 |
| January 1836 |
George Cruikshank - from The Comic Almanack
an Ephemeris in Jest and
Earnest, Containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips and Oddities, First
Series, 1835-1843
Texts
Live
October 23, 2024
Schoenberg and Ives: A 150th Birthday Celebration
Cristina L.
Valdés (with Rachel Reyes, flute)
Cristina plays with fluid lyric grace
always a pleasure
how long must we apologize for Schoenberg?
in my youth
as I became acquainted with Ives and Schoenberg
Ives
came across to me
as an example of
"this is what
Modern American Music is"
to which
I thought
"well OK,
but how to build upon it?"
whereas
with Schoenberg
there was an immediate
"well now, that's interesting!"
similar to my first impressions of Brahms and Scriabin
at this
remove
although I probably still prefer Schoenberg to Ives
I note
their distinct compositional mind-sets
Ives
is all about adding
more and more to the mix
and revels
in the grand plurality of
mish-mash
(his cross-marching bands are the rubric).
The Concord
is a strong piece
partly because of the drama
of having a
single human body
doing it all
an entire
overstuffed
attic
focused
into a singular activity
Schoenberg
doesn't compose attics
his densities
are built
from clear parts
every note
in every line
in exact relation
to every other
Ives crams
Schoenberg clarifies
the lines are clear but dense
Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 - Arnold Schoenberg
not so much prose
as unstrophe-fied poetry
hyperexpression as an
aspiration
Piano Sonata No. 2 'Concord Mass., 1840-60' - Charles Ives
this attic is packed with stuff
all of which
permeates
all
of which
omni-impressionist
the walls
are densely inscribed
no surface
without sign
New Englandism
is the New Hellenism
the light on the hill
of
the New City
of Edifying Wisdom
Recorded
A Cat's Life (a little opera for solo piano) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey, Ellen Dessler [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, May 14, 1993]
This was the last really big thing I composed
before the decade of chaos
(and kids)
during which
I started dinking around with mod
17
I was playing
with narrative structure
depictions and all
little known factoid
there is a character/element in the music
labelled in the score
that doesn't appear in the narration
the jazz-like figures
that open Act 3
are a nod to two of my
teachers:
Victor Smiley and Ken Benshoof
what a fun piece!
I sure wish someone would take this on
I think
they would enjoy it
Skew It On The Bar-B - Outkast [from Aquemini]
danceable poetry dancing
Sounds of the Brush: Improvisation 1 - Gust Burns, Adam Diller, Keith Eisenbrey, Mike Marlin, DL Scott, Adam Weiss [recorded live at The Oddfellows Hall, Seattle, March 18, 2003]
this track may just be me and Mike
I'm pretty sure that's me on the keys
and Mike is unmistakable
playing with Mike is a real treat
(and today (the 26th) is his
birthday!)
Yonah's Dream - Matthew Rosenblum [from Circadian Rhythms]
carefully applied extended techniques
and curated sounds
if this
were a story I would read it
if this were a poem I would be
delighted
flute percussion koto?
if this were a puppet show
oh
if only this were a puppet show!
Banned Rehearsal 831 (Aaron's recording) - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, February 22, 2013]
tactic for starting a session
somebody begins
and the others join
to it
another tactic
everybody begins
and we see where
we might land
this music
is a worksite
with many stations
and tasks and sounds
banjo: a flat-topped kora
Frogs - Craig Pepples [from Open Space 47]
brush work
puppet pond
Subvector Colloquy: Improvisation - Keith Eisenbrey, Jim Knodle [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, March 2, 2023]
on Jim's Shaker Tune
a discussion of hymnody had right out there in
public
Geistliche Chor-Music, Op. 11, SWV 369-397 (1648), Volume 2: XIX. Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, Aria - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
putting words in multiple mouths
and multiple ears
the singer's
voices
are not without faces
Praeludium in C Major, BuxWV 138 - Dieterich Buxtehude, Simone Stella
we are made acquainted with the floor
then we can activate the vaults
above us
and the dark nooks
and the dusty crannies
Quatrieme Ordre (fa): Le Reveil - matin. Legerement - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
ends burrow into the material of beginnings
Invention in B-flat Major, BWV 785 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
how it is done
the small parts fitting together
as parts of a
greater flow
Keyboard Sonata in C-sharp minor, Kk. 246 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
repeated outlying pitches
call attention to themselves
over here!
one to three
ears on me
Sonata in D Major, Wq. 65/40 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
1
florid etiquette
for delicate discussions
2
sincere prayer
3
fulfilling duties
in ones official capacity
L'infideltà delusa (continued) - Franz Joseph Haydn - Orchestre de Chambre de Laussanne, Antal Doráti
puppets are masks
if opera is puppet show
in which the singers
puppeteer their voices
then
voices are masks
signifiers of the character/role in play
two kinds of baritone
the sympathetic
and the mustachio
twirler
truly entertaining ensemble number to finish this scene
Horn Concerto in E-flat Major, K. 417 (#2) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, Michael Cerminaro
this horn hero
is a solid fellow
heart of gold
pious too
an angel among men
happiness awaits
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven - Wilhelm Kempff
1
mighty efforts undertaken
to ever so slightly expand
the
potential sonority
of the B-flat Major Triad
2
thorough
exacting
3
vigil
nocturnal
4
in general
seeking out the stress fractures
of the
tonality in question
sense
is not what this movement seeks to make
(exhaustion?)
