Customer Reviews

Harry Partch: Enclosure 3

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Philip Blackburn, in taking up the work of the original editor Kenneth Gaburo, describes this as "a scrapbook of a scrapbook" -- it's literally hundreds of pages of collages of Partch's writings, drawings, and musical scores, along with photographs of him and his instruments. Looking into the book is like entering a private dream. Even little scraps of paper with Partch's thoughts have been preserved here (including a little hymn of praise to the Library of Congress, reproduced on the copyright page). There is no effort made to interpret these or link them together ("helpfully") for the reader, so the effect is similar to having opened a trunk of memorabilia: one can construct one's own narrative, draw one's own conclusions. The endnotes are helpful for identifying figures in photographs and other materials. Blackburn's work on the book has been so meticulous that two fonts (one imitating Partch's handwriting, and one based on carbon copies of his 19! 54 typewriter) were designed to maintain the look of the originals even when material needed to be excerpted and retypeset. While the whole book is beautiful and engaging, my favorite parts are the reproductions of Harry's illustrated hobo diaries "Bitter Music" and "End Littoral." It's also the best collection of photos of the amazing Partch instruments I've found. Should be of interest not only to those with a love of experimental musics but also to those who maintain an interest in innovative genius of any kind.