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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
"March 15. -- The City Forensic Club applied to the Court of Aldermen for a contribution; the grant was opposed by one of the Court, on the ground that they could have nothing to spare for any Foreign-sick Society while there was so much illness at home.
The same gentleman thought it his duty to inform the Court, that there was a report on 'Change of an alarming rise in Sperma-City. He said he had been taken from school so long ago, that he had forgotten its locality, and requested the Remembrancer to remind him. That learned gentleman, after referring to a map, said he could not exactly find the place, but he believed it was somewhere in Wales."
from The Comic Almanack, (1st Series: 1835-1843) an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, Containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips, and Oddities.
Texts
Recorded
November 1, 2025
Madrigals, Book VIII: O sia tranquillo il mare - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
even in this distant past
our culture's obsession with pitch's functions
drives our sense
of how this is doing what it does
how it
differentiates itself
as a unique utterance
Praeludium in A minor, BuxWV 153 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
brick by brick
it builds itself
in even its distant corners
the music before its fugue enters
tells us to sit down and pay
attention
annunciation and fugue
Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 143 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Ton Koopman
the artful play of interlocking duration schemes
fun brass parts
continuities modified as they are repeated
leaving space to expand
the breathing room
of the sung phrase
Sonata in D major, Kk. 298 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
music made of Lego bricks
in surprising variety
in imagination
we move through these bustling halls
smoothly
airborne
Novelletten, op. 21 #7, Äußerst rasch - Robert Schumann - Éric Le Sage
the figures flow past our ears
gales
buffets
and breezes
Romance, S169 - Franz Liszt - Jenő Jandó
its soundtrack
lighting
and furnishings
its artful mood
Poème, Op. 41 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
perfumed words
taut lines
balanced periods
suddenly
we are viewing from the side
where
we had not been
Little David Play Your Harp - Joe Reed Family [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
robust intonation
jumble of bible stories
Noah and David
Someone To Watch Over Me - Art Tatum [from Piano Starts Here]
it's as though the music can't help itself
it simply must twinkle and
slide
include all its friends
Body and Soul - Morgana King [Sings The Blues]
enactment song
the singer sings
as though
they
were
the self
of the text
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
From Yon Hills - Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey, Joanne Deacon [April 16, 1963]
Schumann I believe
hundert tausend Küssen
My Funny Valentine - Bill Evans [from Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest]
finger thinking
within closely guarded restraints
or guidelines
or
along a path
with pull to it
or
a subject
matter
in the form of a path
Sorrow - David Bowie [from Pin Ups]
recriminations and blame
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Episode 05 - Douglas Adams - BBC Radio Workshop
sussed it
conical ebony bath
Improvisation 8 - Keith Eisenbrey, Anne McLellan [October 2, 2013]
running a bath
for the sound of it
back to Wittgenstein
text
as object
in a performance action
on the same footing
as the string bass
and the running bath
and the full bath
and the voice
and the room
and the microphone
Fuck Tha Police - N.W.A. [from Straight Outta Compton]
occupy the enforced role
Karaguna - Black Cat Orchestra [from Dante's Inferno Live Score]
it helps
for the sympathetic apprehension of a music
to invent a
social situation
in which
it would be most appropriate
(or
most plausible)
and ascribe the music
to that milieu
here:
noir strip tease
A Perfect Day Elise - PJ Harvey [from Is This Desire?]
subtly de-emphasized figurational articulation patterns
under the sun of
menace
the song
is a single image
fade to close
Eurydice (midi) - Keith Eisenbrey [October 12, 2003]
duet for reed sounds
does repetition of a multiplex segment
set up
expectations?
how?
are they met?
how could they be?
