List_of_works_by_Harry_Partch
The American composer Harry Partch (1901–1974) composed in musical tunings not available on conventional Western instruments. Instead, he developed a 43-tone scale and new instruments. His music emphasized monophony and corporeality, in contrast to the abstract, polyphonic music prevalent at the time. His earliest compositions were small-scale pieces to be intoned to instrumental backing; his later works were large-scale, integrated theater productions in which he expected each of the performers to sing, dance, speak, and play instruments.[1]
Partch described the theory and practice of his music in his book Genesis of a Music, which he had published first in 1947,[2] and in an expanded edition in 1974.[3] A collection of essays, journals, and librettos by Partch was published posthumously as Bitter Music: Collected Journals, Essays, Introductions, and Librettos 1991. Philip Blackburn edited a collection of Partch's writings, drawings, scores, and photographs, published as Enclosure 3 in 1997.
Partch partially supported himself with the sales of recordings, which he began making in the late 1930s.[4] He published his recordings under the Gate 5 Records label beginning in 1953.[5] Towards the end of his life, Columbia Masterworks released records of his works. Partch scored six films by Madeline Tourtelot, starting with 1957's Windsong, and was the subject of a number of documentaries.[6]
