"Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. But if, like Queequeg and me in the bed, the tip of your nose or the crown of your head be slightly chilled, why then, indeed, in the general consciousness you feel most delightfully and unmistakably warm. For this reason a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a fire, which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. For the height of this sort of deliciousness is to have nothing but the blanket between you and your snugness and the cold of the outer air. Then there you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal."
Herman Melville - from "Moby Dick; or, the Whale"
Texts
Recorded
July 13, 2024
Croquis et agaceries d'un gros bonhomme en bois - Erik Satie - Frank Glazer
short pieces made of scraps
Székely nota. Poco Rubato - Zoltan Kodály - Jenö Jandó
strong pronouncements with emphatic underlining
digging into the paper
Symphony in D minor, Op. 104 (#6) - Jean Sibelius - Finnish National Orchestra - Georg Schneevoigt
light descends
a blanket of feathers and air
earth quickens
queries met with silence
a problem
develop an incantatory regime
discussion
taking
turns building on each other
leaps of logic
the village builds
together
this music is intent on its parts
everybody has a job to do
what it will make
when it all gets together
is hard to guess
from within any one moment
an open question
even when its
done
Mississippi Jailhouse Groan - Rube Lacy [from Really The Blues]
a report from low in life
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues - Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie [from That Devilin' Tune]
and to enjoy doing it too
Three Anti-Modernist Songs: III "Who Wrote This Fiendish 'Rite of Spring'?" - Henry Cowell - Continuum, Joel Sachs
the words are an expression of honest bafflement
the setting doesn't
quite deride it
Sweet Georgia Brown - Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie [from That Devlin' Tune]
I'm sure the song is in their heads the whole time
but they have run far
ahead of it
Partita for Wind Quintet - Irving Fine - New York Woodwind Quintet
each movement keeps its focus narrow
controlled
internal contrasts
are used sparingly
small stage
local to its habitual haunts
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| Yakima Greenway Trail |
Fifth Sonata - Lockrem Johnson - Lockrem Johnson
Lockrem takes this at a much faster clip than I like
and seems to tone
down some of the dynamics in spots
(not a bad idea)
the quick pace
to my ear
rushes through a lot of potent stuff
we don't get
a chance to really sit within it
before we're on to the next thing
Meditation on Orpheus, Op. 155 - Alan Hovhannes - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
bedraggled and defeated
the hosts trudge toward home
timpani glissandi
though
the effect
(but not the affect)
is more like upspeak in sound
a cold wind recurs
colder each time
The Lonely Surfer - Jack Nitzsche [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
fabulously engineered
to make everybody sound great
including the
electric bass and the drums
emphatically
not
the machined
pristinity
of 20 years later
People Got To Be Free - Rascals [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
there is a time to be ironic
but then
wasn't that time
Mind Games - John Lennon [from Mind Games]
start with the chorus?
did they cut the first verse?
and then
we'll have another chorus
sure
all chorus
on and on
we'll certainly remember the name of the song
there is a time for slogans
and this was it
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird - Lukas Foss - Foss Festival Players
I played the piano part in this piece once at the UW ca. 1980
so really
when it was practically hot off the press
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| Yakima Greenway Trail |
BAB KEE 840306 (Ben's dub) - Benjamin Boretz, Keith Eisenbrey [March 6, 1984]
impatient piano (me)
to get things going
but
where is it
already?
obsessive continuity
thinking anchored by ostinato
a figurational
sure-fire
music making gimmick
hearing how music can be made
in an ordinary way
to drown
how something other
might arise
Crumar hangs back
till the piano gets it out of its system
hiatus taken
to clear the air
somewhat
tentative new beginning
sharing pianissimo singles and chords
I
must have picked up a little hand drum
(settle down)
(or you'll
trap yourself into a continuity)
lack of a steady pulse
a pale substitute
for considered listening
too easy
and ineffective to boot
choosing to play a thing
that extends over a span
but missing
how
any one sound
sits
in its moment
working at it
suppressing urges to
get going
with occasional success
back to piano
through the
drumming door
however
the strategy of doing two activities at once
is not bad
overload the motor impulse circuits
better perhaps
to
override them
with considered listening
The Bishop's Dance (Max's Kansas City 1973) - Bruce Springsteen [collected in Neal Kosály-Meyer's A Springsteen Miscellany]
a jumble of words
to play with rhythms and rhymes
telling a story
without connection
July 16, 2024
Banned Rehearsal 325 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [March 19, 1993]
get up Toad
it's May
so soon?
