Harry Partch: U.S. Highball

Kronos Quartet (Artist), Composer: Harry Partch (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B0000AN4FH
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #174,076 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

U.S. Highball is one of the first underground masterpieces in American music. Partch's work explores what, decades later, would be called a 'subculture' - the hoboes, who traveled across the U.S. in search of work or new experience, defying social conventions and the strictures of civilized society. The recording on this CD is not U.S. Highball in any of Partch's (three) versions, but an arrangement for voice and string quartet made for Kronos in 1997 by Ben Johnston, a composer who studied and worked with Partch and with whose own music Kronos has had a long and fruitful relationship. Slipcase. Nonesuch. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Barron and Kronos do justice to a masterpiece, November 18, 2003

By	RC (Austin, Tx United States) - See all my reviews

The performance by David Barron and the Kronos Quartet of Harry Partch's landmark "US Highball" provides an experience of precise abandon. This entertaining, demanding, and thoroughly original work is given a performance in which the highlight is certainly Mr. Barron's expressive reading of Partch's gem of a text, in which vignettes narrating the hobo's life appear as brief scenes, sometimes hilariously funny, as in the statement by an old man emerging from a piano crate, who tells the gathering of hobos who have just arrived in his train yard, "I used to be a bum once"; or the hobo who observes concerning the passing motorists, "They don't stop much, do they?" Mr. Barron's ability to modulate his inflection, accent, and tone with the greatest flexibility, while still articulating the words so that they are always intelligible, bring a vitality to the performance which Partch clearly intended, and it is this vitality which, supported by the Kronos' standard excellence, makes this performance an experience to be treasured. This reviewer has driven across the country on several occasions, and the performance captured wonderfully the sense of changing vistas and conditions characteristic of such journeys.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars small reservations, but that's only because I'm biased, August 2, 2006

By	Mr. Richard K. Weems "emperor_weems" (Fair Lawn, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I cringe a little whenEVER I see a Partch transcripted for something other than his original instrumentation. I think that's because Partch's work at creating his own music and theatre for that music was so creative and unique that I never tire of it and want to see newer recordings using those wonderful music machines just so I know that Partch's ideas won't fade in time and remain only in some select recordings.

I'm still getting over Kronos taking my favorite Partch piece, Barstow, and stringifying it on Howl, USA, but in all honesty Kronos does justice to Partch. It shouldn't seem too suprising--Kronos has made their reputation by doing string quartet work that doesn't always sounds like string quartet. Since they've reinvented the string quartet, it would seem feasible that they could reinvent Partch FOR string quartet.

I'm not wholly buying into it yet, but I also know that far worse could have been done to Partch in this recording, so I credit Kronos for the efforts they took to keep the spirit of the original composition alive. A central connection here seems to be the common desire to make truly American music that doesn't just glom off of European traditions. In doing this, Partch set to music notes of his own hobo trip, to put American experience to music. Though Kronos will always in the end sound a little too polished for the raw nature of Partch's work, I thank them for keeping his name relevant in contemporary music.

Thank you, Kronos.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rebuttal and Praise, January 5, 2007

By	Greg Wadsworth - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There have been comments and concerns with this CD in saying that it may not be in keeping with the original composition. What has been egregiously overlooked in previous complaints is the simple fact that Harry Partch was never actually in keeping with his OWN original compositions. Though most people think of an ensemble of Harry Partch instruments and performers as the true rendition of this piece, it must be realized that it first came out simply for microtonal guitar and voice--Harry traveled around to colleges and did solo performances of it! It then took on several various iterations, expanding up to, at one point, ten individual performers. Harry Partch was constantly reworking this piece, and, had he never died, would probably still be rearranging it. This particular arrangement was a commission written specifically for the Kronos Quartet, and was arranged by a former protege of Partch's. It remains as true as possible to Partch's original notes, styles and intentions. Seeing how faithfully this has been converted to string quartet is truly inspiring.

The Kronos Quartet does an absolutely incredible job managing all of the subtleties of this work. Microtonality is not easy!

I highly highly recommend this CD.