Harry Partch - Bewitched: A Dance Satire

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Music reviews of Bewitched: A Dance Satire

Music Review: A Partch Masterpiece
Rating: 5 Stars

After a disappointing experience working on a music-theater version of Oedipus, Partch turned to humor and satire in this work. Written for the University of Illinois/ Champaign-Urbana, the episodic work satirizes aspects of collegiate life but in the style of ancient ritual theater. Dancers, singers and musicians are integrated on the stage on a "gasamskunstwerk" for the 21st century.

Musically, the Bewitched is a good introduction to Partch's longer piece. It is written for a combination of his originally created instruments and some traditional wind and stringed instruments. Partch's musical language is dominated by percussive effects, microtonal scales and influences from music of world cultures. While this music is definately experimental, what hits me most as I grow older, is how familiar and assessible it really is. Partch bypasses the fiercest debates of his time (tonality vs serialism) and instead moves to a far older debate; equal temper vs just intonation. Partch opts strongly for microtonal music, but based on the laws of just intonation. At times the music resembles Chinese theater music, at other times it shows some African roots. And in this piece, the use of traditional western counterpoint and even western folk music is evident in some of the more satirical moments.

This CRI recording is marvelously remastered. Taken from the original 1st performance in 1957, it is amazing how clear and spacious the sound is. I would assume that there was quite a bit of cleanup on the origianl, just due to technological advances in the last 50 years, but the recording sounds as if it was made yesterday. It compares favorably to the Innova Recordings that have come out of the American Composers Forum...and has the added advantage of being one disc instead of a boxed set. As a result, you can purchase just the Bewitched and not shell out the moeny for 4 Partch theater pieces if you are new to the composer. (Those of us who are mad for Partch will want the Innova series as well, since it has Revelations in the Courthouse Square and Oedipus, both of which have not been available in other versions for some time.)

Partch is a great composer to listen to, especially if you are new to the avant-garde and want to listen to something that is both challenging but not too discordant. And the Bewitched is a great place to start listening to this wonderful American eccentric.

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