John says please
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
is in front
we are digging around in a pile of stuff
to make noise with
even smaller sounds
fill the aural space of the recording's projection
its stereo image
image
being metaphorical
as applied
to music
aural hallucination
aurage
but
is the objectification thus accomplished
also
metaphorical?
an aurage
is an experience
not an object
we bang along to Burana
on the Speaker of the House
that's a mallet
we pack our sounds
right up to analog distortion
press it in
revel in it
the contingencies and capacities
of the recording medium
and
process
an anarthrous phrase
is not
an anarthrous phrase
an arthrous phrase
is not
an arthrous phrase
got them two year blues
John recognizes Jingle Bells
on a music
box
and tells us what it is
fragmented attention path
a compositional device
going to town on
the bug guitar
working that Hidden Damage lick
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
two year blues
the problem
is in those gestures
that strive
neither for Apollo
nor Dionysus neither
compose deep in thought
of Cage and Feldman
nor over the top celebratory theatrics}
Lost Ones - Lauren Hill [from The Miseducation of Lauren Hill]
jump into the drum beat
at an unexpected moment
epilogue about
love
Prelude in D minor - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded July 14, 2022]
it may not be a composer-approved performance
but I think I nailed it
almost as if Thelonious were playing it
or so I self-flatter
ars antiqua - J. K. Randall [from Open Space 22]
old school like the no school
we'll organize our notes
here are mine
listed out in orders
loops not to be looped
we will adjust to fit
but not the way
intended
change of pace
change of tactics
the junkier the
sound
the more believable the composition
improbable
not to
follow
committed to exact
thisness
each step
underlinedly
lucid
this music is far beyond
beard stroking
or chin scratching
it's all
in how
one divvies up
the givens
why electronic means serves this music so well:
any emoting
even
if inadvertent
and even if well-meant
would obscure its internal
emoting
might we be serious here
for a moment
Luke 6:20-25 - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey
I was having some trouble keeping the parts together
but the sound isn't
bad
String Quartet 4 - Craig Pepples - Mivos String Quartet [from Open Space 42]
every bit gets their bit
density not uniform
completely engaged
all the way
Banned Rehearsal 1070 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt [February 3, 2023]
behind the quiet opening
the bass in the band at Growler Guys
is
discernable
probably near the end of their set
and beneath that
some wind noise
from one side of the
telepath
cheesy synth sounds
in their native lands
among friends
the Tucson gate
fits right in
recorded sound
comes on
like signal
complete
and
impervious
best to keep it fragmented
serendipitous pitch collection matching
I'm pleased with the success of my mix
the Tucson contribution
sounds like one of us
screaming sheep
yelling folks
roaring folks
bleating folks
 |
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Caritas Habundat in Omnia - Hildegard Von Bingen - Sequentia, Barbara Thornton [from Canticles of Ecstasy]
stations of the muse
neither begins nor ends
an icon in text
Felice primavera: Danzan le ninfe oneste - Carlo Gesualdo - Delitiæ Musicæ
propulsion through to resting place
Es ist erscheinen die heilsame Gnade Gottes, SWV 371 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
clear distinction
between strong and light beats
occasional
syncopation of durations
to deepen the metrical field
Christ, unser herr, zum Jordan kam, BuxWV 180 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Stella Simone
chorale prelude
in contemplation of hymns
with unsung words
a meditational mnemonic
Premiere Ordre (sol): Sarabande la Majestueuse - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
each step deliberately turned
the fabric spills in heavy layers
Sinfonia in D Major, BWV 789 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
beneficence flows from one
through the measure
Sonata in E minor, Kk. 233 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
a voice dance
two about an axis
that dances with them
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
astonishing
how it keeps its head
through change after change
from seq to seq
non or not
at least
we hope it does
personally
I got lost several tonalities ago
and there we are
all better again
Symphony in D Major, K. 162b(181) #23 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood, Jaap Schroder
this D Major
has some dark alleys
a galante modulation
the pitches transform themselves
into
other parts
of the new key
the key
shifts around the
notes
(modern pop modulation:
the notes are shoved bodily
into the new
key)
lovely little oboe cavatina
Klaviertrio in G Major, Hob. XV.25 - Franz Joseph Hayden - Beaux Arts Trio
full of the pleasure of making a music with others
essentially social
a cooperative activity
song movement in the middle
announcement movement
song movement
(dance movement)
(wrap-it-up movement)
(-)
signifying
(optional)
Sonata in E Major, Op. 14 #1 - Ludwig van Beethoven - Paul Badura-Skoda
the pedal on this fortepiano
has a light touch
allows heavier
use
great use of the dynamic potential
of the new instrument Beethoven had
no song movement
Caprice in C Major, Op. 1 #11 - Niccolo Paganini - Salvatore Accardo
duet for a violinist alone
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
trouble comes in
sneers at the cadence
hinting darkly
at
wonders to come
pizzicato portentato
parade approaches!
(just a teaser)
(wait
here they are)
stick sword
battles
but that's off in the future
we're still at the beginning
the triumphal curtain rises
where are we?
with the lungy
bass
thence to the comic relief
without transition
and of
course
the chorus crowd
a tenor emerges
from the stern drums
and promptly melismates
quite pompously melismating
with the
best of them
now they'll all melismate together
(and in
public!)
||new scene! new lighting! new orchestra!
chorus crowd
an edge
a new baritone (?)
has arrived
with companion of the soprano
persuasion
or
is that the same old baritone
with a pleading
yes
it's the whole lot of them
pleading
all the voices
attack the soprano
then
thunder from heaven!
if it isn't
thunder from heaven
himself
golly
she sure can
melismate!