Brindabani Sarang, Tintal/3-2 Rumba - Anjuman [form Rumba Meets Raga]
familiarization
through sympathetic collaboration
Three Guitars - S. Eric Scribner [from Odds and Ends]
they squeeze in through the cracks
Unfasten - Hanna Benn [from Divide]
image re-enactment
cycle message
November 4, 2025
Three Strathspeys - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded September 19, 2006; from Keith Eisenbrey 1: 1979-1981]
in the first two
I indulge
in the third
I dissect
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
comic patter
padding
yodel icing
The White Birch and The Sycamore - Peggy Lee [from Sea Shells]
precious folky pretention
Say It Isn't So - Aretha Franklin [from Laughing On The Outside]
a personal plea
Witch Hunt - Wayne Shorter [from The Classic Blue Note Recordings]
a figure
the figure
is repeated
then starts repeating again
but
at the end
gets big
back
to the regularly
scheduled
fourth figure
a coda
a pattern to follow
though
the point
isn't exactly
to follow
so much
as to reinvent
Is It In My Head - The Who [from Quadrophenia]
a soliloquy
unaccountable setting
incessant strumming
Boyce: Suite - Canadian Brass [from High, Bright, Light and Clear]
stately
proper
festive
longwinded invocation
at last
the course is being served
the
staff
spreads through the hall
with smooth motions
we pause to remember the brave
and the gone on
ah!
jugglers!
Banned Rehearsal 143 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [July 13, 1988]
the lost session
has been recovered
at least
somewhat
begins with an attempt
to play my Serenade
for Aaron
these figures
are not concerned much
with what key they might be
in
at the passing moment
any will do
the sound of pages being shuffled
RESCUED! from OBLIVION!
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
at the time of this tape's original dubbing to digital
resulting
in a duplication of one session
under two names
and a missing sound file
when the error was discovered
it was also discovered
that the
archivist's stalwart hero
of a Sanyo tape deck
had finally gone
to the great fast-forward in the sky
so that the
archivist
had no means to recover the lost file
until
his intrepid
spouse
helping to clean up her dad's place
brought home
an
unused portable stereo system
to see
if it would work
before
passing it along
it did well enough
to recover
the lost
from OBLIVION!
spider web canon
I put Aaron to sleep
with a stretto canon
Serenade from the past
on the rims of wine glasses
I can't bend over
because my head explodes
a screw missing
has been a screw found
I am not a reed man
think like a goose
sounds out of saxes
success!
twice!
thrice!
a honk like a goose sax
I'm an expert fingerer
but only on keyboards
introducing the key of D minor
use all 85 fingers
two male apes
attempt to operate a saxophone
brilliance
at
last
a happily rescued session
the obo roi rejoices extravagantly
honk fest
what a strange tape to have forgotten
there are a number of apparent artifacts
in the dub
as though
someone were toggling a soft mute switch
to produce odd voids
perhaps
the tape was sticking
during playback
except
that it didn't seem to affect the speed
hm
Be A Good Boy/If - Janet Jackson [from Janet]
the first track
is a seven-second bit
with some spoken words
addressing its object
from outside music
the second track
is a manufactured dance music
addressing its
object
from within music
throwing its manufacture
into sharp
relief
At My Window Sad and Lonely - Billy Bragg & Wilco [from Mermaid Avenue]
careful use
of said syllabic English
lines of 8 or 6 or 7
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
a groove
that twists
möbiusly
through itself
Zither Film 24 - Keith Eisenbrey [November 8, 2008]
passing a sound file
through a chipper
mapping
the resulting
scatter
the well-tempered
soundfile chipper
tuning
to duration of snippet
and duration between snippets
proximity range
closely packed
(lively entertainment)
→
loosely packed
(severe hidden elusive)
amplitude and presence
exhibited by the snippets
were left
to their own devices
Gloom - Camarones Orquestra Guitarrística [from O Curioso Caso da Música Invisível]
high spirited gloom
unless gloom
is a Portuguese word
for
something else
Banned Rehearsal 963 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt [July 30, 2018]
we seem reluctant
to do much that might be overt
especially
if it might be overtly music-like
we pluck and putter
much as we might sip tea
once below the surface layer
the activities engage each other
much
ado in the duff
Sending Off - Steve Layton [from Bedtime Stories]
seems to have left its pulse
at the edge
to watch
but just
for a moment
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Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas [from Anthology of American Folk Music]
tempo adjustable
when the music catches up
to where the lyrics
start
guitar
with voice
alternating
with penny whistle
Blue Funk - Ray Charles & Milt Jackson [from Soul Brothers/Soul Meeting]
low ceilinged sound
wood paneling
shags
cigar aroma
among friends
Baby It's You - The Beatles [from Please Please Me]
another one of John's veiled threats
Don't Blame Me (Remake) (take 2) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings]
between lyrics
we pause
to hear what the music has to say about it
You Are Here - John Lennon [from Mind Games]
lap guitar?
