Michael Pisaro - Harmony Series 11 - 16 (EWR 0710) - Part 3

When I listened to Michael Pisaro and Greg Stuart's new CD 'July Mountain' early this month, I was completely overwhelmed by the incredible power of the music - I couldn't recover from the strong impact for a couple of days after that. It was a sensationally beautiful piece of a kind that I had never heard. Since then, I have been eager to write about this music, but in the meantime, I am still under the spell of the serene beauty of the 'Harmony Series 11 - 16', which keeps capturing my mind every time I listen to it. So I decided to write a little more about this series before moving onto 'July Mountain'.

When I am fascinated by some particular music, I cannot get out of the spell until I finish writing about every detail of the magical aspects of the music. I feel I am still in the deep woods. The depth of Michael Pisaro's music seems to be almost infinite to me, along with the profoundness of the poem on each score, that I feel I would never be able to reach the core however far I dig into - just like some endlessly deep forest.

Michael Pisaro - Harmony Series 11 - 16 (EWR 0710) - Part 3

In the 'Harmony Series 11-16', very small events are happening in every nook and cranny of the music, and these subtle changes give magical effects to the music. This is in fact not magic at all - all the events are due to the theoretical structure of the music, but the way Pisaro incorporates them into his compositions is so subtle and natural, that the whole impression on his music becomes poetic. When I listen to each piece while carefully paying attention to the details, I feel that the nuance of the poem in each score gradually emerges on the surface of the music.

In Michael Pisaro's compositions, the scores themselves are as artistic as his music. (Thanks to Mr. Pisaro, I was able to have the scores to the complete series.) When I read the poems and his musical instructions in the scores to the 'Harmony Series', I can imagine how the music would come into being as if I were actually hearing it. To read the poems (and the 'silences' between lines as well) in the scores, while imagining how these poems would be reflected in the actual music, seems to be another profound experience of this series.

Track 1: [harmony series no.16a] Where there is (3:48)

This score features Robert Creeley's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For five sustaining instruments. The duration of the piece is about one minute (or multiples thereof.) Players enter, one at a time, in a predetermined order, on a note they choose (any tone, any tuning), and continue holding that tone until all five players have entered. This chord is sustained for about ten seconds, and then stops. This process, using the same tones, and the same ordering of musicians may be repeated any number of times, with a pause of any length (different every time) between the repetitions." In this version, three sets of the above event are repeated. The performers are Johnny Chang (violin), James Orsher (harmonium), Michael Pisaro (guitar), Marc Sabat (violin) and Greg Stuart (percussion).

First it starts with a single tone, and then the follow-on tones are added in order, to form a harmony. The subtle nuances of how the resonances of harmonic overtones affect the harmony are clearly presented via the extremely soft, pure sounds and a slow tempo, all at a very soft volume. A single tone, which is heard consistently when there are no other tones, begins to slightly fade and waver with the influence of the resonances of overtones once other tones are joined. In the process of forming the layer of the harmony as each individual tone is added, the characteristic of each tone starts to gradually become translucent, fusing into a blurring mixture of complicated colors that are impossible to identify.

Whether there are sounds or no sounds (just silence), the simplicity, the tranquility and the soft texture are sustained at the same level, which resonates with the sparseness and stillness of Robert Creeley's minimal poem that consists of only five words on three lines. In this piece, Pisaro presents the subtlety of fluctuations of sounds and changes in the process of forming harmonies, all in a very simple, elegant way.

Track 2: [harmony series no.11a] Zwei Finger im Abgrund (2:20)

This score features Paul Celan's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For three musicians. The piece lasts about two minutes. Musician 1 (short sounds, choose any one pitch or noise; the quarter is between mm. 30 and 40) plays one quarter note twice then one quarter rest, then long pause, then again one quarter note twice then one quarter rest. Musician 2 plays, after a long silence, a long, sustained, noise, with hints of tone. Musician 3, for the duration of the piece plays an extremely soft, relatively high, very pure tone. " In this version, Greg Stuart (percussion) plays all three parts.

While a soft, pure high-frequency tone penetrates through the music, two sounds from a wood block are thoughtfully added, twice each with a long interval. The appearances of these percussion sounds make the sine tone slightly waver and fade for a moment, interrupting its prior consistency. In the last half when another percussion noise (like a cowbell) is added, the fluctuation of the sine tone becomes larger, and the whole music starts to waver more widely. Greg Stuart's delicate handling is crucial to the fragile nature of this piece, and is executed very subtly.

