Harry Partch: Genesis of a Music, 2nd ed. (1949/1974)

Having lived mostly in the remote deserts of Arizona and New Mexico with no access to formal training, the microtonal composer Harry Partch (1901-74) created theatrical ritualistic works incorporating Indian chants, Japanese kabuki and Noh, Polynesian microtones, Balinese gamelan, Greek tragedy, dance, mime, and sardonic commentary on Hollywood and commercial pop music of modern civilization. First published in 1949, Genesis of a Music is the manifesto of Partch’s radical compositional practice and instruments. He contrasts Abstract and Corporeal music, proclaiming the latter as the vital, emotionally tactile form derived from the spoken word (like Greek, Chinese, Arabic, and Indian musics) and surveys the history of world music at length from this perspective. Parts II, III, and IV explain Partch’s theories of scales, intonation, and instrument construction with copious acoustical and mathematical documentation.

First published in 1949
Publisher Da Capo Press, 1974
ISBN 030680106X
517 pages
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Arnold Schoenberg: Style and Idea (1950)

“In this collection of 15 essays, Schoenberg talks about the relationship to the text, new and outmoded music, composition in twelve tones, entertaining through composing, the relationship of heart and mind in music, evaluation of music, and other topics.”

Edited by Dika Newlin
Publisher Philosophical Library, New York, 1950
ISBN 9780806537337
224 pages

Review (Wilfrid Mellers, Encounter, 1976)

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Leonardo Music Journal, 23: Sound Art (2013)

The volume contains essays on environmental sound (both pastoral and urban), the spatial distribution of sound, technical innovations, as well as historical and critical contributions.

Contributions by Llorenç Barber, Rafael Liñan, Peter Batchelor, Marc Berghaus, Jane Grant, John Matthias, Mike Blow, Florian Grond, Adriana Olmos, Jeremy R. Cooperstock, Yolande Harris, Jessica Thompson, Edwin van der Heide, Emma Whittaker, Jos Mulder, Colin Wambsgans, Florian Hollerweger, David Monacchi, Rob van Rijswijk, Jeroen Strijbos, Yuan-Yi Fan, David Minnen, Jess Rowland, Jay Needham, Eric Leonardson, Ricardo Arias, Gascia Ouzounian, Simon Polson, Daniele Balit, Ethan Rose, Dugal McKinnon, Chuck Johnson and Daniel Wilson.

Edited by Nicolas Collins
Publisher MIT Press, 2013
ISSN 0961-1215
106 pages
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