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| Kiwanis Park, Yakima |
"'What have you done?' inquired Mr. Pickwick.
'I!'
'I mean
what did you do when your married daughter told you this?"
'Oh, I made a
fool of myself of course,' rejoined Wardle.
'Just so,' interposed Perker,
who had accompanied this dialogue with sundry twitchings of his watch-chain,
vindictive rubbings of his nose, and other symptoms of impatience. 'That's
very natural; but how?'
'I went into a great passion and frightened my
mother into a fit,' said Wardle.
'That was judicious,' remarked Perker;
'and what else?'
Charles Dickens - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Live
May 24, 2024
Shelby Earl "Songs for Singing III" Featuring Billy Brush & the
Passenger String Quartet
with Julia Massey
The Triple Door,
Seattle
Julia was wonderful
and worth finding some music to study out there
but Shelby
who has recently had a difficult time personally
shone.
 |
| Kiwanis Park, Yakima |
May 20, 2024
Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
no establishment before achievement
we ascend to the key
here the
new key arrives
riding fast from the horizon
this new key seeks
refuge
Album für die Jugend: Trällerliedchen, Op. 68 #3 - Robert Schumann - Eric Le Sage
we could put it here
or there
or back here
yes
that's
better
Sonata in B minor - Franz Liszt - Alicia de Larrocha
paths between poles
spreads out the betweens
of pole-defined spans
planes of lingering moments
heroic struggles
in three-step
sequences
using step-count
within sequences
as a
dramatic/rhetorical tool
Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 - Johannes Brahms, Julius Katchen
Paganini's Caprice turns up down
which is developed
in these
variations
downs and ups
a game of hands
weaving fast
through traffic
Mefistofele, Act 2 - Arrigo Boito - London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, John McCarthy, Norman Treigle, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Cabeallé
making the formalities of composition serve the drama
within its poetics
a mediated stage
libretto:
a dramatic poem
to be sung
everybody wants to stage a witches' sabbath
what fun!
what
costumes!
what sets!
and cannons!
 |
| Yakima |
flip the stone
the end becomes the beginning
cadential turning
point
curvilinear sequences
of every curving
curves back to
the top
each time
more clearly a reference
to Beethoven's D
minor opening
clarity lifts the spirit soaring
arrive from the near distance
at full charge
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta, Itzhak Perlman
personifying the music
the soloist plays
as a single character
whom
we get to know
we partake
in their heroic
struggles
a persona
upon which
we project ourselves
May 21, 2024
Macchiette medioevali - Ferruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
posed carefully
details adjusted
hold still for the camera
part of the substrate of Satie?
character pieces of squarish parts
Symphony in D minor - César Franck - New York Philharmoic, Kurt Masur
rising from gloom
ever hopeful
we venture into the outside world
difficulties rear up in our path
back to gloom
oh anguish
our hope
is in the melody
lines without ornament
mordent-less
trill-less
turn-less
sparing of skips
but used with effect
when brought in
happy tune ending
complete with angels and their harps
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| Yakima |
this and the above
are of a type
big solid movements
full
concert orchestra
invested in tune drama
the Beethoven model
difference:
Beethoven was using dramatic rhetoric
as an arena
in which to work out
the inner cosmos of notes
tune drama here
whom do we blame?
Berlioz?
Wagner?
Schumann's alphabetical
tunesmithery?
tune drama
personification
or identification of tunes
so
they can occupy the stage
and enact the symphony
the direct aesthetic riposte
was Impressionism
I like the spirit
of this recording
Chanson Perpétuelle - Ernest Chausson - Jessye Norman
but Impressionism
is another form of depiction
the relation
obtaining
between a music
and an other thing
mimesis
depictic music
nice singing Ms. Norman
Poeme Satanique - Alexander Scriabin - Michael Ponti
polymetric ratios
as a means of tempo motion
19th Century ends with perpetual song
20th Century begins with satanic
verse
Feux d'artifice, Op. 4 - Igor Stravinsky - Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Riccardo Chailly
an early favorite CD demonstration piece
Prelude to the Shrovetide Fair
Chapitres tournés en tous seus - Eric Satie - Frank Glazer
absurdist
or drollist
objects of depiction
the object
is entirely imaginary
but
unimaginable as a stable object
but
the notes proceed upon their own odd agendi
pointedly
ignorant
of what they are imputed to depict
O Lass Uns Noch - Eduard Steuermann - Eduard Steuermann
digging into the depiction
the dark Freudian underbelly of expressionism
(another depictic music)
(or rather
music can't be depictic
but music theories can)
Fünf Stücke, Op. 23 - Arnold Schoenberg - Paul Jacobs
digging into assumptions
embedded in received wisdom
to form
metatheories
about the assumptions
we missed
the first time
around
could music depict music theory?
