by Geri Laudati
Mr. Frank Robertson, formerly of Skokie, IL, donated a fine collection of unpublished Harry Partch materials to the Mills Music Library in May. Included are scores annotated in Partch's hand for two films Windsong (1958) and Rotate the Body in all its Planes (1961); and a score for the revision of The Wayward (including “Barstow,” 1935–1941, rev. 1955; “San Francisco,” 1943; “The Letter,” 1943; “US Highball” [1943, rev. 1955), and “Ulysses at the Edge,” 1955).
Other items include a letter to film maker Madeleine Tourtelot, photos, programs, and newspaper clippings. Mr. Robertson acquired the collection at an auction in Illinois several years ago and we believe that it originally belonged to Ms. Tourtelot, who directed Windsong and worked with Partch during the 1950s.
Composer, instrument maker, and performer Harry Partch (1901–1974) was one of the most unique figures in twentieth century American music. Largely self-taught, Partch pursued independent research into tuning systems; he rejected equal temperament and invented his own tuning systems. These in turn necessitated the design and construction of new instruments capable of playing the music he composed.
Artist-in-Residence Gunnar Johansen was instrumental in bringing Partch to Madison where, from 1944 to 1947, Partch also participated in the UW School of Music Artist-in Residence Program. Partch's appointment was apparently controversial from the start but a large space was found for him in the Physics Department basement in Sterling Hall.
During his years at Madison, Partch worked at preparing for publication his book Genesis of a Music, the first edition of which was published in 1949 by the UW Press. He also conceived and built instruments such as his Chromelodeon I, the Harmonic Canon I, Guitars I & II, and the Diamond Marimba.
Partch gave three concerts at Music Hall during the spring of 1945. Among the performers at these concerts was Lee Hoiby, a UW music student who went on to become a major composer. The concerts featured music written to a forty-three note octave. Partch also met Dr. Warren Gilson, an inventor of medical instruments and a sound recording buff. Gilson recorded all three programs at his home later in the year. In 1946, Partch presented a series of lectures collectively entitled “Expanding the Musical Consciousness.” At the first two, he “discussed, compared, and demonstrated tempered and just intonation ... using the Chromelodeon and Harmonic Canon.” He also wrote an essay “Show Horses in the Concert Ring,” a cynical but perceptive observation on his philosophy and practice of music as life.
While in Madison, Partch also composed Two Settings from Joyce's Finnegan's Wake (1944), I’m very happy to be able to tell you about this ...(1945), Polyphonic Recidivism on a Japanese Theme (1945), and Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales (1946).
Although Partch was eligible for an additional year of funding, he apparently decided the working conditions were intolerable and he left Madison for California in early August 1947.
Partch's effect on later composers was profound, and can be found in the works of composers experimenting with just intonation, in mixed media works, and in the percussive rhythmic music of the minimalists.
The Robertson collection is particularly welcome as it joins other Partch materials in the University Archives, the UW Press Archives, and the Mills Music Library Wisconsin Music Archives. A library event is planned for February 1999 to celebrate the donation, which was made in honor of Ellsworth Snyder, current president of the Friends of the GLS Libraries.