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NOTE: AGP23 has been deleted because these recordings are in fact available commercially, on a DVD in the Enclosure series from Innova. This series has been put together by Philip Blackburn of the American Composers Forum, in conjunction with the Harry Partch Foundation. Volume 7 includes the recordings in AGP23 with additional photographs of Partch's instruments, together with a 1971 film of a performance of Delusion of the Fury, a 1972 documentary about Partch, and other material--all for the low, low price of $20. AGP23 features the unique sounds of Harry Partch's voice and instruments. Partch was one of the great American microtonal composers and a consummate individualist. In the early 1930s, he developed his own 43-note scale based on pure tonal intervals, to combat the unnatural tunings of the even-tempered scale. Since most instruments could not play his new scale, he designed and built a unique collection of instruments that are works of sculptural art as well as producing some astonishing and unexpected timbres. Partch's work is well-represented on CD, thanks in part to The Harry Partch Collection on New World Records. I do however have one LP in my stacks that does not appear to have been re-released. It is called "The Instruments of Harry Partch" and was included as a bonus LP in the boxed set of "Delusion of the Fury" on Columbia Records. The 25 tracks profile a range of Partch's instruments, with Partch himself introducing each track in his own inimitable way. His narrations are worth listening to on their own, as they project his exuberant iconoclasm to a tee. The example pieces are nice because they present his instruments alone or in pairs, rather than in the more dense ensembles of his compositions themselves. They have something of the character of etudes. The included text file contains the brief notes from the booklet that came with this set. In addition, I have scanned from that same booklet the pictures of each of the instruments profiled on this LP, and included them in a compressed folder. You may want to scroll through the images as you are listening to the tracks. |
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