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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
"'I never did see such a addle-headed old creetur!' exclaimed Sam irritably.
'Old Baileys and Solvent Courts, and alleybis, and ev'ry species o'gammon
alvays a runnin' through his brain! You'd better get your out-o'door clothes
on, and come to town about this bis'ness, than stand a preachin' there, about
wot you don't understand nothin' on.'
'Wery good, Sammy,' replied Mr.
Weller. 'I'm quite agreeable to anythin' as vill hexpedite business, Sammy.
But mind this here, my boy, nobody but Pell - nobody but Pell as a legal
adwiser.'
'I don't want anybody else,' replied Sam. 'Now, are you
a'comin'?'
''Vait a minit, Sammy,' replied Mr. Weller, who, having tied
his shawl with the aid of a small glass that hung in the window, was now, by
dint of the most wonderful exertions, struggling into his upper garments.
'Vait a minit Sammy; ven you grow as old as your father, you von't get into
your veskit quite as easy as you do now, my boy.'
'If I couldn't get into
it easier than that, I'm blessed if I'd vear vun at all,' rejoined his
son.'
'You think so now' said Mr. Weller, with the gravity of age, 'but
you'll find that as you get vider, you'll get viser. Vidth and Visdom, Sammy
alvays grows together.'"
Charles Dickens - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Gradus 325 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [January 8, 2018]
apparent or purported continuity of thought
we know by our experience
how music goes
recognizing it immediately
nothing between our
hearing how it is going
and our hearing of it as music
gets a right good roar going with some block chords
we take a break to change our thinking
Heat in a Cold Heart - Steve Layton [from Bedtime Stories]
we follow the ship into the atmosphere
vapor clouds and traffic
a
thickening descent
immersion
June 2, 2024
Ave Maria, O Auctrix Vite - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia, Barbara Thornton [from Canticles of Ecstasy]
a tone
a rising figure in thirds
a sequence of windings
to
consider that tone
and that rising figure in thirds
Tirsi Morir Volea - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
the arts
of poetry
polyphony
and calligraphy
refined disciplines
for the leisure class
Veni Sancte Spiritus - Peter Philips - The Choir of Royal Holiday, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Gough
music as icon
a florid figure prefaces the plain presentation of the hymn
a structured
span
within which
the text is read
or remembered
silently
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| Karen at Yakima Area Arboretum |
the intricacy of the polyphony
echoes the intricacy of theological
systems
making the text itself beautiful
Ich halte es dafur, BuxWV 48 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Purcell Quartet, Suzie LeBlanc, Dame Emma Kirby, Clare Solomon
a dance with delicate foot work
light on its toes
Deuxieme Ordre (ré): Second Courante - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
ornaments to grace them
at which juncture
the notes are figured
so as
to grace the
ornaments
Sinfonia in D minor, BWV 790 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
this music sounds like a lesson to be learned
Sonata in B minor, Kk. 227 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
each repeating primary section
contains a narration
in figures
and patterns of figures
Concerto in D minor, Wq. 23, H.427 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi, Opus X
is of at least three minds
concerning the goings on
although
the forte-piano in this
is clearly the star of the show
it has not lost its sense of being a part of the continuo
a
function within the ensemble that accompanies it
opens with unresolved melodic bursts
in tones of lament
passed
down the line to the bass violin
which grumps harrumph
history of the disappearance of the continuo
as the core of
orchestras
continuo:
that part of orchestral music
that represents the core
functions of music
this orchestra is a bit of a scold
forte-piano scolds back
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Sinfonia in F Major, Op. 3, #5 - Johann Christian Bach - Camerata Budapest, Hanspeter Gmür
the so-called Mannheim Crescendo
if I remember correctly from music
history
publication
a market for pieces to perform
if one should have such
a need
there must have been enough opportunity
to make some extra cash
from such a need
music to decorate time and space
La Victoire - Jacques Duphly - Christophe Rousset
mood
which battle?
circa 1768
or just victory in general?