differently described suns
Yea, Yea - Ramones [from Road to Ruin]
surf beat
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the bass comments
while the tub is filled
a voice speaks words
from a writing by Wittgenstein
inferring spirits
from
physiognomy
All Your Lies - Soundgarden [from Ultramega OK]
punk as a preening strut
can't quite get it over the bridge
Music Box - Mariah Carey [from Music Box]
trope of personal devotion hyperbole
made all flowery and cushioned
fantasy of protected woman
paradise
safe in man's arms
Love Me Like I Love - Jonathan Richman [from I'm So Confused]
wants a mom
Gradus 53 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [October 13, 2003]
a meditative object
(made by meditating)
disciplined
(will-driven)
behavior
interesting
but risky
even the discipline
will need to be disciplined
even meditation
must be meditated upon
can there be
a will-less meditation
if meditation
is a
discipline?
(driven by a will?)
jolted from impact
to ripple
the confounding thing about existence
is that it all
somehow
seems to function
without our help
or interference
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confessional self talk
confused crossroad
Return of a Queen - Dawn Richard [from Goldenheart]
cinematic
begging for official video
me
rhymes
with me
imagine that!
Hold Out Your Hand - Brandi Carlile [from By The Way I Forgive You]
a human tempo
and a power tempo
a human size
and a power
size
an altar call
Diapsalmata - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded February 7, 2007; from Keith Eisenbrey 1: 1979-1981]
continuing to dissect with precision
pay no mind
to the occasional
shelling
corners of mind
kept secure
so stern the sentinel
Jungle Blues - Benny Goodman's Boys [from Really The Blues]
ever wary
ever showy
Good Bait - Nina Simone [from Little Girl Blue]
so that the whole of the song
invents itself
taking it outside
with the piano
and all it can do
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
"Twas"
being a traditional First Nations contraction I guess
Shout - The Kingsmen [from The Very Best of The Kingsmen]
dance call
round and round
St. Judy's Comet - Paul Simon [from There Goes Rhymin' Simon]
lullaby
Pléiades I: Mélanges - Iannis Xenakis - Red Fish Blue Fish, Steven Schick
a parade of beats
beat by beat
they pass in review
New Years' Day - U2 [from Under a Blood Red Sky]
shooting for prophetic-sounding
November 6, 2025
Banned Rehearsal 149 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [August 18, 1988]
picking up where we left off
with the tenor sax
rehashing bits of
Book of Windows
the social activity
of engaging with music
is music's only source
of relevance
social or other
outside the activity
there is not music
and hence
no
relevance
our modes of engagement
with music
have bearing
on its modes
of relevance
music theory
might be one such mode
dance
another
functionally equivalent
in that
they are both
modes of
engagement
with their own tangents
and vectors of relevance
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| Maryhill Museum of Art |
to have topical relevance
to be
for example
antifa
regardless
of one's personal stance
in that regard
it would need to be engaged with
by some mode
in which
that topic is pertinent
might
for instance
dance
be somehow
pertinently antifa
as a mode
of engaging with music?
music theory?
