Preface
"For one subsequently cited as an apostle of capitalist virtues, Franklin took a strikingly socialistic view of property. 'All property, indeed, except the savage's temporary cabin, his bow, his match-coat, and other little acquisitions absolutely necessary for his subsistence, seems to me to be the creature of public convention,' he wrote. Laws and customs made accumulation of property possible; the public therefore had the right to regulate the quantity and use of property. 'All the property that is necessary to a man for the conservation of the individual and the propagation of the species is his natural right, which none can justly deprive him of; but all the property superfluous to such purposes is the property of the public, who by their laws have created it, and who may therefore by other laws dispose of it whenever the welfare of the public shall demand such disposition.' Needless to say, this was hardly a universal opinion among a people who had fought a war over taxes. But Franklin was unmoved. 'He that does not like civil society on these terms, let him retire and live among savages.'"
H. W. Brands, from The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
Texts
Recorded
Lost Canon No. 1 - S. Eric Scribner [from Sketches: Electronic Music]
the reed drone sound
throws the piano sound
into soft relief
its plain edges buffed
Nocturne in B-flat Major (#5) - John Field - Benjamin Frith
as we hear this melody
it seems that we remember it
moment by
moment
its memory returns
where heard we it before
why
just then
as we remember
it
a thing built within memory
prompted by notes going by
Die Rose, S. 556/1 (After Schubert, D. 745) - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
Liszt transcribed at a hat's drop
as part of an exploration
into
the inner workings of melody
in this one
he extemporizes wildly
but no more so
than many
a jazz pianist does
to a simple show tune
Art Tatum and Tea for
Two
learned through his hands
Sonata in F minor, Op. 14 - Robert Schumann - Vladimir Horowitz
the so-called Concerto Without Orchestra
and it does play groups of
figurations off against each other
in concertante fashion
it isn't about the bravura
which this also has
but
at the
beck and call
of a wild poetry
Horowitz was criticized somewhat
for veering from the straight and
narrow
of sticking to a steady tempo
into
a rubato
that distorted the structure of the rhythm
I just don't hear that
but these rhythms he plays
make a meter outside strict time
it
doesn't exist to serve the page
it illuminates aspects of Schumann's
sophisticated sense of motion
I was fortunate as a teen to hear Horowitz play this live
Pas des echarpes, 3me air de ballet, Op. 37 - Cecile Chaminade - Mark Viner
not much to distract
from its through-line of notes
but a clearly
drawn music
Norwegian Peasant Dances, Op. 72: No. 2, Jon Væstafæ's Springar - Edward Grieg - Håkon Austbø
a snapshot of a characteristic demotic rhythm
(characteristic to a
national identity)
2 Poèmes: Fantastique, Op. 71 #1 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
much to distract
from any direct through-line it may project
an ephemeral region
Heah Me Talkin' To Ya - Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five [from Hot Fives and Sevens]
the beat kept by the drums
is just the sound of the tune's feet dancing
Of Thee I Sing (Incomplete) - Sarah Vaughan [from Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin]
the orchestra is a strictly professional outfit
no showboating that
might suggest a reason
not to focus on the star-voice
This Boy - The Beatles [from The Beatles Anthology]
montage ready
How About Me - Rusty Dedrick Orchestra [from Irving Berlin All By Myself: Notable Compositions 1926-1933]
this orchestra plays like an all-star orchestra
being a professional
orchestra
that trombone player plays like he means it
Lucky Star (New Mix) - Madonna [from Madonna]
dance instruction
latest moves
latest styles
this orchestra plays like a machine
a dance is an enclosed time
a bubble within experience
this song goes around at least once too many times
Selfish - U-Men
each line differentiated within its stanza
remains OK with being
strangely formed
Lydia - King's Singers [from Chanson d'amour]
this music doesn't bite
but caresses with casual suggestiveness
Waiting Game - Goodness [from Goodness 1995-1998]
each line has a space for the singing to happen
