{"id":1970,"date":"2021-02-10T01:14:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T06:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/?p=1970"},"modified":"2021-02-10T01:14:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T06:14:13","slug":"how-do-you-play-a-flower-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/2021\/02\/how-do-you-play-a-flower-pot.html","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Play a Flower Pot?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IMzY6IRIr9E?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you play a flower pot? What makes washtubs sound best? How about coffee cans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the answers, check out Lou Harrison\u2019s instructions, in his exquisite hand, for his Concerto for Violin and Percussion, e.g.:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor the washtubs, drill holes (4) up from center on the sides of inverted galvanized iron tubs &amp; suspend by strong elastic cords.\u201d For the coffee cans, \u201ccork or rubber-ended pen-holders make good beaters . . . &amp; are best for the clock coils as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far as I am aware, Harrison\u2019s violin concerto is the most memorable, most original by any American. It also creates a visual spectacle ideal for Covid-era streamed performances. And\u00a0here it is (above),  streamed by\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.postclassical.com\">PostClassical Ensemble<\/a><\/strong> and accessible on the web until March 5. The soloist is our concertmaster Netanel Draiblate. The conductor is our Music Director Angel Gil-Ordonez. Our principal percussionist, Bill Richards, contributes a tour of all the musical junk at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrison invented the percussion ensemble with John Cage and Henry Cowell. With Cage, he plundered junkyards and import stores in search of new percussion resources. Their implements included old brake drums and a variety of Japanese, Chinese, and Indian instruments. The eminence gris of American percussion, William Kraft, once told me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was totally new to explore Asian percussion and junk percussion, as Cowell, Cage, and Harrison did.&nbsp; I found Lou\u2019s percussion writing more fascinating than Cowell\u2019s or Cage\u2019s. I think he was the most musical, and the most in tune with sound.&nbsp; I think the Harrison Concerto for Violin and Percussion is a masterpiece \u2013 you don\u2019t find music like that written by Cowell or Cage. The solo part for the violin is a virtuoso part, extremely well written. And all the sounds, whether produced by maracas or flower pots, are so well integrated that you forget that they\u2019re exotic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could say that Harrison\u2019s concerto combines the experimental panache of an amateur with the craft of a professional. The first two movements were composed in 1940, then revised in 1959 when the finale was added. Harrison gratefully acknowledged the influence of Alban Berg\u2019s Violin Concerto of 1935: \u201camong the highest musical achievements of the century. . . . It really walloped me.\u201d Berg\u2019s\u00a0<em>molto espressivo<\/em> violin writing echoes through Harrison\u2019s score.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrison\u2019s music is an original, precise, and yet elusive product of&nbsp; far-flung cultural excursions.&nbsp;&nbsp;He espoused \u201cworld music\u201d before there was a name for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do you play a flower pot? What makes washtubs sound best? How about coffee cans? For the answers, check out Lou Harrison\u2019s instructions, in his exquisite hand, for his Concerto for Violin and Percussion, e.g.: \u201cFor the washtubs, drill holes (4) up from center on the sides of inverted galvanized iron tubs &amp; suspend [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QLHN-vM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1972,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970\/revisions\/1972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}