HARRY PARTCH: THE WAYWARD FIRST COMPLETE RECORDING
BRIDGE 9611

Bridge Records is pleased to issue the latest recording by Partch Ensemble, the Grammy Award winning new music group specializing in the music and instruments of the iconoclastic American composer Harry Partch. Partch's "The Wayward" in the composer's own words, is “a collection of musical compositions based on the spoken and written words of hobos and other characters—the result of my wanderings in the Western part of the United States from 1935 to 1941.” This is the world premiere recording of Partch's complete cycle.

Reviews:

"We'll stay with "classical music" and also a bit with Castor and Pollux, but jump forward 200 years. In the early 1940s, US avant-garde artist Harry Partch wrote a collection of songs for baritone, bass, and orchestra, which he subtitled "A collection of musical compositions based on the spoken and written words of hobos and other characters - the result of my wanderings in the western part of the United States from 1935-1941" and revised several times over the next 25 years. "The Wayward" (Bridge) is advertised by the label as the "first complete recording" – we hear peculiar spoken-word chants set to radical acoustic guitar accompaniment. Furthermore, Partch was a great instrument inventor; he simply created the tools for his sound concepts himself. Whether only replicas or also Partch originals were used here is beyond my knowledge, but the exotic sonic richness of the "Chromelodeon," "Cloud Chamber Bowl," "Diamond Marimba," or "Surrogate Kithara," often zither- or xylophone-like structures, alone makes this music special. Some pieces (e.g., "US Highball") sound like an anticipated musical/Hollywood parody with magnificent tenor blaring, and "Ulysses at the Edge" is included as an encore in an "improv version" with magnificent trumpet lines. Oh yes, "The Wayward" has something to do with Castor and Pollux in that the "Castor & Pollux Canons" are also part of the instrumentation."  — Karsten Zimalla, WESTZEIT

BRIDGE 9611