#4555, Invented Instruments

There’s music for invented instruments in works by American maverick composer Harry Partch, Brazilian instrument-building team Uakti, Canadian Gayle Young, and the late Elodie Lauten. 

The 20^th century maverick composer and instrument inventor Harry Partch wrote music for glass and stringed instruments that he designed and built, which were tuned to a 43-note scale. Hear his 1958 score for the film Windsong, a retelling of Apollo’s amorous pursuit of the virgin Daphne, set in the dunes of Lake Michigan. Partch intended the musical effect as a collage of sounds, where fairly fast cuts for the film were translated into musical terms. Listen to a 2019 recording of the score, featuring the Ensemble PARTCH, led by American microtonal guitarist John Schneider.

Then, hear music from Brazilian instrument-building team Uakti, and their string and wind instruments, playing work by American minimalist Philip Glass. Listen to by Indonesian gamelan-influenced music from Japanese multi-instrumentalist and composer Yas Kaz who has worked with the dance group Sankai Juku.

There’s also a work featuring French-born Elodie Lauten’s trine (a triangular-shaped lyre), in instrument tuned in just intonation. Plus, listen to music by Canadian composer and author Gayle Young, who invented a mallet percussion instrument called Columbine. Designed and built by Young, the columbine is made of 61 steel tubes tuned to a system of 23 pitches per octave. And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4555, Invented Instruments (First Aired 10/27/2021)

ARTIST: Uakti
WORK: Water [1:19] 
RECORDING: I Ching
SOURCE: Point #442-037 
INFO: Out of print. Try Amazon.com or Discogs.com

ARTIST: YasKaz (Sankai Juku) 
WORK: Windscape II [10:36]
RECORDING:  Egg of Purana
SOURCE: Gramavision Records
INFO: Out of print. Try Amazon.com 

ARTIST: UAKTI
WORK: Philip Glass: Music for an Ancient Greek Temple [7:14]
RECORDING: Trilobyte
SOURCE: Point Music 454 056
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, Discogs.com, Youtube, Spotify, AppleMusic

ARTIST: PARTCH, led by John Schneider
WORK: Harry Partch: Windsong [17:45]
RECORDING: Music Of Harry Partch, Vol. 3 - Sonata Dementia
SOURCE: BRIDGE 9525
INFO: bridgerecords.com

ARTIST: Elodie Lauten, Arthur Russell
WORK: Vision [5:03]
RECORDING: The Death of Don Juan
SOURCE: Unseen Worlds 04
INFO: unseenworlds.com

ARTIST: Reinhard Reitzenstein / Gayle Young
WORK: According to the Moon [5:19]
RECORDING: According
SOURCE: WRC1-1265
INFO:  Out of print LP. Try Discogs.com