"July - Dog Days'"
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
Recorded
November 17, 2024
L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Act III - Claudio Monteverdi - Orfeo Orchestra, Sergio Vartolo
repetition as internal reference
we understand it
musically
immediately
but have difficulty
explaining in words
what we understand to be happening
without words
what we call rhythm and number
can be diagrammed abstractly
but
only from a standpoint
outside of our immediate experience
of it happening
stylized stage drama
precisely controlled expression
Geistliche Chor-Music, Op. 11, SWV 369-397 (1648), Volume 2: XXIII. Selig sind die Toten - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
looming behind the German Requiem
a deep history of sacred polyphony
we presume Brahms knew this setting
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BuxWV 223 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
internal motions
count out the number
between external motions
where
internal is equivalent to more quickly moving
and
external
to more stately moving
Triosieme Ordre (ut) - Gavotte - François Couperin - Simone Stella
flatteries in flatteries
Sinfonia in D minor, BWV 790 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Edith Picht-Axenfeld
as though several musics were oozing through the great halls
Keyboard Sonata in C Major, Kk. 250 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
differentiated by figure
twists of voices
L'infedeltà delusa (continued) - Franz Joseph Haydn - Orchestre de Chambre de Laussanne - Antal Doráti
the importance of what is going down
is thrust upon our senses
complete with ceremonial dance
higher voices
have a conversation
orchestra counting out their
number
now we have two lower voices
and one higher voice
dramatically orchestrated recitative
Rondo in C Major, Wq. 56/1 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklós Spányi
the subject
and the commentary upon it
in adjoining columns
day dreamy asides get everywhere
String Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Budapest Quartet
if the ear hears a pattern
it will leap ahead
(tonal expectations
for instance)
but
does such anticipation
prejudice
itself?
what we hear
is colored
by our expectation
of what we will
hear
a firm cadence
can clear the ear
to start afresh
patterns of expectations
arising
from recognitions of patterns
patterns of expected unexpecteds
expected to repeat
in whole
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) - Ludwig van Beethoven - Alfred Brendel
1-3
in regard to the adequacy
of period instruments
for late
Beethoven:
a common comment
is that the excitement of wondering
whether the instrument will survive:
is that even a crucial
element of the piece?
or
an unfortunate side-effect
the pulls of scale-degree functions
against each other
we never
arrive
at a definitive statement
against which
all others
are held
some tonalities only exist
if approached from several specific
directions
the path to them
as much a part of their key
as
their pitch class sets
common practice period tonality
a set of intricate
inter-relatable
relations
holding
among certain pitch class set types
4
open pages at random
see what's there
ah yes the fugue
{NB: it was at this point that our power went out for 22 hours}
Sonata in C minor, D. 958 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel
this music is on the edge of its seat
listening intently
to
something truly fine
we are drawn into this music
as we listen
intently
edge-of-our-seats-ly
6 Concert Studies on Caprices by Paganini, Op. 10: No. 5 in B Minor - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig
if the figure has enough little places
between each beat
supplemental figures
can be made to play
Waltz in F Major, Op. 34 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Peter Katin
this dashing young gent
is quite witty
and I
am just so
giddy
Via Crucis, Station XIV - Jesus wird ins Grab gelegt - Franz Liszt - Nederlands Kamerkoor, Reinbert De Leeuw
some scenes require no commentary
just ceremony
to draw the
curtains closed
An die Geliebte - Hugo Wolf - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Daniel Barenboim
can you trust a swain
who uses such chromaticisms?
really turns it
on
Etude in F-sharp Major, Op. 42 #3 - Alexander Scriabin - Ruth Laredo
little tummy tickles
San Francisco Bay - Hedges Brothers and Jacobson [from That Devilin' Tune]
vaudeville circuit favorites
Four Irish Dances, Op. 79: No. 4, A Reel (Arr. Grainger) - Percy Grainger [from Percy Grainger plays Percy Grainger]
seemed so sweet
on the way
paid
by the column inch
Tenebroso - Ernesto Nazareth - Marcelo Bratke
similar in spirit
to some modes of Ken Benshoof
1
snow falls across the village
sleepily and sweetly
snuggle
down
all warm and cozy
we'll tell a tale
of heroes and kings
of hunts and battles
a manly tale
of manly things
mind the meanderings of the low strings
that's where the money changes
hands
doesn't finish
just stops
2
no matter where we go
we do the same old things
we move
through this
as we might
through honey
far from friends or family
in a dark and drear world
3
below the web
the scattered husks
of waltzes past
rubbing sore feet
and comforting bruised hearts
4
a pilgrim's quest
re:
intervals:
in order for the system to work
as we seem to
think it does work
the intervals
must be regarded
as
compositionally metricized functions
rather than
as qualities:
could one take the quality of interval
to be primitive
and also
take the quality of pitch
to be primitive
and
also
have the system work
as we seem to think it does?
