Evenings on the Roof: Harry Partch Series No. 6

Analog Audio

Event Type

Music

Origin

KPFK

Identifier

ER.1966.09.11

Program Series

Evenings on the Roof

Program Length

64 min

Dates

1966-09-11 | broadcast
| 1965-09-20 | created

Description

From a program recorded in 1965, Peter Yates introduces Harry Partch's “Oedipus”. This is a classic example of Partch's speech-music form of musical drama and dance. Part eccentric and part genius, Harry Partch was famous for his 43-note microtonal scale, typically played on instruments of his own design. Partch often incorporated dance or theatrics in his compositions, with this work “King Oedipus” being based on both the original play by Sophocles as well as additonal texts by William Butler Yeats. Although Partch died in 1974, a cohort of past students and enthusiasts have kept his legacy alive and his works might indeed be better known today than they were when this program first aired.

Genres

Music Theater
Microtonal music

Musical Selections

King Oedipus [excerpt, texts based on William Butler Yeats and Sophocles] (1952-54) / Harry Partch

Performers

Allan Louw, Oedipus
Sue Bell Starck, Jocasta
Gate 5 Ensemble of Sausolito
Jack Hohensee, conductor
Elizabeth Foster, soprano

Subjects

Microtonal music
Unconventional instruments
Music theater

Related places

Los Angeles (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Gate 5 Ensemble
Yates, Peter
Partch, Harry, 1901-1974
Louw, Allan
Starck, Sue Bell
Hohensee, Jack
Foster, Elizabeth
Sophocles
Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939