these are the pieces
(and the recording)
by which Schoenberg
seduced me
as a pup
Goin' To Rest Where Jesus Is - Blind Joe Taggart [from Goodbye, Babylon]
you'll learn it
just jump in
any time
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| Yakima |
would we write
a quaintly exotic caricature
of a similar social
institution
found in Canada?
a colorful vacation
a special
treat
Elegy in Memory of Maurice Ravel - David Diamond - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
monumental as
but not as archaic in image as
Ruggles
even gets some glockenspiel in there
Symphony in C minor, Op. 65 (#8) - Dmitri Shostakovich - London Symphony Orchestra - André Previn
what might it mean
to be tasked
with being the national composer
hero
in interesting times
another episode in depictics
see what the cinematographer sees
view what the viewfinder finds
perpetual night
mobilization
hand off
from camera to camera
from shot to shot
liquid night
 |
| Kiwanis Park, Yakima |
Stand By Me Sister - Sister Matthews [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
this is collected by the collector
as an example of American Country
music
a genre they describe
as "casual sophistication"
or
something to that effect
for me
it can come down
to whether
or not
that music
would be comfortable
on a porch
or
at a sing-along
Souvenirs, Op. 28 - Samuel Barber - Leonard Slatkin, John Browning
four hands
a method of arranging orchestral music
for quick and
inexpensive performance
demo?
so
if this music is depictic
what might its subject be intended to
be?
some specific knickknacks?
fond memories?
a tee-shirt
and a mug?
a matchbook and a placemat?
 |
| Yakima |
important composers write symphonies
very important composers number
them
Expressionism
the film noir of music
depicts its expression
by the 50s
a declining fashion
among symphony audiences
and
boards
and music directors
Journey to The Stars - The Ventures [from Walk Don't Run]
time for gung-ho adventure
Lyric Variations for violin and computer - J. K. Randall - Paul Zukofsky [from Open Space 5]
starts with hymnodic simplicity
proceeds lucidly
by clear
steps
to remarkable conclusions
supremely witty
we find ourselves in space
untethered
The Dark Side of the Moon: side one - Pink Floyd
rebirth
Orpheus as a failed suicide
extended dream sequence
introduction to a song
that is patient to really get started
but
is
in fact
the second cut
post groovy
post psychedelic
id est
after Syd
Richard gets creative?
time to get up
concept song
the symphonia that precedes the song proper
the song
itself
the other song itself
each a step
in consideration
of the concept of time
a different take:
like Kierkegaard's Abraham
a set of
considerations
postlude
ritornella
cold and tired
to their credit
there had never been
to my knowledge
anything remotely like this before
within commercial music
in scope
and cohesion of purpose
for whatever all it is
it is an original
they gave the female vocalist
who is incredible
no words to sing
why?
