Freda Schell, The Witch; The University of Illinois Musical Ensemble, John Garvey, conductor The Chorus of Lost Musicians (in order of appearance): William Olson, Chorus Leader (male solo voice), Marimba Eroica; Warren Smith, Bass Marimba; Thomas Gauger, Boo (Bamboo Marimba); Michael Donzella, Spoils of War; George Andrix, Cloud-Chamber Bowls; Danlee Mitchell, Diamond Marimba; Jack McKenzie, Surrogate Kithara and Gongs; Georgi Mayer, Harmonic Canon (Castor); Barbara Grammar, Harmonic Canon (Pollux); Sanford Berry, Kithara (right side); Jan Bach, Kithara (left side); Warren Birkett, clarinet; Joseph Firrantello, bass clarinet; Charles Delaney, piccolo; Carol Zuckerberg, koto; Peter Farrell, cello; Herbert Bielawa, Chromelodeon
METICULOUSLY REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MONO MASTER TAPES!
The Bewitched was Partch's first work solely intended for dance (and mime-dance at that; he was not overly enamored in his lifetime of so-called "modern dance"). Drawing heavily from his deep affection for the music-theatrical performance traditions of Greek theater, as well as those from Africa, Bali, and Chinese opera, Partch conceived of a contemporary American music ritual-theater where musicians not only play, but also function at times as movers-singers-actors. Such is the case of The Bewitched, where the instruments are the set, in front of (and around) which dancers "dance," but where the onstage musicians also move and sing. Partch's masterpiece has been lovingly remastered from the original mono masters and the 24-page booklet includes never-before-published photographs from productions of The Bewitched. This is the definitive document of this very important work.
"The Bewitched is in the tradition of world-wide ritual theatre. It is the opposite of specialized. I conceived and wrote it in California in the period 1952-55, following the several performances of my version of Sophocles' Oedipus. In spirit, if not wholly in content, it is a satyr-play. It is a seeking for release－through satire, whimsy, magic, ribaldry－from the catharsis of tragedy. It is an essay toward a miraculous abeyance of civilized rigidity, in the feeling that the modern spirit might thereby find some ancient and magical sense of rebirth. Each of the 12 scenes is a theatrical unfolding of nakedness, a psychological strip-tease, or－a diametric reversal, which has the effect of underlining the complementary character, the strange affinity, of seeming opposites." —Harry Partch
Includes unlimited streaming of Harry Partch: The Bewitched / Taylor Brook: Block
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It is soon evident that cognoscenti as subjects for unwitching are by all odds the most difficult. Their armor, for all practical purposes, is untouchable, and they are to that extent the rarest of mortal creatures—not a heel of Achilles in a drawing-room load. Probe them mentally where you will—there is not an unfilled crevice. Or, if you suddenly discern one, like lightning they find a filling for the crack, wise or otherwise, even before you have time to open your mouth to remark on the phenomenon.
Now, the power of magic seems an unfair advantage in anybody’s game, but we must remember that the displaced musicians have had encounters with the cognoscenti before, and on those humiliating occasions their retreating feet invariably got tripped on their own vocal chords. Not so tonight. The power they have generated is both fierce and controlled, and a bit frightening even to the cognoscenti.
“Bah!” says the Chorus and that one word makes up in violent delivery what it lacks in intellectual sparkle. “How extraordinary!” say the cognoscenti, propelled by a chorus of dragons in backward somersaults into the middle of limbo.
Not a bad night’s work. “Rrrrrrr-ee----eh!” says the Witch, and as everyone knows, this may be rendered: “I really don’t give a raspberry about all this nonsense. Furthermore, it’s time you children were in bed.”
Cast of The Bewitched: Freda Schell, The Witch; The University of Illinois Musical Ensemble, John Garvey, conductor
The Chorus of Lost Musicians (in order of appearance): William Olson, Chorus Leader (male solo voice), Marimba Eroica; Warren Smith, Bass Marimba; Thomas Gauger, Boo (Bamboo Marimba); Michael Donzella, Spoils of War; George Andrix, Cloud-Chamber Bowls; Danlee Mitchell, Diamond Marimba; Jack McKenzie, Surrogate Kithara and Gongs; Georgi Mayer, Harmonic Canon (Castor); Barbara Grammar, Harmonic Canon (Pollux); Sanford Berry, Kithara (right side); Jan Bach, Kithara (left side); Warren Birkett, clarinet; Joseph Firrantello, bass clarinet; Charles Delaney, piccolo; Carol Zuckerberg, koto; Peter Farrell, cello; Herbert Bielawa, Chromelodeon
CRI (Composers Recordings, Inc.) was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore and Oliver Daniel. CRI was dedicated to
the promotion of new music by American composers, releasing over 600 recordings on LP, cassette and CD over its 49 year history, New World Records assumed ownership of CRI in 2006, since which time its entire catalog has been digitized for streaming, download & CD-R purchase....more
