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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Scene 9—A Lost Political Soul Finds Himself Among the Voteless Women of Paradise
The mood in paradise is static, suspended somewhere between exquisite joy and exquisite melancholy. Gyrating fitfully between the layers of his conscious and unconscious, the lost political soul dreams. Ideas such as these have not come into his head since adolescence! (He sees the dreadful vision of a confession forced under torture before the League of Women Voters.) Conscious and unconscious are not mutually exclusive, and the resulting ambivalence is straight anguish. Gone is the matriarchy, and in vast relief he clutches at this paradise—final refuge of patriarchal entrenchment! And yet—at the same time—how melancholy that there is no electorate to sway, no supporter to allay, and—most distressing of all—no security to administer.
This terrible conflict gives the lost political soul the countenance of Death. The beautiful houris of paradise are only an inanimate stage set, but even now, although he is quite unaware of it, Transfiguration is moving beside him.
The Chorus of lost musicians begins to rip away the sources of conflict. Dig! say the two kitharists, as they tear the last layer off, and the houris, who have very slowly emerged from paradisian refrigeration, have by now fallen into the houriest of all houri dances. Finally purged, the lost political soul dreams his dream peacefully, and finds himself functioning contentedly among constituents who played no part in his election.
Note: The slow, rather lengthy and contrapuntal melodic passage heard in the Prologue and in Scenes 8 and 10 is based on a chant of the Cahuilla Indians of the southern California desert.
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
