Preface
"Music, as it has been said, is poetry. Music theory, too often, treats it as prose - or, more specifically, as inverted metadiscourse. But consider music theory's problem: how do you convey the specificities of a composed poetry in metalinguistic paraphrase or schematic abstraction or by logical-definiential reconstruction, other than by paraphrastically re-poiesifying and thereby recommitting rather than explicating the creative act?"
- Benjamin Boretz "2: (META)" from "inside in . . . / . . . outside out" Open Space Publications, 2020
Texts
Streaming
Wayward in Limbo
With the Chapel closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wayward Music Series now moves from the concert hall to the living room. In place of our usual ten monthly concerts, Nonsequitur is curating and commissioning ten Seattle artists each month to create a series of streaming audio sessions of exclusive material. Many of these will be essentially “live” performances recorded at home for this occasion. Others may create a mix of pre-recorded material that has not been previously released elsewhere.
- from the Wayward Music Series website at https://www.waywardmusic.org/.
July 17, 2021
Torch
Torch Quartet: Brian Kai Chin, trumpet, Eric Likkel, Clarinet; Bonnie
Whiting, vibes & percussion; Steve Schermer, bass
Lightbearer (2021), by Nansi Caroll
Hearing Troublesome Creek
(2021), by Bonnie Whiting
Three Dances (2020), by Ed Castro
1
– Vitrics
2 – Vocalise
3 –
Deconstructed Merengue
in what might be
or passes as
a familiar ilk of pitchthink
not far removed
in ilkhood
from my own
post late Stravinsky counterpoint
with twirty birds throughout
real birds
real twirting
2
cyclic shush like distant engine
paper texture
upon which splats
splots and bwoops chirp
under which an evening chorale is sung
so pretty
shush
less like an engine
than like splashing water
3.1
cooperative music
each part out of each other's part's space
but
pulling together as needed
for special projects
they don't interrupt each
other
nor choke with contrapuntal posturing
the twirt bird persists
3.2
this is another evening color
with trees and cooling air
fine indeed
3.3
time to get up
party's started
twist your torso
midparts dance
don't
get too vigorous
or you'll miss
the little winks
flapper lines
swoopy
verticals
hips angled to floor
shoulders angled to hips
dapper hats
July 23, 2021
Jonathan Way
Forest Floor:
1 Above Duwamish Head in the Clarmar Woods 108 ft elev.
2
Above Ruby Arm west of Panther Cr - 2,000 ft elev
3 South slopes of
Crooked Bum above the Bridge Cr drainage - 5,300-5,600 ft elev
sticks leaves birds scrape shuffle caw crickle crack
cars and trucks
persistent background roar
tires on pavement
this is an extremely busy critter
quick as a squirrel
but never stops
new locale?
new roar
some banging and
fresh twigs
new location?
more shushy sort of highway here
some critter is
chomping twigs
or perhaps a herd of chomping critters
kplu(n)k
hushed road
cricketty froggy top
layer of sound
a bug goes by (fly)
somebody is splashing
gentler rhythms to
start
evening
morning
a second day
we'll walk over here
place is event
attitude of ear is event
this bird has much say
Recorded
July 17, 2021
Pelleas et Melisande, Act III - Claude Debussy - Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Camille Maurane, Chorus of the Grand Théâtre, Geneva, Erna Spoorenberg, George London, Hoekman, Veasey, Brady, Shirley-Quirk
the time ticks along
dilating as it falls
into surging moments
hang and tumble
|| P regards M / G regards P and M, warns P / P regards M / regards P by proxy
|| Regardez!
descent to the low places
in the dark
by the sea
caves and wells
and grottos
a sodden drama
fresh air at last
!!
youth
!
Golaud speaks with
heavy suspicion
Pelleas with open heart and shining face
Melisande with
bottomless simplicity
Golaud uses Yniold as a sounding board
for his own
suspicion
threads of melody woven throughout
pulling times together
|| Regardez!
charm more than wit
the global squareness is a given
within which clever
arrangement can give breathing room
as long as no resistance is made to the
global squareness
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4 - Alban Berg - BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, Halina Lukomska
what the singer sings is only what escapes
the fierce tangle in which we
presume a key might be found
the voice of a lyric poem confounds itself with
its text
who speaks?
the text or a speaker from within the text?
Riff Johnson's Harmony Band - Gene Greene [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
the lyrics are an advertisement for a type of social music
in the guise of an
advertisement for a specific band
spirited
Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 - Carl Neilsen - Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt
1
tremolo steps back and then steps forward
to mark the section ends
or
changes color
until timpani et al take over
a similar but more heavy handed
role
eventually the slight presence of a constant timekeeping figure
becomes a
lurking presence throughout
we're never without it for long
even when
attenuated
|||
the old music we remember so fondly
take deep breaths friends
we may not have this with us again soon
trouble approaches
our respite was
brief
hold to it lads!