takes 'em all for a ride
tenor pokes his nose over the
top of the chorus
the male melismators
do obeisance
this
must be the ballet bit
to attend to the chambers and toilet of
mistress soprano
we descend further into the plot of her troubles
ceremony intrudes on peace of mind
a bass joins
adding to
trouble
public speaking
requires
melismation
the
exchange heats up
new partner
the tenor woos at length
at
last
a horn summons the end of all
that soprano stretches her
tessitura uttermostwards
has words with a mezzo
this act is long and drags considerably
too many big melismatic solos
everybody gets one
some get several
chorus breaks it up now
and then
but not enough
at last
some nice ensemble singing
a time to worry over the future
beyond the act's end
big splash to
finish it up
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
Klavierstück in E-flat Major, D. 946 #2 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel
innocence
on the rim of the abyss
its hidden source
graceful
at the shimmering surface
Études de concert pour le Pianoforte d’après des Caprices de Paganini: Étude in A-flat Major, Op. 10 #1 - Robert Schumann - Eric le Sage
the crowd in the understory
busy like bees in lavender
Allegro Molto Vivace Ma Con Sentimento - Fanny Hensel - Beatric Rauchs
passionately within bounds
Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55 #1 - Frédéric Chopin - Alfred Cortot [15.X.1947]
pulse bends to meet melody
sudden event intrudes from outside
or
inside
turned aside
with a glance
Die Veilchen - Clara Schumann - Dorothea Craxton, Hedayet Djeddikar
piano
is part of what is being sung
fully integrated with the
melody
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
quibble:
the intermingled box resonances of two pianos
efface
something in their projected sound
as though two-pianos
is an
essentially smaller instrument
than the single device
though
some of these variations work much better
as keyboard music
than they do in the orchestration
which tends to trade a magic for
color
Brahms's orchestration
has a tendency to explain
rather than illumine
my beef about two-piano sound notwithstanding
this is much more fun as a two-piano piece
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, Jascha Heifetz
doesn't stay small long
so we know we'll get the whole high emotional
show later
and here we have it
the payoff military triumphal music
the flattered court
fashionable among all the best people
our hero will surely flourish
song movement
melody modelled
after a certain value of folk melody
common to a locale
or
the ideal of one
calling card
of a National Hero composer
we'll wrap it up
with diligently efficient dispatch
and
restful domestic interludes
engineered
(and performed)
to be
light on its feet
Khovanshchina, Act III - Modeste Mussorgsky - Sofia National Opera, Atanos Margaritov, Dimiter Petkov, Todor Kostov, Lyoubomir Bodourov, Stoyan Popov, Nikola Gyuzelev, Alexandrina Milcheva-Nonova, Milen Paounov, Maria Dimchevska, Dimiter Dimitrov, Nadya Dobriyanova, Verter Vrachovsky
built on a foundation of liturgical chant
incantatory formula
petras ecclesias
a different
earthier
value of folk
melody
sinew
on the bones of hymnody
a people's soul music
this music seethes with unrest
astonishing duet of musics
logical in two directions
these characters drag their
orchestration behind them
like Marley's chains
value of folk
melody
as
certain coding
for character and their statements
a voice is heard
calling from reality
outside the stage
alarm! alarm!
even messages have their orchestrations
joined
at the
ankle proto-modern
looks forward and down
music from church and
street
that observes
but doesn't partake
of the court
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
ebullient
always ready with a new song
his orchestrations are born with their musics
there's your big churchy tune
to vanquish doubt and dismay
we
dance our cares within loops
try a coda
that's a good trick
trumpet call
to trumpet
heroics
we'll build solidly contrapuntal adventures in Variationland
French
Battle-Elephant Horn
trumpeting
everybody loves a rousing finish
Sea Pieces: From the Depths, Op. 55 #6 - Edward MacDowell - Fred Karpoff
we bob about on the surface
nose up to the breeze
glean what lies
below
by what escapes to our sphere
Fugue in Four Keys on "The Shining Shore" - Charles Ives - Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
interesting:
what is the sense of "key" at play here?
presumably
that any one voice is "in a key"
somehow
miraculously
unwarped
by the tonal context
created by the other
voices
 |
| Yakima Greenway Trail |
formulaic root progression
in a popular idiom
(not court)
(not church)
(not academy)
Le Festin de L'Araignee (fragments symphonique) - Albert Roussel - Orchestre National de France, Georges Pretre
such a pleasant morning
to flit from flower to flower
little
suspecting
a subtle web
exotic realm
of the lives of bugs
it occurs to me
that one might find a performance of this ballet
on the webs
{NB: I was hoping to see the dance, but couldn't find
one}
we leave our hero happily digesting
In Session at The Tintinabulary
July 14, 2024
Uxbridge - Keith Eisenbrey
July 15, 2024
Banned Rehearsal 1103 - Hayley, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 19: 2021
Études d'exécution imminent
- Acknowledgments
Rounds for Aaron (2021)
Rungs for Neal
(2021)
The Acknowledgements form the last segment of my large-scale project "Études d'exécution imminent", which might be subtitled "studies in compositional listening".
This album is free for download.
Prior volumes are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2024
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