day - Kate Soper - Kate Soper Sam Pluta

a theory of musical reference
with some leaps of logic
unexamined
following up
on a presumption
of a common evolutionary source
for language and music
with poetry as the evidence
but
neither music
nor language
nor poetry
is defined
they are left hanging
as bare references

Banned Rehearsal 1069 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [January 30, 2023]

banjo 

glockenspiel/xylophone
synth 

banjo has moved to the pipesqueaker
a length of metal tubing
with foam insulation
grasp firmly
squeeze and twist
the pipe squeaks! 

round two
xylophone station
finds some hanging metal
that can be struck and rung
xylophone finds a voice
synth mutters to itself
light percussion keeps it real

In Session at The Tintinabulary

April 26, 2024

Sinfonia 12 (midi) - Keith Eisenbrey

this is now out of clavichord workshop
with some hope of a recording on that fine instrument soon
I came pretty close twice this week

April 28, 2024

Pilesgrove - Keith Eisenbrey

as a discipline
I am composing a setting of a shape-note tune each Sunday.

April 29, 2024

Gradus 394 - Neal Kosály-Meyer

plethoras of notes
stepping deliberately
transparent intent
homogeneous motion sets
within hand-positions
(register/eye-span)
for stretches of this rung
the hands are close together
and shift in tandem
the hands have gone briefly apart
allowing a larger
more variegated sense
of local register 

new rung
single tones open
similar stepwise shapes
rhythmic figures allow direct comparison
of moment to moment

{NB: I'm guessing there will be no blog next week, as we will be out of town}

Postscripts

Drops

Keith Eisenbrey 17: 2017-2018

Études d'exécution imminent - Illustrations

In this segment of the Études d'exécution imminent I combined existing musics with settings derived from mod-17 row forms treated as sequences of interval-classes rather than as sequences of row-classes. Ghosting is an accordion piece by Amy Denio that caught my fancy. The Chorales' melodies were extracted from the Bach-Riemenschneider volume of harmonized chorales, and Frankie and Johnny was formed from the traditional American song.

Tracks:

Ghosting Doubles (after Amy Denio) (2017)

01. first sighting

02. second sighting

03. third sighting


Chorales (2017)

04. Aus meines Herzens Grunde

05. An Wasserflussen Babylon

06. O Ewigkeit du Donnerwort (one way)

07. O Ewigkeit du Donnerwort (other way)

08. Jesu, nun sei gepreiset

09. Jesu, meine Freude

10. In dulci jubilo

11. Alle menschen mussen sterben

12. Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich

13. O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig

14. O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sunde Gross

15. Jesu, der du meine Seele


16. Frankie and Johnny (2018)

"Ghosting Doubles" were recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, on March 24, 2018. The melody "Ghosting" is used with the kind permission of Amy Denio, copyright by Spoot Music. "Chorales" and "Frankie and Johnny" were recorded at my home in 2021 and 2019 respectively. The words for "Frankie and Johnny" are traditional.

Prior volumes are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com

All are free for download.

Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery

listening journal doodles from 2022






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