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| Drinking to Mr. Pell |
Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
June 8, 2024
Track 1 - Richard Rorex, Reid Merryman [from Mood for Richelle]
light jazz for background decoration
no payoff for following every move
from the start
no penalty for missing any of it
a homogenous
texture on all fronts
guitar and bass
24 Preludes: 5-8 - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, March 17, 2007]
simple lines
that move down multiple tonal slants
ars antiqua: 2 with piano - J. K. Randall [from Open Space 22]
a bit of nose thumb taunt to this
in its plain-as-dirt unfanciness
Banned Rehearsal 829 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [February 4, 2014]
lay down a primer layer
through which we fill out the space
a skin to touch
it spreads itself slowly
flood in tide
line
ascending
ripple lap
by ripple lap
low pedal tones
slumbery snores
Shiinto - Yuji Takahashi - Takashi Matsudair, Shinya Hashimoto [from Open Space 43]
ritualized conversation
two poems
in a common transformational
relation
ideas within a circumscribed field
might be infinite in extent
within that circumscribed field
such as human language
between rungs we wait
but not to clear the air
the wait is too
full of intent to clear anything
June 10, 2024
Spiritui Sancto Honor Sit (De Undecim Milibus Virginibus, Responsorium) - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia [from Spiritual Songs]
leaps up to launch
and fly in effortless billows
ends as though cut off
missing a page or two
Tirsi Morir volea: Freno Tirsi il desio - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
European written-down music
is a technology
music appreciation
in that sense
is a process
of
familiarization
with the forms
that technology
begat
as
fashions
and mind-sets
changed
Gaudens gaudebo - Peter Philips - The Choir of Royal Holiday, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Gough
the meter shifts itself
resets downbeats freely
Verleih uns Frieden genädlich - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
borne aloft on many arms
a weighty fabric of tones
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
music
to dance
with the cathedral dome
chirp birds
Deuxieme Ordre (re): Sarabande la Prude - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
the rubato
(small-scope tempo fluctuations)
results
from the
negotiations required
to be sure
every ornament
sings
clearly
and
that the line
moves
with grace
Sinfonia in C Major, BWV 787 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
three voices
three entrances
one right after the other
they
then proceed
to bewilder us
Keyboard Sonata in B-flat Major, Kk. 228 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
he hides the most remarkable things
by allowing them to appear naked
Sonata in B minor, Wq. 63/4 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
this music poses puzzles
with remarkable resolutions
non-sequiturs
ornamented pointing
masquerading as a
non-sequitur
this music
makes a point of pointing
but subito elsewhere
man
I would not want to play cards with this guy
don't interrupt
this music is asking itself questions
and needs to
pay attention
Sinfonia in G Major, Op. 3 #6 - Johann Christian Bach - Camerata Budapest, Hanspeter Gmür
the superior Handel
just as clear
but infinitely more
sophisticated
Symphony in D minor, "Lamentation" (#26) - Franz Joseph Haydn - Le Petite Band, Sigiswald Kuijken
leans in to the tininess of the orchestra
an almost chamber music
intimacy
brings out the intensity of the composition
the near
Beethovenian urgency
Haydn does it all with less than you
musical utterance
is necessarily
always
under suspicion
after all
it can't be understood
at least
not in any
adequately explainable notion
of the meaning
of
understanding
tactical sequiturs
Symphony in E-flat Major "Lanassa" K. 161a(184) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood
excessively theatricalized gestures
this music is a great actor
don't bother this music
it's thinking
acting out thinking
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
this music
is laying out an argument
with confounding terms
worry wears a circular track
Caprice in G minor, Op. 1 #6 - Niccolò Paganini - Salvatore Accardo
clearly he could play
but was he civilized?
or not?
