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Harry Partch - The Bewitched: Scene 4 - A Soul Tormented By Contemporary Music Finds A Humanizing Alchemy

from Harry Partch: The Bewitched / Taylor Brook: Block by Harry Partch, Taylor Brook

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    The Bewitched－A Dance Satire (1956)

    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

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Scene 4—A Soul Tormented by Contemporary Music Finds a Humanizing Alchemy

Of all the sad tales sung by the poets of old, some are sadder than this, some more poignant, many more tragic, but none more pathetic, for this is a scene of inner conflict—a conflict arising out of an absorbing regret over the passage of time.

The story of this soul began with the injustice of having been born at such a miserable time in history as the present. But as the years passed the regret became equivocal, because—except for such modern trivia as the current price of babysitters—it became so immersed in the bewitchment of some preceding century as in fact to function only in that century. Even the growing child falls somewhat behind the surge of the modern world, because of the shelter of his home, and during a year or so out on his own he must catch up. Imagine, then, the degree of nervous tension that is generated in the excruciating ordeal of being forced to catch up through a couple of centuries!

The Chorus whistles dolefully, while the slow beats toll off the neuroses—one by one. The amplitude of the shocks increases. Now utter silence. Breathing loudly in a crescendo of emotion the Chorus of displaced musicians brings the climax. The other-century soul has returned to the world of living people through a whole-souled abandonment to modern slapstick comedy!

credits

from Harry Partch: The Bewitched / Taylor Brook: Block, released September 16, 2022
The Bewitched: Harry Partch, composer

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

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Composers Recordings, Inc. Brooklyn, New York

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

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