Genesis of a Music
Encyclopedia
Genesis of a Music is a book first published in 1947 by American
microtonal composer
Harry Partch
(1901–1974).
Partch first presents a polemic against both equal temperament
and the long history of stagnation in the teaching of music
, then goes on to explain his tuning theory based on just intonation
, the ensemble of musical instruments of his own invention, and several of his largest musical composition
s.
This book has been highly influential to succeeding generations of microtonal composers. A revised and enlarged second edition was published just after Partch's death in 1974.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
microtonal composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
(1901–1974).
Partch first presents a polemic against both equal temperament
Equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
and the long history of stagnation in the teaching of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, then goes on to explain his tuning theory based on just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
, the ensemble of musical instruments of his own invention, and several of his largest musical composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
s.
This book has been highly influential to succeeding generations of microtonal composers. A revised and enlarged second edition was published just after Partch's death in 1974.
Editions
- Genesis of a Music: Monophony: the relation of its music to historic and contemporary trends; its philosophy, concepts, and principles; its relation to ... and its application to musical instruments, University of Wisconsin Press, 362 pp., 1949. ASIN B0007DM7I8
- Genesis Of A Music: An Account Of A Creative Work, Its Roots, And Its Fulfillments, Second Edition, Da Capo Press, Paperback, 544 pp., 1979. ISBN 030680106X
- 1974. ASIN B001DKJY30
- 1974. ISBN 0781296455
- 1979. ASIN B000JJOPAS