These little wavers caused by the percussion sounds in the music evoke some words from Paul Celan's poem in the score; "To cling to unstable thing", "two fingers are snapping in the abyss", and "world is stirring". The essence of the magical effects that the resonances of overtones give to the music, which was beautifully presented in 'An Unrhymed Chord' by Greg Stuart as well, is cleverly condensed in this 2'20" short piece.

Track 3: [harmony series no.12a] is (20:10)

This score features Robert Lax's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For two musicians, one playing a sustaining instrument, the other playing a compact disc. The piece is organized as a sequence of 27 events divided into five groups as follows: 7 + 7 + 3 + 3 + 7. An event is generally both players playing (i.e., overlapping, beginning and/or ending together, or just barely touching). It is occasionally possible to count as an event just one of the players playing. There are silences (short to long) between the events and longer silences between the groups. Tones for the instrument may be any pitch, any tuning of that pitch, and have the duration of a good breath (up to twenty seconds.) All sounds are very soft, very pure."

"The person playing the electronics plays individual sounds (two-note sine tone intervals) from the compact disc provided. These may be played in any order. Sounds may be repeated, but no more than three times total (i.e., not all the sounds must be used). The sounds may last between ten seconds and two minutes (each sound is given 2'30" on the CD". Care should be taken so that very little or no extraneous sound is made in playing, switching tracks, any fading the CD. The speakers are placed on either side of the instrumentalist." (The precise frequencies of the 27 sets of sine tone intervals are shown in the score.) In this version, the performers are Kathryn Pisaro (oboe/english horn) and Michael Pisaro (plays sine tones on CD).

In this piece, the contrast between sine tones (which waver slightly with the influence of the overtones of the horns) and the horns (which sustain consistent sounds without being affected by sine tones) is the compelling quality. The effects of the resonances in the music are different with each encounter of the two sound sources - the wavers of the sine tones become larger when the tones of the two are rather close, and less recognizable when the tones of the two are distant. The soft, delicate texture of the sine tones (which almost sound like a guitar) wavering behind the solid tones of horn instruments is memorable.

The slow repetitive process in which simple, continuous sounds of horn instruments and sine tones are overlapped slowly with intervals of silences, evokes the minimal simplicity, the purity, the immediacy, the regularity and the silences of Robert Lax's poem in the score, and creates a calmness of meditation and a simple beauty containing a sense of eternity. Also, when I look at the score while listening to the music, I seem to find more interesting connections between the poem and the music. The harmonies, which the duo create with different combinations of tones each time, seem to resonate the potentials of various words that could fill in the spaces before and after the 27 "is" with different words (there are almost infinite possibilities in making sentences in combinations with "is" and other words.)

Track 4: [harmony series no.13] The shipwreck of the singular (5:03)

This score features George Oppen's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For five musicians playing sustaining noises. The piece lasts five minutes. There are five sustainable noises, in various frequency bands from low to high (where at least what is perceived as the central frequency lies within a certain range, relative to the others.) These sounds begin at 0'00" and are sustained for five minutes. There are two dynamics, 'pp' (barely audible) and 'p' (clearly audible). The chart below indicates the dynamics to be used over the duration. The beginning and end of the sounds should be very clear, very precise." In this version, Greg Stuart (percussion) plays all five parts.

It starts with a gritty but soft percussion noise (which evokes the texture of sandpaper, but not rough, somehow filtered and softened) moving in a slow circular motion. Although all five parts are played from the start, the volumes of four of them (except the lowest frequency one) are extremely low, so their presences are hardly recognizable. However, as time goes by, the four hidden noises gradually emerge on the surface of the music, one by one, as their volumes shift to 'p' (clearly audible). As the hidden noises become audible one by one, the whole music starts wavering more strongly.

In this piece, Greg Stuart presents the process in which the resonances of sounds are gradually amplified, in order to create mysterious waves which make the music expand, while attracting our ears with the natural flow of his gritty percussion sounds. His performance is so subtle and natural that it gives the impression that the initial single noise has grown into a mass of noises before we realize, rather than the noises simply piling up one by one. It is surprising to realize that the music changes its impression so greatly just because the individual noises have slightly increased their volumes, from pianissimo to piano.