Symphony in C Major, K. 162(162) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood
brightly lit up establishment triads
key areas all fenced in and clearly
marked
there are rules
about moving through them
proper and improper
paths
Keyboard Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI:43 - Franz Joseph Haydn - Christine Schornsheim
pertly vain
flirting with the rules of passage
knows the twisty
turns through the back galleries
Sonata in D Major, Op. 10 #3 - Ludwig van Beethoven - Arthur Schnabel
the key established in a fist fight
figures break apart
if they persist
they have half lives
decay on a dime
transform all parts together
roisterous below
pacifying above
doing a bit of that Clementi puppet show in the second movement
{journal entry of December 5, 2005:
we discuss the dialogue
among
things that go go go
and things that start and stop]
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Mosé in Egitto, Act 2 - Gioachino Rossini - Philharmonia Orchestra, Claudio Scimone
recitative
musically punctuated sung speech
scenes have trajectories
(might be recitative to duet)
and scenes
have voice sets/characters
(might be soprano to bass)
or dynamic
voice sets
(might be entrances or exits or the stage might flood with
chorus)
scenes have affect trajectories
(might be quiet to
boisterous)
an act
is a composition made of scenes
a scene's opening attracts attention
(might be with suspense)
the drama is coming to a distinct point
the stage is filling
do we
sense a finale
to close the act excitingly?
wake up the sleepers
in the balcony?
not so soon
there's some sopranobatics to catch first
Sonatina in C Major, Op. 55 #3 - Friedrich Kuhlau - Loredana Brigandi
modulates like a scamp
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
1
the new century awaits at the horizon
beckoning or warning
message unclear results may vary
this is sometimes called "The Great"
or more literally
"The Big"
but were I to name it
I would think
"The Troubled"
apt
this melody amends its key manually
2
a nocturne
promenade
glances nervously over his shoulder
orchestrates like a patterner
daydreams of a foot soldier
nearing the lines always
throws a life preserver into the abyss
always catches it
nothing in his material
demands that it ever come to an end
3
even here
at the country dance
troubles worry our
hero
4
hark!
the promised land!
Nocturne in F-sharp Major, Op. 15 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
a romantic moment
exquisitely staged
immaculately filmed
passionate declarations
blurted out
the aperture is pulled in at the kiss
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
this music is unhinged
impelled by powerful currents
scherzo in
search of an unambiguous meter
Sie Liebten Sich Beide - Clara Schumann - Dorothea Craxton, Hedayet Djeddikar
sensitive to the ends of lines
La Traviata, Act 2 - Giuseppe Verdi - Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Antonio Votto, Renata Scotto, Giuliana Tavolaccin, Gianni Raimondo, Franco Ricciardi
heightened emotions
are a requirement to be seated
if it isn't
heightened
it doesn't make the cut
nothing heightened
that
can't be be goosed up a notch or two
a purpose of opera
became to make stars out of singers
favorites
of fortune
a scene at a ball
allows us
to show off the size of our stage
and the opulence of our company
this scene bounces along to the beat
the drama erupts from within it
overwhelms
in waves of soaring
legato
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Ronde de lutins - Franz Liszt - Mikhail Rudy
figurational image
of the particular attack envelope
of a plucked
lute
the T
of the Twang
Di Schöne Magelone, Op. 33 - Johannes Brahms - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sviatoslav Richter
this fellow
is a solid citizen
has a job
keeps a household
owns luggage
steps firmly on his grounds
chests his way
through difficulties
and can get quite sentimental about it
irony
bounces right off
ran headlong into a material setback
in a doldrummy mood
much better in the morning
a sequence of
soliloquys
from which
the story might be pieced together
should you care
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 46 #2 - Antonín Dvořák - The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
graceful
to display the elegant costumery in attendance
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
a light shines in the darkness
traveling by thirds
it is easy to lose track
of whether we're
headed towards the sharps
or towards the flats
is toward the flats
a downward motion
and/or
is toward the
sharps
an upward motion?
seeking out the hidden old-school practice
in the newfangled senses of
up and down
motions up
and motions down
imagine
if our intuition of up and of down
in matters of pitch
were deliberately counterfacted?
for instance
it is easy
I think
to imagine a geometrical
surface
within pitch space
such that
high notes
as
they go by
are in the up area of that surface
and vice versa
but
not so easy
to reverse the terms
a metaphorical
bias?
now try it
in a polyphonic environment
that plays with
various ups and downs
across registers
fun eh?
Scheherezade - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - The Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
violin solo
climbs the ladder of strings
bottom to top
patron saint of driving material relentlessly to slaughter
if you didn't catch it the first time
you'll get a bunch more
chances
practically vid-game music
in its incessant stasis
Danse gothiques - Eric Satie - Frank Glazer
remembrance of places between
going and staying
the sempiternal
inflection field
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
Sea Pieces: To The Sea, Op. 55 #1 - Edward MacDowell - Fred Karpoff
with empire in our hearts
{journal entry of December 7, 2005:
piano writing that is difficult and
impressive
without being amazing or delightful}
Sonata in F-sharp, Op. 30 - Alexander Scriabin - Ruth Laredo
if this key is established here
it is in the form of a gauzy dream
suddenly excited
ardent
striving to realize
the said gauzy
dream
at last done!
big two-fisted root position tonic triad
whoosh!
