Bitter Music: Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos

Bitter Music: Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos
ISBN-10
0252069137
ISBN-13
9780252069130
Category
Biography & Autobiography
Pages
487
Language
English
Published
2000
Publisher
University of Illinois Press
Author
Harry Partch

Description

Now in paper for the first time, Bitter Music is a generous volume of writings by one of the twentieth century's great musical iconoclasts. Rejecting the equal temperament and concert traditions that have dominated western music, Harry Partch adopted the pure intervals of just intonation and devised a 43-tone-to-the-octave scale, which in turn forced him into inventing numerous musical instruments. His compositions realize his ideal of a corporeal music that unites music, dance, and theater. Winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, Bitter Music includes two journals kept by Partch, one while wandering the West Coast during the Depression and the other while hiking the rugged northern California coastline. It also includes essays and discussions by Partch of his own compositions, as well as librettos and scenarios for six major narrative/dramatic compositions.

Similar books