Biography
The Los Angeles-based ensemble Partch has devoted itself to the compositions and distinctive instruments invented by Harry Partch. The ensemble has earned three Grammy nominations and captured one victory while drawing consistent critical praise.
Originally assembled in 1991 under the name Just Strings, the group set out to present works by both Harry Partch and his contemporary Lou Harrison. It later commissioned fresh pieces from John Luther Adams, Larry Polansky, Mari Takano, and additional composers. In 1995 the musicians traveled to Japan for the Interlink Festival, an event backed by the U.S. Embassy. They persisted in constructing replicas of Harry Partch’s instruments, which employ a tuning system that splits the octave into 43 unequal intervals. Certain examples echo familiar Western orchestral timbres, whereas others, among them the Chromelodeon and the Quadrangularis Reversum, stand entirely apart in design. By 2005 Just Strings had gathered a full complement of twelve such instruments and began appearing under the name Partch. Engagements soon followed throughout California, frequently in art museums, with one broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio’s American Mavericks series. Since 2004 the ensemble has appeared annually at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles and has maintained a regular presence at the city’s MicroFest events devoted to microtonal music. Further international exposure came at the 2010 Guadalajara Book Fair, and the group took part in the San Francisco Symphony’s American Mavericks festival in 2012.
All of Partch’s recordings, issued on the Bridge label, consist solely of music by Harry Partch. The 2011 album Music of Harry Partch, Volume 1: Bitter Music received a Grammy nomination, as did the ensemble’s 2014 account of the theater-dance piece Castor & Pollux. Its 2014 release Plectra & Percussion Dances earned the Grammy for Best Classical Compendium. In 2019 Partch issued a new recording of the seldom-performed Sonata Dementia.
Originally assembled in 1991 under the name Just Strings, the group set out to present works by both Harry Partch and his contemporary Lou Harrison. It later commissioned fresh pieces from John Luther Adams, Larry Polansky, Mari Takano, and additional composers. In 1995 the musicians traveled to Japan for the Interlink Festival, an event backed by the U.S. Embassy. They persisted in constructing replicas of Harry Partch’s instruments, which employ a tuning system that splits the octave into 43 unequal intervals. Certain examples echo familiar Western orchestral timbres, whereas others, among them the Chromelodeon and the Quadrangularis Reversum, stand entirely apart in design. By 2005 Just Strings had gathered a full complement of twelve such instruments and began appearing under the name Partch. Engagements soon followed throughout California, frequently in art museums, with one broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio’s American Mavericks series. Since 2004 the ensemble has appeared annually at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles and has maintained a regular presence at the city’s MicroFest events devoted to microtonal music. Further international exposure came at the 2010 Guadalajara Book Fair, and the group took part in the San Francisco Symphony’s American Mavericks festival in 2012.
All of Partch’s recordings, issued on the Bridge label, consist solely of music by Harry Partch. The 2011 album Music of Harry Partch, Volume 1: Bitter Music received a Grammy nomination, as did the ensemble’s 2014 account of the theater-dance piece Castor & Pollux. Its 2014 release Plectra & Percussion Dances earned the Grammy for Best Classical Compendium. In 2019 Partch issued a new recording of the seldom-performed Sonata Dementia.
Albums