Fireworks, Op. 4 - Igor Stravinsky - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
one of the SSO's earliest CD-recordings
with Schwarz
and one of
the first ones I bought as well
early marriage
Die Glücklicher Hand - Arnold Schoenberg - Columia Symphony Orchestra, Robert Craft, Robert Oliver
high Ängst sitch
Expressionism
every moment
has an emotional whammy
holds you
in your seat
and makes sure you get it
a theater of expressioning
Seven Pieces for Piano, Op. 11: No. 3, Il pleure dans mon coeur, comme il pleut sur la ville. Allegretto malinconico - Zoltan Kodály - Jenö Jandó
post-Satie clarity
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| Yakima Area Arboretum |
stage-ready
vaudeville or night club
Symphony on a Hymn Tune - Virgil Thompson - Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson
here's how the thinking went
or so I surmise
hymnody is among our
indigenous musics
so
we should base our high-class music
on
hymnody
all well and good
but why make symphonies out of
them?
part of the charm of hymn tunes
is their self-containedness
they
really don't need anything extra
to make them palatable
but
symphonies
thrive on open-ended extension
they are strange
universes
to mash together like that
problem aside
this is actually a pretty fun piece to hang out with
one of Virgil's solutions
is an old one
just make a movement
out of a chorale-prelude
like papa Bach did
another major plus
this isn't any kind of National (or Ethnic) Pride
symphony
and yet
it is quite a strange animal
||compare Appalachian Spring||
has a bit of that Lou Harrison good feeling to it
Es regnet - Kurt Weill - Diane McNaron, Shari Boruvko
closer to the cabaret
than to the salon
but brings them closer
Deep Color - Henry Cowell - Cheryl Seltzer
another way to work on hymnody
using block chords upon the lower strings
to imitate the clamorous
(or clangorous?)
resonance
of
a spinet or forte-piano
the piece
is
that
affect
 |
| Yakima Area Arboretum |
this music
is satisfied with itself
but
knows its place
so plays nice
OK
so
similar to Thompson
and more sophisticated in its
usage of hymnody
than Appalachian Spring
but here
Copland
seems to be showing off his eddication
fabulous playing Sean!
Hard Times Will Soon Be Over - Blue Ridge Quartet [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
a word of hope
to the suffering multitudes
but the reason stated
is that we're all going to die
and soon
Too Much Boogie - John Lee Hooker [from The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-1954]
warning against something that's going to happen
and may be less a
warning
than just advice
from the Boy Scout song book
Reelin' and Rockin' - Chuck Berry - [from The Best of Chuck Berry]
opening guitar strokes
are in another kind of time
who's playing keys back there?
(Johnnie Johnson
the Johnnie of
Johnny B. Good)
Land of 1000 Dances - Chris Kenner [from Land of 1000 Dances]
dance song about dance songs
I Wish It Would Rain - The Temptations [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
climatic dysphoria
Love Music - Paul Revere and The Raiders [from The Legend of Paul Revere]
early cheesy electronic keyboard
pre-sampler
let's do soul music
on the eve of disco
Wavelength - Van Morrison [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
we got a synth too!
and just as cheesy!
(the keyboards have
changed
but they are still emasculated
their dials have been
twiddled)
Intermezzo 4 - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded October 13, 2007]
a study in betweens
the motions of the whole distance
an image
of resonance
as a line-drawing
Haec Dies - The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter [from Brother Sun, Sister Moon]
Anglican for Everyman
Banned Rehearsal 322 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [February 26, 1993]
|
| journal entry of December 29, 1997 |
and our drums
together
a guitar
a dulcimer
and a talking drum
which is insistent
really trying hard
thumping and droning
tom tom and cymbal
a digeridoo
hard-won focus
now that the tad is asleep
the Jaymar
was still an intact device
this music is not prone
to amend the essential center pitch
though
that may change
of its own accord
the session's open strings
oh yeah man
the frog croaks
I know what I know where I'm at
and I know how I got here
and I
know where I'm going
and I know that I know
this side up
In Session at The Tintinabulary
June 2, 2024
Portugal - Keith Eisenbrey
June 3, 2024
Banned Rehearsal 1100 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 18: 2020
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 2022
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