Harry Partch: A Biography

by Bob Gilmore

Visionary composer, theorist, and creator of musical instruments, Harry Partch (1901-1974) was a leading figure in the development of an indigenously American contemporary music. Drawing on interviews with many of Partch's associates and on the complete archives of the Harry Partch Estate, Bob Gilmore provides a full and sympathetic portrait of this extraordinary creative artist. 30 illustrations.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

468 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 1998

Reviews

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a difficult man. You know Poe's story The Imp of the Perverse? As applied to Partch it would need to be retitled The Gargantua of the Perverse. There was just something about him that made him make everything difficult. Perhaps it was his refusal to be absorbed by the populace and culture at large, or maybe it was something Freudian, I don't know; but he wasn't just difficult on the personal level, even his music (while relatively accessible) could only be performed on instruments of his own creation, fascinatingly beautiful instruments designed to play notes on a very complex scale of his own devising, but which required so much maintenance just to stay in tune that they require(d) a personal caretaker. Lucky for him there is a group of people devoted to his music who are willing to shoulder the enormous work required just to keep his music alive. And the music is definitely worth sustaining; some of it haunting and melancholy, some of it almost like musical reportage of vanished worlds (Partch was a Depression-era hobo and based some pieces on hobo lingo and graffiti), and some of it incorporated into large multi-media shows where his instruments are not only played but serve as stage settings, even characters. It really is a wonder that Partch managed to get by as long as he did, and this book tells you how he did it while also providing a glimpse into the micro-subculture of a struggling "classical" musician in 20th c. America. If there was ever an American original, Partch was one of them. But to be honest, before reading this book I had a somewhat romanticized image of Partch which served as an occasional source of inspiration - an uncompromising old coot snubbing his nose at convention - but after reading this I didn't "like" him nearly as much, and he no longer inspired on the personal level, but still somehow there's a lot about him that I admire.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Respect to Gilmore for taking on the very complex task of writing a biography about someone as difficult to pin down (both psychologically and historically [seeing as a decade of Partch’s life is pretty much absent of all documentation:]) as Harry Partch. This book is a labor of love and deserves to be acknowledged as such. However, all of the difficulties mentioned above make for tough reading at times, as, in some of the “sketchier” sections (in terms of content), Gilmore’s text (perhaps forced by the difficulty and elusiveness of the subject) devolves into gushing academese that can make the book pretty dry.

Gilmore’s biography is a worthwhile read for those really interested in Partch, but for anyone that is looking for just a cursory glance into the composer’s life and work, I’d recommend checking out, if you can track it down, Enclosure 3, which is an amazing scrapbook containing Partch's writings, drawings, musical scores, and photographs. Bitter Music is also worth getting a hold of.

[Onsetsu Evan Cordes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of holes exist in Partch's (early) biography that made this a bit hard for me to get into.

He sounds like a difficult man to work with and get along with, but Gilmore shows his more lovable side as well.

A good read.