Bitter Music: Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos
Harry Partch
Bitter Music collects 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 as he hiked the rugged northern California coastline. It also includes Partch's essays on and discussions of his own compositions, as well as librettos and scenarios for six major narrative/dramatic works.
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About Harry Partch
Reviews for Bitter Music: Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos
Wilfred Mellers, Times Literary Supplement "This important book documents an often overlooked, yet influential, contributor to twentieth-century American musical life, and deserves a wide audience."
Richard Kassel, Notes "This splendid collection is a great step forward for Partch."
Peter Dickinson, Musical Times "It is said that [Partch] is the most innovative, iconoclastic and genuinely American composer of our century and Thomas McGeary, by his excellent editing, has allowed us to understand these statements."
John Beck, Percussive Notes