finding the demonic in the demotic
Die Schöne Müllerin - Franz Schubert - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
a playfully folksy word repetition scheme
puts us off our guard
each frame completely filled
completely blind
poets making
hay
out of the erotics
of country life
time passes
between songs and verses
never during
if
there is music
time does not pass
if there is no music
time
passes
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Grand Fantasia on Polish Airs, Op. 13 - Frédéric Chopin - Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Charles Mackerras, Emanuel Ax
at the open
we alternate
between being firmly planted
and
slipping away
to some-uncertain-elsewhere
the point of modulation
is to index the key
where we may have
landed
as having been arrived at
through a particular
aperture
also acts as a chaperone
between the keys
leave room
for a
few chromatic sequences
to unfold
or who knows what might happen
should they touch
or commingle
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| Karen at Yakima Area Arboretum |
a book figure
with odd inclusions
he keeps to his key
as if
it weren't the same anymore
the theme appears
within the figurations
as if
by some
unfingerable magic
or
as if some packets of it
went through
different servers
and only came back together
well enough
to
be noted
6 Character Pieces: Largo con Espressione - Fanny Hensel - Beatrice Rauchs
weighs every word and phrase to balance
Liebeszauber - Clara Schumann - Dorothea Craxton, Hedayet Djeddikar
it does its thing to us
and leaves us with it
La Traviata, Act 3 - Giuseppe Verdi - Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Antonio Votto, Renata Scotto, Giuliana Tavolaccin, Gianni Raimondo, Franco Ricciardi
a silver light enters
uncertain
before the curtain
stage
pitch black
voice
disembodied
distanced
opera
story-book cartoons
graphic novels
if music were
graphic
they are rejoined at last
and their voices embrace
plot
happy ending
lovers reunited
elders reconciled
but the patient died
curtains
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
thick with plot points
at first
but gets rather bogged down
by duty
and enchantment
it's a lot of male voices
and low strings
engaged in gooey
polyphonic games
like vigorous heroes
we love to be morally instructed
knightly blueprint
for a man of position in the community
Variations on an Original Theme (of an Exceedingly Dismal Nature) - Ethel Smyth - Liana Serbescu
working with figurations
to project an orchestral piano
and a
heavy dreary thing it is too
it keeps finding itself
back at the same old variation
clearly
likes Brahms' pianism
6 Etudes, Op. 16: Allegro Moderato (#2) - Feruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
circus waltz
master of ceremonies
your host
Russian Easter Overture - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
heavy use of soloists within the orchestra
concertino for trombone there
and little duets
orchestration from the Russian school
taking Berlioz to heart
Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 75 (#3) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel, Emil Giles
starts with a mid concerto movement
gets all the finale stuff over with
right away
then sets in
to find this movement
what it
is
two-fisted tempest tantrum
storms and peace
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
depictic
expressionistic
music must depict
or express
emotion
or heart
or whatever
or else what?
Cakewalk - Anonymous [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
minstrel show oompah
mechanical music box
black-face cockadoodle
Dèsir, Op. 57 #1 - Alexander Scriabin - Ruth Laredo
to
just
touch
the key
at a tangent point
Prelude - Maurice Ravel - Vlado Perlemuter
if depiction
or sentiment
is the requirement
then
at
least we can be coolly civilized about it
no need to get tawdry
Shepherd's Hay - Percy Grainger - Percy Grainger [from Grainger plays Grainger]
two-fisted clown music
jolly old England
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Viola quebrada - Heitor Villa-Lobos - Teresa Berganzo, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
use of low-brow stylings
in high-brow music:
Villa-Lobos,
Gershwin, Weill, Satie
an early Modernist thing
Georgia Stomp - Andrew & Jim Baxter [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
seems to be calling a dance
K. C. Railroad Blues - Riley Puckett [from That Devilin' Tune]
throw in any trouble in the book
use one of the standards if you like
regional pronunciation
rhymes
blow/before (be-faux)
Billy the Kid (Ballet Suite) - Aaron Copland - New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
music composed
so that action can occur along with it
(to it)
and they will somehow match
must allow space within it
for
the dancers
to make their fancy moves
the music
must allow
for the rhythms
and tempi
of human motions
to stage ballet
is to demonstrate their relations
a Western
for the silver screen
of the ballet stage
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
getting his elbows into the murky murky
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 77 - Dmitri Shostakovich - BBC Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis, Dmitry Sitkovetsky
1
in anguish of soul
we modulate without moving
this dark
room exists nowhere
nowhere surrounds it
awareness bubbles
music expands them
(or can)
2
bowing blowout
factory line hurry-up
all the fuss
that makes the circus go
3
big boss
pronounces judgments
from on high
sadness and wistfulness
mess up each others thinking
this is the scene
where all the hearts get poured out
the cadenza
is a whole other movement
unmarked
4
and now
for the circus itself
never a slack moment
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
this piece takes me back
or brings a memory forward
into awareness
bubble
listening library
UW
78/79/80/81
every piece
had its cloud of pronouncements
in manifesto baldness
there is something strange
in the idea
of thinking
that whatever cockamamie thing
one came up with
would be
ought to be
and will be
publicly announced
to be
the absolute next thing
creating and riding
the cutting edge
in ones own mind
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
singer controls not just his production
but also his relation to the
microphone
we hear only what the mic did
(if that)
Be My Baby - The Ronettes [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
all about the sound as a whole
Back In The U.S.S.R. - The Beatles [from The Beatles "The White Album"]
takes on whole new layers of associations these days
it's a different
song than it was
road song
country vibe
a song
in search of a cheap screen
play
I Just Wanted to Have Something To Do - The Ramones [from Road to Ruin]
to not!
to not!
well all rot!
