Met a fellow Alvin Lucier fan last night. He was, however, unfamilar with Harry Partch.
So, at lunch today I looked around for a Harry Partch interview, but got distracted listening to this wonderful performance of Castor & Pollux.
“Harry Partch (1901-1974) is the iconoclastic American Maverick composer who, between 1930 and 1972, created one of the most amazing bodies of sensually alluring and emotionally powerful music of the 20th century. Partch wrote music drama, dance theater, multi-media extravaganzas, vocal music, and chamber music—all to be performed on the extraordinary orchestra of instruments that he designed and built himself. The Great Depression forced Partch to spend many years as a transient. It was during these years that he collected the texts and experiences that would later form the basis for The Wayward, a collection of musical compositions based on the spoken and written words of hobos and other characters.”
And here’s Alvin Lucier (in 1965) using his brain waves to make music.
(100 Days of Blogging: Post 055 of 100)