is a
music
containing an antifa-pertinent text
thereby
antifa-pertinent
or
is the text of such a music
a mode
of engagement
with music
and not the music
(id est
not
really a proper part)
I kind of like the idea
of sung texts
as modes of engagement
with music
and likewise
music
being a mode of
engagement
with sung texts
theories
or dances
of each
other
all our modes of engagement
with each other
engage each
other
nagging concern:
if I am informed
of a music's antifa-pertinence
does that infliction of information
count
as an inherently
authoritarian act
does being told ahead
nullify the possibility of
relevance?
or cast a pall upon it?
as a mode of engagement
music can be considered
properly
only through its engagement
with other modes
(including
other modes of music)
it occurs to me
all of a sudden
that this recitation from
Book of Windows
is
finally
accompanied by saxophone
as originally scored
intent to control
is a problem
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does the social relevance
of the language portion of this
adhere
to the portion that is music?
this music
is designed to
(and succeeds at it)
organize
the rhythm
of the
speaking of the language portion
engaging
what they have in common
keeping it all
within metronomic grid lines
engagement by
control
Skin - Madonna [from Ray of Light]
the language part
is explicitly seductive
is the music?
or
is it a theory
about an organization
of the scansion
of the language portion's
syntactical structure?
(but not
its referential object)
would I think different
if I were to engage with it
in dance mode?
Polovtsian Dance - Brave Combo [from Box of Ghosts]
a style of music
engaging with another music
runs the danger
of exposing its own peculiar weaknesses
Banned Rehearsal 747 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [November 16, 2008]
music is its own multitudes of modes of engagement
any mode
at any
moment
upon any moment
at any mode
(a mode
is a two-humped node)
sternly
from outside
locations
pointed comments
vectored reference
tracing intentions
across instruments
a sense of personality
recognized
by touch upon an
instrument
or activity
it's nice to have a puzzle
to puzzle
at
A Joyful Time - Hope Wechkin - Hope Wechkin [from Leaning Toward the Fiddler]
music responding to narrative
a rapt audience
Gradus 337 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [August 6, 2018]
the quantity of notes in play
has confounded any possibility
that
I would want to check for errors
a polyphony
generated by a further polyphony
of which
our
original polyphony
is the accident
9,000 voices
just happen
to coincide
for these few notes
or this crushing cluster
what could we mean
by the tonality of a piece
that isn't exactly
its pitch-paths
in all their profusion
as a whole
each
moment
compared with the moment
just since ensued from
in
expectation
of
its soon
to have been ensued to
moment
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introduction
is to allow the singer
time
to be filled
with the song's voice
Chicago Blues - James P. Johnson and Orchestra [from That Devilin' Tune]
train ride
begging for the Fleischer fluid animation
fancy fingers
on the keys
dancing
beneath them
I Hadn't Anyone Till You - Judy Garland [from Judy In Love]
an unnecessary purity brag?
she avoids final consonants at the ends of
lines
In Session at The Tintinabulary
November 2, 2025
Canterbury New - Keith Eisenbrey
November 3, 2025
Banned Rehearsal 1137 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
November 5, 2025
Two-Part Invention in C Major - Gavin Borchert
in putting together Gavin's album
(see below)
I discovered that I
had left this one unrecorded,
or lost the recording I had made earlier.
It was one of the easy ones
so I was able to record it quickly.
Postscripts
Drops
Music of Gavin Borchert (part 1)
I first became acquainted with the music of Seattle luminary Gavin Borchert in the early 2000s. I was struck by his sensitive ear for pitch and the clarity of his phrasing. Of the pieces in this collection, Prelude, Berceuse, and Two-Part Invention were recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church in 2004 and 2007; Untitled (Slow Waltz) was recorded at my home in 2004, and the 19 Two-Part Inventions (on clavichord) from 2021 to 2025 - also at my home. The latter group were composed for piano, but I only had to move a few notes around to fit them into the clavichord's 5-octave span, where they seem to do just fine.
Prelude (2002)
Untitled (Slow Waltz) (2001)
Berceuse
(2004)
Two-Part Invention (2006)
19 Two-Part Inventions
(2020)
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