the Eternal Wordless Feminine
 |
| Yakima |
that whole strenuous control
of every parameter
from a design
standpoint
a common obsession
among Darmstadtians
Princetonians
Yaleists
and Cageists
clearly at play
here
along with its attendant
or guiding
double
accumulation/mobilization of resources
assets
it occurs to
me
just now
that if I had gone to Oberlin
rather than the UW
there is a possibility
I might have been involved in this
weird
not sure what I would have made of it
Intermezzo 4 - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded February 25, 2010]
a shift in the interval mix
bends the gameboard
a detailed
examination
of an intimate surface
Whistlin' Pete - U-Men
famous firework
mostly smoke and noise
could be heard for a mile
or more
if the night were calm
and the harbor still
a Northwest punk classic
Banned Rehearsal 321 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [February 19, 1993]
big splash cymbals open
soaked to the skin
we are intent on
pushing this through
bells and snares
a nearly two-year-old
is a difficult audience to engage
ha ha has
back at Aaron's
ha ha has
and says
Jack and
Jill
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
just Aaron holding down the fort
with Mr. Alligator
the Search of
Life in the University
is not a funding priority
for the Clinton
Administration
careful
sound bites
uh oh
my recording engineering goal
at that time
was to get as much signal onto the tape as possible
at the risk of occasional distortion
but
cassette tape
distortion
was generally not unlistenable
in the same way digital
clipping is
the benefit
is the up close tiny sounds
gourd by my son
overdriven Funmaker
always a winner
lice tell no tales
a young Allen Ginsberg
a red velvet top hat
and a pair of finger
cymbals
and black leather briefcases
full of improperly served
injunctions
AGGA!
I have it on tape
Aaron taught J to sneeze
now a fuss
must be getting tired
and teething at that
J says
medicine
 |
| Yakima Area Arboretum |
delivery tempo differentiation
settles into a slow groove
spacy
vibe
Ars Subtiler Ballades: Baude Cordier, Jacob de Senleches - Elaine Barkin [from Open Space 34]
as though it knew not
what would emerge out of its mouth
every next note along
Gradus 220 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [January 28, 2013]
back in the days
of many As
are we intent to understand our doings?
and if understanding
is a
doing being done
then what?
restrictions on notes
only these
not those
be complete
a rung:
the music of a set of notes
any music of any set of notes
is a rung
:::
duplicates abound
data set as stimulus
box of parts
no instructions
Asu mo Zangai - Yuji Takahashi - Takashi Matsudair, Shinya Hashimoto [from Open Space 43]
speaking to the serpent
as to a friend
Gradus 376 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [February 6, 2023]
first the sixth D down
big on ordinality
strictly serial
well-temperament was developed
in order to liberate functional
tonality
from Pythagorean intonation
so that
its system
could be practically complete
that is
complete in practice
as well as in theory
|||
release
allowance
complete filtered analysis
id est
analyzing a piece of music
using all possible combinations
of pitch sets
in turn
|||
but well-temperament included other possibilities as well
 |
| Yakima |
Instrumental Piece - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia [from Spiritual Songs]
strict practice
as to vertical intervals
from the ground
a
monastic discipline
O Dolce Mio Martire - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
the words
rise from the page
to our ears
peeling off the
page
carried in a magus flux
Caecilia virgo - Peter Philips - The Choir of Royal Holiday, Robert Gough, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble
the virgin trope
unsullied by man
and sin
the new Eve
Er wird sein Kleid in Wein waschen, Op. 11 #2 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
a solid chunk
built to last
Canzonetta in A minor, BuxWV 225 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Stella Simone
sparrows flittering in the dome
Troisieme Ordre (ut): Premier Courante - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
primped by many attendants
prepped by many advisors
the celebrant
proceeds
without effort
 |
| Yakima Area Arboretum |
without recourse to dynamic variability
the composer must individuate
his voices
with voice-leading
and timing
and imitation
Sonata in C minor, Kk. 226 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
down this hill
to this glade
down that
to that
over
here
we climb back up
with our eyes closed
Les Colombes - Jacques Duphly, Christophe Rousset
sonorous two-voiced overture
In Session at The Tintinabulary
May 19, 2024
Nottaway - Keith Eisenbrey
Maysville - Keith Eisenbrey
Having been away the Sunday before
I arranged two of these
on this
Sunday
being not away
May 20, 2024
Assembly Rechoired 64 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
Karen and I took a walk in Meadowbrook Park
my recording device doesn't
like motion
(something to do with the magnets in the microphones?)
so there were episodes of annoying hum/buzz
feeling that simply
muting those portions
and leaving the rest intact
would be less
annoying
and possibly more interesting as well
I went ahead and
did that
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.
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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