Search - Harry Partch :: Dreamer That Remains / Ballad for Gymnasts

A very formitive work for myself as a musican.

10/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a young, and musically adventurous boy growing up in a rather bland and conservative town in Western Washington, I was blessed to have access to an amazing, and really kind of avant-garde record library started almost by chance by the head of the vocal music program at my high-school. That man, Jeff Mitchell, may have heard vaguely of Harry Partch when he was at school, but probably didn't even realise he had puchased an album of his works when he convinced the school district to fork out some money to buy some amonymous person's record collection. Whether he did or not, he gave me a deep and enduring gift and introduced me to music which was as incredible as it was original and inexplicable. Along with John Coltrane's 'Om' (also found there) Harry Partch's 'The Dreamer That Remains' is among the most important pieces of music in my entire musical universe. I kept a recording of that warped and scratchy record for 18 years until today, when I was pleased to find it for sale on Amazon. It was and is proof positive that true art is Do-It-Yourself, and that the power of the individual mind drives the creative world, not corporations, or Government bureaus. By the way, does Amazon need someone to write online copy?"