LUKE GULLICKSON

Music for Backyards

7/6/2010

 
In his biography of Harry Partch, Bob Gilmore writes that the composer's "reconciliation process involved an acceptance of his own essentially childlike perception of the interconnectedness of music and other art forms and, more profoundly, of the fusion of art-making activity with everyday life. What was 'artificial' about music education, he contended, was its insistence on the need to unlearn this perception and to undergo a training in which extramusical impurities must be extracted, one by one, leaving only a central body of abstract musical relationships."

Ben was present for the informal recording session of my violin/viola duets back in May. Afterwards he commented that he enjoyed the music, but wasn't sure he had any interest in hearing it in a concert hall. I enthusiastically agreed. He went on to suggest a better listening experience for this music might take place, say, mid-party in a backyard.

I'm a card-carrying fan of music for backyards and porches, of course. But isn't that an interesting idea, that some notated, "classical" music might be better heard, more clearly understood, if it were conveyed in a specific place or atmosphere?--the corollary being that, with no strictly musical changes, the piece might be less successful in another venue?

It's increasingly obvious to me that our music's moral content is not divorced from, but is in fact heavily reliant on the circumstances of its dissemination. Musicians have as many creative parameters to work with in this area as they do in the field of, for example, pitch relationships. To ignore the question is to arbitrarily and detrimentally lop off a significant portion of the experience.

Anyway, I don't have a backyard, nor a house violinist and violist -- so for now, the recordings will have to do. Pop on your headphones and find a hammock someplace.

Comments are closed.

    A Selection

    • Gone Walkabout
    • Migration
    • Music as Drama
    • Crossroads II
    • 10 Best of 2014
    • January: Wyoming and the Open
    • ​February: New Mexico and the Holes
    • Coming Up
    • Notes on The Accounts
    • Crossroad Blues
    • Labyrinths

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    RSS Feed