Schwannengesang, D. 957 - Franz Schubert - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
art-song
the art of type setting
paper making
and binding
of poetry
into a living experience
of the poem
as an
experience
of its voice
singing it
heroic gloom
Dietrich hams it up
Mazurka in E minor, Op. 17 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
each partner in this dance
is uniquely light of foot
Novelletten (excerpt), Rauschend und festlich Op. 21 #5 - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig
covert activities in the left hand
Slavonic Dance in G minor, Op. 46a #8 - Antonín Dvořák - The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
what would an equivalently archaic set of American Dances have sounded like?
has there ever been an American national dance style?
perhaps the
mashed-potato
not sure what we'd do for quaint and colorful national
costume though
Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 20 - Ferruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
1
we know where we are
by means of reiterated clues
as to
our route of arrival
we are never concerned
that we have wandered
into a disconnected tonality
a hard nut to crack
2
swelling with pride
our heroes sing their hymns of yearning
gets ya right there know what I mean?
3
deeds done in the dark of night
to prepare
for a big
fuguey day
he just couldn't resist
a sonata is an heroic tale
October 24, 2024
Nimmersate Liebe - Hugo Wolf - Dieterich Fischer Dieskau, Daniel Barenboim
what might a social history of art song tell us?
Etude in F Sharp Major, Op. 42 #3 - Alexander Scriabin - Michael Ponti
such a lot of bitty trills to control
oof!
Silver Swan Rag - Scott Joplin - William Albright
perhaps the names of these
were chosen by the publishing firm
to
match cover art they had at hand?
{NB: perhaps not,
but apparently
there was a fruitful relationship
between him
and his publisher
perhaps they cooked up the titles
between them?}
The Warriors - Percy Grainger - Percy Grainger, Lotta Mills Hough [from Percy Grainger plays Percy Grainger]
one can almost hear the old projector
rattling through the reels back in
the booth
Adeus Ema - Heitor Villa-Lobos - Teresa Berganzo, Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo
ears open to traces of modernism and nightclubs
in this music
even the scenery is strongly characterized
and has
its say
it reflects
and oppresses
the role-singers
tales from the underbelly of Czarist glory
Pastoral - Spike Houghs [from That Devilin' Tune]
radio broadcasts
from upscale music halls
old-time
life
styles of the rich and famous
in days of general depression
also a
way to sell records
Elegy in Memory of Maurice Ravel - David Diamond - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
depicting publicly
a private grief
in formal garb
musical
crepe
Improvisation on a Passage in Study No. 23 - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives plays Charles Ives]
speak of the devil!
likes to cram things into tight spaces
not so
much into taking them apart
Serenade for String Orchestra - George Antheil - Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Spalding
part of the soundworld
of the generation of my teachers
playful
urbane
civilized
but
was it already evoking
a
social world
of walking ghosts
keeping up appearances
this is serous music
it banks on prestige
innocuous
not
poorly done
sacrosanct
is the essential melodic outline
trapped
in a
national identity
all gestures
are familiar
instantly
recognizable}
Diggin' My Potatoes - Washboard Sam, Bill Broonzy [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
one might say
that this voice
is unrefined
were it not
that its musicality
is so evident
that refinement
is
irrelevant
Ways of a Woman in Love - Johnny Cash [from Sun Records Definitive Hits]
engineered to pop on AM transistors
all high end
Masters of War - Bob Dylan [from Biograph]
a poet trapped in a musician
Glass Onion - The Beatles [from The Beatles (The White Album]
we take a moment
to thank Bob and John
for these timesome 60s
moments
bully pulpits and self-deceptions
Kodachrome - Paul Simon [from There Goes Rhymin' Simon]
always nice to meet another shutterbug
Georgia On My Mind - Willie Nelson [from Stardust]
engineered talent forward
in the spotlight
hired hands
in
the shadows
his voice
has a hint of Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket)
about it
2000 Miles - The Pretenders [collected from JW's Five-Point Songs]
more spotlight music
only one spot per stage
it's in the
contract
when this song came out
I was at Bard
writing Intermezzi
what fun!
Aaron sent some sounds
for us
to play along with
beginning lamellophone
you too
can transmogrify your
mouth
into the body
of a unitongued mbira!
translating mouth shape
into the projected body
of a musical
instrument
mouth puppetry
it tells us
about its day
study notes
and citations
play a long one
(game) (note) (piece) (portion) (line) (time) (con)
run your self off
at the mind
find the edge of it
out
we ban it not
Banned Rehearsal Unbanned
for years
Aaron kept a detailed diary
written in lamellophonic code
In Session at The Tintinabulary
October 20, 2024
Clifford - Keith Eisenbrey
October 21, 2024
Banned Rehearsal 1111 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
October 22, 2024
Detritus 1 - Keith Eisenbrey
When I finished the 16 Sinfonias I thought that I would like to write more music for clavichord, but was disinclined to go all out on charts. I'm scratching that particular itch with yet another project for solo piano. This project is open-ended. I have no idea how many there might ultimately be. This is the first one.
October 24, 2024
Fifth Sonata - Lockrem Johnson
I am quite happy with this recording.
I've been working on this piece off and on since Lockrem gave me a copy of the score back in 1976. Each time I work it up it teaches me how to play better. At this point in my life, now that I have more time to practice, I've been re-thinking the interpretation of its dynamic indications. Rather than take them as literal loudness levels (trying to make distinctions between FFFF and FFFFF, for instance) I treat those markings as being completely internalized in my playing - leaving me at liberty to concentrate on gradations of tone and touch. Watching Cristina play the night before was instructive. Every part of her from foot to fingers is at the service of the flow of her tone production
October 25, 2024
Sinfonia 11 (on piano) - Keith Eisenbrey
Postscripts
Drops
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
