Harry Partch

Harry Partch grew up in Tombstone, AZ, and was taught by his family to play the clarinet, harmonica, reed organ, guitar. A self-taught composer, he rode the rails during the early Depression years. Partch was an original theorist on tuning systems, wrote the extraordinary book Genesis of a Music (1949), and an instrument designer and builder from 1938 onwards. His operas, in micro-tonal tunings played on his self-made instruments, were often designed for performers who would take multiple roles, eg. singer-instrumentalist-dancer. His songs were often open as to vocal pitch, pr...