CANCELLED / Mikroskop VI. – Chris Rainier (UK/AU)

/ This event has been cancelled /

The enigmatic figure of the American composer, music theorist and inventor of musical instruments Harry Partch (1901-1974) resonates intensely in musical circles even 50 years after his death. Dissatisfied with the level of teaching at the University of Southern California, Partch continued his self-study. After discovering Hermann von Helmholtz’s book Sensations of Tone, Partch directed all his work exclusively into the realm of natural tuning. To achieve due precision in his 43-note system of variously sized tones, he built a whole orchestra of his own absolutely original musical instruments, of which the adapted guitars hold an exceptional position. The British-Australian composer and virtuoso of these special instruments, Chris Rainier, will present some of Harry Partch’s most iconic compositions.

Rainier’s performance will be preceded by a work dedicated to re-tuned amplified stringed instruments and reed aerophones by local composer and performer Matej Sloboda.

Program:

• Matej Sloboda – Relatívne dlho. Relatívne ticho. Idúc. Kĺzaním. Krokom. Skočmo. Stále. Okolo. Hlahol. Drnčiac.(2023)
• Harry Partch – Barstow: Eight Hitchhikers’ Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California (Version B, 1942)
• Harry Partch – By the Rivers of Babylon (137th Psalm) (Version A, 1931)
• Harry Partch – The Long Departed Lover (1930)
• Harry Partch – December, 1942 – Three Settings for Guitar (Adapted) and Voice (1942)
• Harry Partch – Letter from Hobo Pablo ~ Excerpt from “Bitter Music” (1943)
• Harry Partch – The Rose from Three Intrusions (1949)

Organized in collaboration with Ensemble Spectrum.