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
the 80s desperate bid
to be the 50s again
but kinkier
Bickleton Burger - Banned Rehearsal [from Purple Stripe]
no pickles
no mustard
no ketchup
no buns
no meat
it's a Bickleton Burger
Bickleton Burger
have 'em away
yes it's a Bickleton Burger
have 'em away
no relish
no special sauce
no sesame seeds
no bacon
no
cheese
just a side-order of fries
on my Bickleton Burger
Bickleton Burger
Bickleton Burger
have it away
have it away
just a
side-order of fries
on my Bickleton Burger
have it away
those are the officially doubly-cross-checked original lyrics
everything
else is a sham
A Single Woman - Nina Simone [from A Single Woman]
ritzy joint orchestration
spot lights and sight-lines and everything
Minute Etudes Book 1: Playful - Emily Doolittle - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded February 8, 2023]
oh yeah
this is that one
with the absolute bear of a two-handed
note-collapse in it
Organism 2 - Christian Asplund - Tom Baker [from Sounding The Curve]
melting clock pots
Track 2 - Aaron Keyt [from 7(7)]
sounds spaced out on a rigid grid
punch the button
get a sound
buttons may only be pushed
at times marked on the master
schedule
why might it matter to me
to know when it is over
or not?
anxiety?
about what?
Desiderata - Jon Forshee - Zara Rivera, Matt Barbier, Luke Storm [from Open Space 36]
knows its way through the pitch thicket
Selections from Second Thoughts - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at Seattle Composers Salon, January 13, 2018]
my box of parts
the sensual experience of thinking
Gotta Mean Kind of Love - Star Anna [from Love Shades, streamed February 14, 2023]
hm
says Star
Happy Valentine's Day
some talk then a song
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
La du Buq - Jacques Duphly - Christophe Rousset
trading statements
back and forth
moving by step
sharing
accomplishments
Sonata in C Major, Op. 37 #1 - Muzio Clementi - Howard Shelley
1
uptempo
with witty asides
phrase/structural use
of figurational busy-work
viable material
for development
2
first the key is explained
its pertinent parts
pointed
at
3
chasing greased oinker downbeats
Mosé in Egitto, Act 3 - Gioachino Rossini - Philharmonia Orchestra, Claudio Scimone
the sea parts
right there on stage
time is given
for the
spectacle to unfold
Sonatina in F Major, Op. 55 #4 - Friedrich Kuhlau - Loredana Brigandi
makes feints to the side
but keeps to the straight path
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
1
this works best
when it isn't trying to be symphonic
and
work things out
with development
and tonally manufactured drama
and a storm depiction
2
like a Scottish Billy the Kid music
not a bad thing
any
pretense evaporates
vigorous and noisy lads
Mefistofele, Act 3 - Arrigo Boito - London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, John McCarthy, Norman Treigle, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Cabeallé
opens
with a killer passacaglia line
Donizetti X Chopin X
Goethe
the scene is Margaret's to steal
uh oh!
who's that devil with you?
Via Crucis: Station I - Jesus wird zum Tode verdammt - Franz Liszt - Nederlands Kamerkoor, Reinbert De Leeuw
all those piano octaves baldly pounded
(JKR?)
an unfinished vocal
line
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
1
as might emerge from nothing
beats count
as a nudge of
time going
nudging time along
we follow
into this narrow darkness
chambers of peril
to pass through
this music
proceeds neither symphonically
nor dramatically
2
holy Sehnsucht thoughts
how confusing
nothing proceeds
nor recedes
all of it
simply waits
it's all stuck
disvolitioned
yearning without motion
full glorious fruition
blessed
assurance
rest in peace
3
our daily toil and torture
struggle and torment
every day
a new trial
seven times seventy
some days
better than
others
3
a quick recap
of the story so
far perseverance
perseverance
no end
just a stop
In Session at The Tintinabulary
June 9, 2024
Effingham - Keith Eisenbrey
the 49th of my arrangements of tunes from an 1843 shape-note song-book
June 11, 2024
Invocation for alto horn (performed on clavichord) - Keith Eisenbrey
I wanted to see how this would go on a non-sustaining instrument
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 18: 2021
Études d'exécution imminent - Exercises
Anybody's Fingerbook
What set of etudes would be complete without finger exercises? Anybody's Fingerbook (number 14 of Études d'exécution imminent consists of 38 perverse note lists that become progressively more fiendish to play. They mark a particular ebenezer of acerbicity in that still-expanding back 40 of compositional doohickies that contains my oeuvre. The 38 are gathered into eight groups of finger twisters. Try these at home kids!
All tracks were recorded in 2021 and 2022.
Prior volumes are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2023
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