source file: mills2.txt Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 16:04:21 -0700 Subject: Dance of the Seven Veils From: adam.silverman@yale.edu It is just over a week until the long-awaited Newband concert of Partch's "Oedipus," and I have finally decided to complete my Newband CD collection. Since I don't remember anyone reviewing this disc (and I have not yet learned to keep my foot out of my mouth), I offer these comments and descriptions. ** Newband: "Dance of the Seven Veils" (Music & Arts CD 931) Newband, possessors of the Harry Partch instruments have once again presented a CD which combines Partch's music with new pieces composed for their unique ensemble. This record is especially notable for being the first of theirs to include new works scored for Partch's instruments in combination with others--commonly the flute and synthesizer. The first work is Partch's "Castor & Pollux," which I admittedly do not group with Partch's *great* music. Plodding rhythms in this piece are accentuated by Newband's unenthusiastic playing, resulting in well-placed notes which would probably not encourage a new listener to seek more of Partch's music. Furthermore, I should point out that C & P is Newband's second re-recording of Partch's highest-quality recordings (Newband's last CD included "Daphne of the Dunes," which, along with C & P was on "The World of Harry Partch" record). I suggest that to best serve the memory of Partch, Newband would do well to record works like "Eleven Intrusions" which exist only as shabby recordings. The second piece, sadly, was also not to my liking. Anne LeBaron's "Southern Ephemera," scored for flute, cello, surrogate kithara and harmonic canon, is a knotty background with fragments of American-Southern melodies floating through. At no point do I understand why one song or another appears, nor can I find a connection between a melody and its accompaniment. The music also fails to project an emotional "topic," and it certainly avoids any sense of homage or nostalgia which is such a dominant feature in the music of Charles Ives--an obvious point of comparative reference. The winning track turns out to be Elizabeth Brown's "Archipelago," scored for flute, cello, synthesizer, surrogate kitharas, diamond marimba and zoomoozophone. Accustomed to working with non-Western instruments, Brown avoids the seductive impulse to play with Newband's colors while abandoning creativity in the other musical parameters. In fact, aside from Partch, Brown is the first of Newband's recorded composers to creatively work in Just Intonation. "Archipelago" exhibits creative use of tonal flux, remote modulations and sliding tones. Her zoomoozophone writing is clean, and her use of Partch's instruments is creative. I hope that more works of this calibre will be contributed to Newband's repetoire. The final work on this CD is Dean Drummond's "Dance of the Seven Veils," decribed in the liner notes as being based on "Tom Robbins' 'Skinny Legs and All'." From this I can only assume that Drummond is not familiar with the opera of Richard Strauss, the play of Oscar Wilde, the biblical source, etc. How embarrassing! Drummond's piece is a whirling collage of beautiful sounds. While this is not enough to be the essence of a masterpiece, it is notable that his intimate knowledge of the instruments allows him to make stunning sounds, brighter than Partch's with the wonderful addition of metal instruments such as the zoomoozophone and juststrokerods. Even though I am very familiar with all of the instruments, there were several moments in this piece where I could not discern what was playing; the music is genuinely "orchestrated" in the classical sense. Overall, the CD is worth buying for Elizabeth Brown's piece. As for Newband's future, I hope that an effort will be made to better acquaint composers with the tuning concepts inherent in JI instruments as well as the playing techniques involved. The work by LeBaron (as well as Julia Wolfe's "Steam," not included here) exhibits a shallow relationship with Partch's instruments; if Newband continues to commission new music from established composers, this issue must be dealt with. Once it is, perhaps they will establish themselves as a good force in bringing Just Intonation music to the common composer. _________________ Adam B. Silverman 153 Cold Spring Street; A3 New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 782-1765 abs22@pantheon.yale.edu Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 17 Apr 1997 03:22 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA01728; Thu, 17 Apr 1997 03:22:46 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA01726 Received: from by ella.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) id SAA13250; Wed, 16 Apr 1997 18:21:07 -0700 Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 18:21:07 -0700 Message-Id: <199704162343.QAA17612@sunatg3> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@ella.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@ella.mills.edu