The dynamics of the words of George Oppen's poem in the score - "Obsessed, bewildered", "By the shipwreck of the singular", "We have chosen the meaning of being numerous" - are marvelously expressed via Greg Stuart's percussion. The gritty texture of the percussion (which somehow sounds like it is coming from a far distance) and the way the sounds waver in a slow circular motion vividly evoke a series of visual images of a shipwreck floating on a sea, which is joined by other shipwrecks that emerge from underwater one by one, to bob on the waves all together.

Track 5: [harmony series no.14] A single charm is doubtful (13:53)

This score features Gertrude Stein's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For four sustaining instruments. The total duration is about thirteen minutes. Musician 1 plays one tone, very long (up to four minutes), very soft, and in the middle register, repeated once (a very long pause between the repetitions.) Musician 2 plays a series of seven long tones (from thirty to sixty seconds), in the basic interval pattern given below (the interval between notes is indicated in parenthesis.) Start on a middle register tone. The precise tuning of the notes is to be determined by the player. Pauses of any length may be inserted between tones. Musician 3 plays the following pattern (which may be transposed if necessary.) Slight microtonal variations are suggested for the repeated tones (and possible for the others as well.) The first tone is a b-flat one octave and a miner 7th above middle c. Musician 4 plays three very long (up to three minutes) tones, starting in the middle register, and each one somewhat lower than the previous, with long pauses between the tones." In this version, the performers are Johnny Chang (violin), James Orsher (harmonium), Michael Pisaro (guitar), Mark So (piano).

In this piece, each musician besides the pianist starts playing consistent tones at different timing in a low volume. After a short while, Mark So adds an introspective piano sound note by note with intervals of quality silences, like carefully placing leaves of different colors on a still pond to make a subtle ripple. Every time the piano sound is added, the music slightly wavers for a moment. The effect of the resonances of overtones to the harmonies, and the impression that the characteristic of each sound becomes translucent when it is overlapped with other sounds, are delicately presented in this piece. The tranquility of the music may carry the listeners to a different level of consciousness - like experiencing a twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness.

In Gertrude Stein's poetry, extremely simplified and abstracted segments of words bring visual images that each word itself evokes, as well as the phonic impressions that the rhythms of the series of words evokes, combining to create a pure beauty and a strong impact. This music, which also focuses on the purity and simplicity of each sound as well as the gentle effects of fluctuations that the resonances of overtones bring to the music, seems to fit the nature of Stein's poetry. The gradual shift of different pitches of the piano, each note slightly lower, fits the unique balance of Stein's cubist poem - which creates a sense of gradually going off the tuning as you follow each word. One of the most memorable pieces on this CD.

Track 6: [harmony series no.15] No longer wild (6:03)

This score features Wallace Stevens' poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For six musicians, five playing sustained noises and one sustaining a tone. The piece lasts six minutes. There are five sustainable noises, in various frequency bands from low to high (where at least what is perceived as the central frequency lies within a certain range, relative to the others.) Musician 6, plays a barely audible, very pure, and relatively high tone for the six minutes duration. These sounds begins at 0'00" and are sustained for six minutes. There are two dynamics, 'pp' (barely audible) and 'p' (clearly audible). The chart below, indicates the dynamics to be used over the duration." In this version, Greg Stuart (percussion) plays all six parts.

The music starts with a wavering layer of dry metallic percussion hiss noises that evoke the distant wind and desert. Four of five sounds are played in 'piano' (clearly audible) at the beginning, and the complicated resonances of these four create an impression that the whole music is moving roughly. However, as these four sounds gradually decrease in volume, one by one, the waver of the whole piece becomes less dynamic. In the last minute, all five sounds are pianissimo, and the layer of the sounds becomes thinner and more stable. The structure and the shift of the dynamics of the sounds is similar to Track 4, but from the opposite direction.

As the resonances of overtones are decreasing, the waver of the whole piece gradually diminishes and the initial complexity becomes more integrated toward the end. With his delicate handling of percussion sounds, Greg Stuart again brilliantly translates the series of images from Wallace Stevens' poem - "I placed a jar in Tennessee, / And round it was, upon a hill. / It made the slovenly wilderness / Surround that hill. / The wilderness rose up to it. / And sprawled around, no longer wild." Stuart's performance conveys this simple wonder that our perception of a small man-made object could control the whole image of the wilderness in its background so effectively.