and a space for the band
to respond
and articulate structural aspects
Daddy - Beyoncé [from Dangerously In Love]
story told at several layers of lifted (and unlifted) voice
fancy Father's Day card
sung prose
Boys Boys Boys - Lady Gaga [from The Fame]
silly dance number
making hay out of one clever rhyme
Caça ao Lobisomen - Camarones Orquestra Guitarrística [from O Curioso Caso da Música Invisível]
machismo booster
Ladder With Windows - Steve Layton [from Virtual Composition]
regularity in part
an in side
and an out
we ascend
to
glimpse through
to the out
Side A Outtro - Unattributed [from Dirt Cult Records: You Don't Have To Be Cool]
a brief message from our compilators
Wonder Why - Bill Evans [from Some Other Time]
the song's presence
finds itself among a jostling of times
all
propelled along in a common flow
Walk On By - The Stranglers [from Nancy's Mix]
the guitar tech wants us to hear
the oh so specific distortion on the
track
so he gives it a couple of bars to itself
everybody gets a solid solo verse or two
"...out of the air..." - Elaine Barkin - Georgina Dobree [from Open Space 34]
synth and basset horn
spacious but enclosed
interactive in a
believably conversational mode
these sounds play for each other
Hungarian Dance #7 - Johannes Brahms - Itzhak Perlman [from The Art of Itzhak Perlman]
provincial exotic
slight
I Gotta Feeling It's Gonna Be All Right - Victorious Gospel Choir [from Bruce Springsteen, Christmas in Asbury Park]
gospel stomping
Bruce introduces only
not part of the act
Smoke Is Rising - The True Bugs [25 Songs]
portent
Northern Lights - Dawn Richard [from Goldenheart]
beat as commonest denominator
industrialism enforcement
Steady Enough - Kara Hesse [from Sojourner]
tribute
steady is the key word
Diabelli Recomposed (continued) [streamed May 11, 2023]
34
the clean up staff puts its parts back in storage
35
a nervous nibbler peeking from its hole
36
the young pining royal firstling
in long sequestered
night
37
as an old one
trying to recall
its youthful
contours
38
humphing officialdom
sets it down
in hextuplicate
The Coat of Many Colors (Live Version) - Dolly Parton [from Just Because I'm a Woman]
the pride of humble beginnings
Shaking Through - REM [from Murmur]
sound rides on string twang
song part of track
followed by a bit
of some other groove
but brief
in the uncomfortable place
of film music composers
needing their
serious music credentials stamped
music composed
as an appendix
to a resume
program music
with a fig leaf
over its subservience
a fetish
for fantasizing at length
or
this is why film cues
must be kept brutally short
Just a Little While to Stay Here [from New Orleans Traditional Jazz Legends 3]
the past as a constraint with rose-colored specs
Wanksta - 50 Cent [from Get Rich Or Die Tryin']
long strings of isorhymes
Hunger: The Journey of Tamsen Donner (continued) - Tom Baker - Maria Mannisto, Jesse Canterbury, Greg Campbell, Brian Cobb, Tom Baker
weary long scenes
cross the screen slowly
weary long scenes
grind to a halt
Shto ti se maika - Hope Wechkin [from Leaning Towards The Fiddler]
heritage music making
The Distance (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Mariah Carey [from Caution]
cheerleading life
Zion Lullaby - Megan Ihnen [from Sleep Songs - Wordless Lullabies from The Sleepless, volume 2]
controlled sound environment
nothing in that wasn't allowed in
acoustic chamber ceremony
Love Me Baby (Cherry July) - ? and The Mysterians [from The Best of ? and The Mysterians]
last ditch
pity me
plea
Night Game - Dana Batali, Adrian Carr, Mark Dickinson, David Laur, Mark Nelson, J. K. Randall, P. U. Security [from Inter/Play]
echoing sounds off a surface
in a dull roar of wind
shouting at
the sky
power roar
an imperfectly doubled space
how much of
the echo is artifact of an echo
and how much artifice of the tech
were there separate recording devices
in different locations
within an echoing field?
in fact
it's a stadium
as we discover
when security arrives
to investigate
the jet is jeered along
till out of range
the panel of experts
turns the tape
My Song - Bright Sheng - Peter Serkin
planes sliding independently
spilling over
cycles of motions
stern connector plunk
Kanta Parahit - India [from The World Sings Goodnight]
could they have imagined a less comfortable acoustic
for infants to
sleep
or is this the most they could accomplish?
