HARRY PARTCH Gate 5 Records - Issue 6 U.S. HIGHBALL Transcontinental Hobo Trip
$
120
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Description
This is Harry Partch's U.S. Highball from Gate 5 Records (Issue 6). It is a musical account of a transcontinental hobo trip. U.S. Highball, the musical result of a Partch experience, was written in 1943 under a Guggenheim Fellowship. It was performed twice in New York in 1944, under the sponsorship of the League of Composers, and at Columbia University, and twice at the University of Wisconsin in the two years following. The present version is rewritten to include certain percussion instruments that the composer built since the initial presentations, and to distribute the character parts throughout the ensemble.
The text consists of railroad station names whimsically distorted, a few of Mac's (performed by Thomas Coleman) thoughts, bits of boxcar conversations, signs in havens for derelicts, and hobo inscriptions - all as Harry Partch thought, or heard, or saw them in 1941. The words were not consciously censored; obscenities were simply omitted or transmuted by whimsy when they became boringly repetitive.
Rehearsed under the Direction of the Composer and assisted by Danlee Mitchell.
Jack McKenzie, Conductor
Thomas Coleman as Mac
Instrumental Ensemble: Dick Borden, Mervin Britton, Michael Colgrass, Elizabeth Gentry, Danlee Mitchell, Harry Partch, David Reid & Melvin Wildberger
The work proper begins with Mac's line: Leaving San Francisco - . Before this, each of the ten instruments is introduced, one sound at a time (last two excepted), in the following order: Kithara, Surrogate Kithara, Chromelodeon, Harmonic Canon, Pollux, Castor, Bass Marimba, Cloud-Chamber Bowls, Boo, Diamond Marimba, Spoils of War and Blow-Boy (together).
Side 1: Band 1: San Francisco to Sparks
Side 1: Band 2: Sparks to Moleen
Side 1: Band 3: Moleen to Rock Springs
Side 2: Band 1: Rock Springs to Little America
Side 2: Band 2: Little America to North Platte
Side 2: Band 3: North Platte to Chicago
Jack McKenzie was director of percussion at the University of Illinois, Urbana; Mervin Britton was director of percussion at Arizona State University, Tempe; Michael Colgrass, New York, was a composer and percussionist; Danlee Mitchell was a student at the University of Illinois and a former tympanist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra; David Reid, Glencoe, Illinois, was the leader of an experimental jazz group; Elizabeth Gentry was a television performer; Melvin Wildberger was a graduate student at Northwestern University and Thomas Coleman, St. Louis, was a singer of Elizabethan songs and a Whiffenpoof out of Yale University.
The album was recorded by James Cunningham on a 350 Ampex, with Telefunken and Altec mikes. The rehearsal room was provided by Northwestern University.
There is an address box at the bottom right of the jacket reverse which states that U.S. Highball - 10-inch L.P.. Price, $4.50. No mailing charge within the United States and Canada. Available only through GATE 5 RECORDS (not in shops). This area also contains an ink pad stamp placement (red ink) which states: Harry Partch, Box 557, Station A, Champaign, Illinois
Shipment for this album will be by media mail (upgraded shipping is available upon request at additional expense).
This auction is intended for shipment to the United States only. If you are an international bidder please contact me prior to placing your bid.
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