Trois Valses Extraites Du Film Madame Bovary, a Jean Renoir Op. 128 - Darius Milhaud - Françoise Choveaux
the film is intriguing
but not available
as far as I could find
When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
a lament
over
a happy dance
Ode (Triptychon for Orchestra) - Igor Stravinsky - New York Philharmonic, Igor Stravinsky
lifted from somewhat noisy vinyl at some point
close order polyphony
Missa Trencin - M. Schneider Teplicensis - Mixed Choir Tirnava, Trnava Chamber Orchestra
concert music
for festival time worship
suitably grand
the traditionally chanted
Gloria in excelsis deo
and
Credo in unum deum
are they set that way
by edict
from above
or only because it is traditional
to do them that way?
it produces a strange aesthetic disjuncture
within the setting of
the text
in
style of singing
setting
syntax
rhythm
everything
post-war
thorn vine bush
music
is data bits
hard facts
in black and white
music
for the atomic auditorium
Excursus:
inside the piano sounds:
to what extent
are they
the same activity
as playing the piano?
and to what extent
are they not?
the sounds will
share a common resonating space
and source of
pitch-sounds (the strings)
while amending
supplementing
or
circumventing
some
or all
of the mechanism
(the
piano's action)
Good Golly Miss Molly - Little Richard [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
energy held at high pressure
Goodnight My Love - The Fleetwoods [from Come Softly To Me]
soft core
puppy love
daisy petals
and diary secrets
is that a Fender Rhodes?
(unclear)
Summer Girl 1968
weird 60s bridge
to upmodulation
to fade
A Special Song for Wanda - The Statler Brothers [a Rescued Record]
discussing a moral question
with due regard to its morality
Something In The Night - Bruce Springsteen [from Darkness On The Edge Of Town]
spotlight arrangement
composed with dramatic camera angles
baked
in
Untitled - Dan Sedia [recorded live at Bard College, March 18, 1983]
on a tuning figure
Bad Little Woman - U-Men
tri-syllabic woman
woo-ma-ain
jealousy as a turn-on
(hm)
Banned Rehearsal 331 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [June 11, 1993]
the rhythmic chant
of toddler need
loop statement
snare drum
makes sound
from two distinct places in the mix
pitch
is a further geometry of place
sounds like a noise to me too
Raise to the Loud a Glorious Din!
FW: lessons in deconstructional language
construction
where stick go?
does it matter
to the Din
whether the Din
be Music?
Do
I matter
to the Din?
saxophone role
of Pelleas
in Pelleas and Mellophone
paleo-saxophone
paleo-phonics
specifically designed
for marching
sounds ghost prematurely
human sacrifice
heartless right wing
jurists
drums and baseballs
she can't kyrie tune
Hear the Lively Sounds/Jingle Bells
a sudden mash
marches to the organ
toccata'd while reading Flaubert
Emma Dilemma
reeds
free
single
and synthesized
we provide perversity
orchestra
fugued upon Baudelaire
the
flower of evils
eaten by weevils
J says
I can't reach the
phone yet
at 2+
this music is really hip
(elbow too)
{journal entry of March 2, 1998:
all through this period - the band in a kind of holding pattern}
California Stars - Billy Bragg & Wilco [from Mermaid Avenue]
to write a song
on another songwriter's words
an act of
translation
Sounds of the Brush: Improvisation 4 - Gust Burns, Adam Diller, Keith Eisenbrey, Mike Marlin, DL Scott, Adam Weiss [recorded live at The Odd Fellows Hall, Seattle, March 17, 2003]
what might have been an outside sound
is found
to be inside
after all
ideally
each sound
responds
to the whole sound
It's OK I Understand - Courtney Marie Andrews [from Urban Myths]
harmony with oneself
self extension
Attitude - Doug Palmer - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, April 12, 2014]
differences
that can't be settled
incompatibly combative posturing
In Session at The Tintinabulary
November 17, 2024
Bolton - Keith Eisenbrey
Shape note tunes, aside from being among the roots and soil of American Hymnody (which counts as that particular segment of folk music that I grew within), share a strong sense of rhythmic and harmonic robustness. They are a music of strong bones and a joy to work with.
November 28, 2024
Banned Rehearsal 1113 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Neal Kosály-Meyer
Aaron couldn't come over but we carried on.
November 19, 2024
Detritus 2 - Keith Eisenbrey
I'll probably try to redo some of these recordings without some of the street noise static.
November 22, 2024
Sinfonia 16 - Keith Eisenbrey
I now have solid piano recordings of the whole set of 16 Sinfonias. It was quite a project for me - I had no idea it would be so chart-intensive when I first entertained the idea of composing Sinfonias (for clavichord or piano or any other keyboard on which they will fit). One factoid about the whole set is that, within certain consistently presented frames of time, there is a direct note-to-note correspondence that holds between each of them. It may not be recoverable from the score, but if one knew how the chart functioned one could trade the notes of any one of them for the notes of any other of them - they are each direct transformations of each other. Sometime in the next few weeks I'll be putting together an album of all 16 of these on piano. Onward now to something new!
Postscripts
Drops
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