Sarabande (Stereo Mix) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey, Jim Knodle [from Jack Straw Cultural Center Blind Youth Audio Project 2003]
the piano is nicely forward in this mix
Collaborations-Griffin & Kaleel - Sacajawea Elementary Students [from Digital Dreams]
around patterns of four
Dark Night's New Moon - Smokestack and The Foothill Fury [from High Roads and Hard Shoulders]
driving home song
at driving home tempo
Ferris Wheel - Canals of Venice [from Fall On November]
music as a carrier signal
word freight
Spare Me The Hurt of Losing You - The Newcomers [from Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos]
music as a stage
shaped by
and shaping
how the words go
Kraanerg (end) - Iannis Xenakis - Callithumpian Consort, Stephen Drury]
a tiny fissure
and what flows through it
as understood from many
angles
loudspeaker enabled
limited by the need
at the time
to have
it all done aforehand
electronic sounds were all the rage
took right over
this music
is for impressing with
not
for humming the tunes
of
precision lip service
Go - Pearl Jam [from Rearviewmirror]
sound track to a mediated life
suddenly immediate
Adiobatic Expansion - Brad Hawkins, Jesse Canterbury [from Brad Hawkins, Jesse Canterbury]
exact intonations
no hiding
measure of angular intimacy
Heat - Mariah Carey [from E=MC2]
being cutesy cutesy
not taking itself seriously much
Bodyless Material - Bad Cop Bad Cop [from Wings of Techno]
its artifice is its material
no body home
let's be Throbbing Gristle
Crazy Ideas - Denise Glover [from Gaps In The Stories]
the groove is webbed within
personal among
the players
and
include
any
Romulus Hunt (end) - Carly Simon - Nashville Opera, Dean Williamson
something must be happening
there are an awful lot of dramatic moments
and two
count 'em two
up-transpositions
the third
was too much
now they're all so sorry
it was all a nightmare
and still is
we are overwhelmed
with author's message
weird
Nefertiti - Wayne Shorter [from The Classic Blue Note Recordings]
in the character of a cult figure
polished hardwood or stone
this
piano leaks notes all over
spacious bliss out to fade
Spis Le, Milke Le - Bulgarian State Radio & TV Female Vocal Choir [from Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares 2]
cultural artifact
launched into the void
Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) - Doug Haire [from The Crawford Opera]
the pop and crackle of warfire
Away2 - Andrew Young [from Inkplaces]
paneled gestures
Little Hot Rod - Blazzed [from Blazzed]
guitars and cars
dry of sustain
close the book
back
up
Prelude and Fugue in C Major -Jeremiah Lawson
plays with integral honesty
Please Master - Allen Ginsberg [from Holy Soul, Jelly Roll]
a desire spelled out explicitly
Prophets of Rage - Public Enemy [from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back]
keep the home fires burning
July 31, 2026
Fly - David Bowie [from Reality]
jank sound to start
used for thin crust
over crowded dance floor
Rocks and Glass - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at The Comet Tavern, Seattle, March 5, 2013]
taken at a clip
with oohaah vocal supplement
a missed opportunity
for some righteous shoodoobedops
Shady Cuckoo - SeaStar [from Sinners and Angles]
another song to song hopping song
Shady Grove
Cuckoo Is a Pretty
Bird
Cotton-Eye Joe
Jolene
In Session at The Tintinabulary
July 26, 2026
St. Thomas - Keith Eisenbrey
the first tune in the book in short meter (66.86)
July 27, 2026
Banned Rehearsal 1156 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
Postscripts
Drops
Music of Aaron Keyt - Part 3
This third collection of the music of my long-time collaborator Aaron Keyt is composed of two sets of short pieces: Hedgehogs (2014) and Music for Wallace (2016). The recordings were made at my home in 2020/2021.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream.