2
big celebration prep work
the nagging concerns as we remember
keep
watch in the night
we'll keep ourselves occupied
with a game of fugal chess
timpani spells trouble
uh oh
it may get out of hand
July 18, 2021
String Trio, Op. 20 - Anton Webern - members of the Juilliard String Quartet
maximally efficient hyperexpression
we know from analysis and reflection
that
music as a signal
is a process in time
but from within it
within an experience of
it
the experience of any now
can be outside the realm of procession
this
metaphor is no more an illusion
than progress along a track is
If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey [from Goodbye, Babylon]
"I was standing / by the dead side / of a neighbor"
says 'said' to nearly
rhyme with say way day
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues - Vernon Dalhart (from Evans 78s)
with at least two fiddles
more ragtime feel than blues
Not a Care in the World - Peggy Lee [from The Complete Recordings 1941-1947]
it occurs to me
that the "old Queen of Russia"
maybe
should have had a care in
the world
odd comparison
Symphony for Wind Instruments - Igor Stravinsky - Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Edo DeWaart
a sequential harmony of instrumental figuration
colors
regions of them
pass
composing the means to the clarity of the ends
so that there is no mismatch
and nothing left over
Ain't No More - Texas Melody Boys [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
the squeeze box sure gives a Cajun feel to it
It Won't Happen with Me - Jerry Lee Lewis [from Rare and Rockin']
he never misses a chance to put the leer in each lyric
Bone Jesu - Unattributed - The Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey [April 10, 1962]
whoever wrote this had some voice leading chops
nicely sung
Cross My Heart - Billy Stewart
every inch Vegas ready
Three Irish Songs - The Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey [from Betty's Picks]
recording quality is surprisingly good
July 20, 2021
Teach Me Master - Brady 'Doc' and Lucy Barnes and others [from The Art of Field Recording, Volume 1]
that is an otherschooled voice
rhythmically dead on
internalized bedrock
a theory of what a score can be
an extremely generous tempo
ears to the ground
pay mind to each and every where
that you are at
another way to do this
would
be to do portions only
at this tempo
the whole is invisible
over too many
horizons
to be experienced as anything but an ordeal
(other than an)
my lesson
for myself was about
patterns cyclicity structural resonance phasing
what
nonpop minimalism might be
if rethought from a maximalist mindset
virulently
non-engaging
Kali - John Rahn
particles
circling into the suck
of signalless,
the stories of several valiant
Banned Rehearsal 292 -John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [May 1, 1992]
a rattle a bell a babble a brass
a buzzoo
must be Toad Hall
since there is a
piano
and we did not yet have the Kingsbury
but would we have taken the
plowwheel out?
{NB apparently so, heavy as it is}
seems extreme to be
traveling with a plowwheel
and diaper bags
and all
must indeed be Toad Hall
since Aaron answered the phone
J fusses
Aaron and Keith contend
the mood
babble is the lingo of the hour
tuba oompa
the tuba of doom
by definition
tubas build character
hauling them up hills
we drum
now hoot and babble
good
moments now and then
but lazy
playing pretend music
a difficult doldrum to
self-extricate from
July 21, 2021
In Waking - unknown artist [a Rescued Record, un-labeled 7" 45rpm]
 |
| It might be this one - memory fails |
trying poetry to describe a process
coming out into something
cross culture
echo
the release of fingers
from guitar strings
at end
and
lifting of fingers
from harpsichord keys
at end
same gesture
Track 5 - unknown amateur ensemble [from Eisenbrey 2002, a private recording of Betty Eisenbrey]
Schumann or more likely Brahms piano quartet slow movement
an - An Auf [from An Auf]
waiting space for keyboard chords
nibbled at by alien messages
Gramma's In the Cellar - Your Mother Should Know [live at Prospect United Church of Christ, February 4, 2012]
prepare to be disgusted
even has a stove oven theme to it
a crowd pleaser
This Is the End - Lures [from There's No Pressure]
tricky - how to compose and balance guitars bass drums with a baritone vocal
gets clogged
The Quadran Pavan, Variation of The Quadran Pavan, Galiard to The Quadran Pavan - John Blow - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
portions of imitations passed from voice to voice
whose games run off on their
own
oblivious to the main show
ornaments are coy dissonance
it's so cool that
we can use thirds now
they're nifty
keyboard scores were the newest gadget
collectors loved them
so fashionable
Symphoniae sacrae II "Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener im Friede fahren", Op. 10 #12 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
every line of the poem is a minicomposition
a new page
each word separately
considered
Suite in E minor, BuxWV 235 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
with a delicate lutish stop
una corda
Cage did not invent the prepared
keyboard
proof again that music is magic of the first order
the only
characters left standing here
are you and it
In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Michael Chapuis
 |
| find the bee |
is his version less weird than mine?
(ok now it's your turn)
this is one crazy
piece
yowza
Quanterzieme Ordre (la) - François Couperin - Michael Gilbert, Martha Brickman
among other joys
the gentle play between bass line and melody complex
and
internal figures
the 3rd movement starts out ahead of itself
canonic as
necessary
no more
Sonata in G Major, Kk. 125 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
running commentary on a running commentary
do try to keep up
Sonata in D Major, Wq. 62.13 - Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach - Michal Spanyi
we'll take our time on this
measuring carefully
note how thus measuring we
curve the distances
but when we come round again we're at another tangent
in 2
he makes excellent use of the clavichord's reverby ring hang time
short sharp
chords that disappear and don't
In Session at the Tintinabulary
July 19, 2021
Banned Rehearsal 1030 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Neal Kosály-Meyer
We gather on the porch and Neal hurls segments of severed limbs at the pavement.
Postscripts
::Consult the Oracle
doing their own spiritually
sad weak discouraged will gratifying
such lack of fear communion as a result
Reality Check::
drifting away on a seaweed covered surfboard
through his left hand as orange
the cat sleeping on my ankles