Track 7: [harmony series no.12d] the best thing (16:13)

This score features Robert Lax's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For two musicians, one playing a sustaining instrument, the other playing a compact disc. The piece is organized as a sequence of 19 events divided into two parts. Each part is subdivided into smaller groups as follows: Part A: 4 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 1; Part B: 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2. An event is generally both players playing (i.e., overlapping, beginning and/or ending together, or just barely touching). It is occasionally possible to count as an event just one of the players playing. In Part A, events always begin with the sine tones intervals; in Part B, always with the instrument. There are silences (short to long) between the events and longer silences between the groups (within a part) and a very long silence between Part A and B. Tones for the instrument may be any pitch, any tuning of that pitch, and have the duration of a good breath (up to twenty seconds.) All sounds are very soft, very pure."

"The person playing the electronics plays individual sounds (two-note sine tone intervals) from the compact disc provided. These may be played in any order. Sounds may be repeated, but no more than three times total (i.e., not all the sounds must be used). The sounds may last between ten seconds and two minutes (each sound is given 2'30" on the CD". Care should be taken so that very little or no extraneous sound is made in playing, switching tracks, any fading the CD. The speakers are placed on either side of the instrumentalist." (The frequencies of the 19 sets of sine tone intervals are shown in the score.) In this version, the performers are Kathryn Pisaro (oboe/english horn) and Michael Pisaro (plays sine tones on CD).

This is basically a similar structure to Track 3, but in this piece, a sine tone player plays first in Part A, and a horn player starts first in Part B, which seems to correspond to the structure of Robert Lax's poem in the score - a question in Part A, and the answer in Part B. In this piece, the same phenomena of the resonances of horn sounds affecting the sine tones are perceived. The sine tones start wavering when a horn sound is overlapped, and then come back to the straight solid tone again when the horn sound disappears. Sometimes when the pitches of the sine tones and horn sounds get closer, new tones somehow seem to appear in the layer of the harmonies. Again, these changes due to the resonances of harmonic overtones are very subtle but beautifully presented in this piece, and perfectly fit the minimal simplicity of Robert Lax's poem just like in Track 3.

Track8: [harmony series no.11c] Sonnenfern (2:29)

This score features Paul Celan's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For three musicians. The piece lasts about two minutes. Musician 1 plays a very soft, low tone, for the duration of the piece. Musician 2 plays a very soft, low noise, for the duration of the piece. Musician 3 plays as follows (tones are very soft, and the length of a breath or bow): pause / one tone (low to mid-range) / pause / one tone (mid-range to high)" In this version, Greg Stuart (percussion) plays all three parts.

In this piece, Greg Stuart delicately expresses the key words of this poem - "hums" that are buzzing from somewhere "sun-distant" - very effectively with his percussion noises. Paul Celan, who was born in a German Jewish family, lost his parents in a concentration camp. A quiet, low buzzing noise which endlessly penetrates the whole 2'29" piece in parallel with a low electronic sound, seems to silently resonate with a wound in Celan's soul imprinted by the war tragedy. The third soft tone, which is added in the course of the music twice, like drawing a deep sigh, seems to resonate with Celan's resigned murmurs expressed in the two verses in the poem.

Track 9: [harmony series no.16b] Tomorrow (4:29)

This score starts with Robert Creeley's poem, followed by Pisaro's instructions to the musicians: "For five sustaining instruments. The duration of the piece is about one minute (or multiple thereof). Players begin together on a five note chord (each choosing, independently of the others, their own tone, any tuning), and hold the chord at least ten seconds. Thereafter, one by one, in a predetermined order, the musicians stop, until the tones are gone. This process, using the same tones, and the same ordering of musicians may be repeated any number of times, with a pause of any length (different every time) between the repetitions. In this version, the performers are Johnny Chang (violin), James Orsher (harmonium), Michael Pisaro (guitar), Marc Sabat (violin) and Greg Stuart (percussion).

From the start, five soft different tones that musicians chose independently form a chord which feels somewhere between dissonance and consonance. When the five sounds start at the same time in the beginning, there is an impression that the layer of the sounds are trembling together, but as each sound disappears from the layer, the trembling of the chord diminishes, ending up with a straight, solid sound of the final remaining tone. This gradual shift of the sounds evokes a buzzing atmosphere that is gradually coming to a tranquil state, or a wave of grief that is slowly calming down as time moves on. The solemn silence behind the sounds evokes a sense of loss or death, resonating with Robert Creeley's minimal poem that consists of only five words, while also linking to the silent sorrow from the Paul Celan poem in the previous piece.