# Michael Harrison



## Polednice

I was going to post this in the Current Listening thread, but I thought it might be a good starter for discussion about the composer Michael Harrison (I don't know how old he is, but the earliest composition I can find by him is from 1977).

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_Revelation_ is a piece of music for solo piano written in 2007 for just intonation (also called pure intonation). This is the intonation system commonly associated with the Greeks, as it is based on the aesthetic ideal of intervals being small number ratios, and was much more popular before the rise of equal temperament, though it is still used in some musical cultures today. Although this piece uses the standard just tuning heavily, Harrison takes some liberty, particularly with an interval he calls the "celestial comma" with a ratio of 64:63 which (I think) would not ordinarily be considered a just tuning because the ratio is not suitably small.

It's difficult to describe the sensation that you get when you first start listening to it - "ethereal" is a word that came to my mind, as well as "mercurial", but these are paltry words for a unique experience. The tuning is sufficiently different to what we are used to for it to create a sense of jarring, but in a good way. It's not that it seems 'out of tune', but that it seems other-worldly. It's also a fascinating experience to enter its sound-world more and more as you become more and more used to his particular tuning. What at first sounds unusual begins to sound normal, and the mental transition is a wonderful feeling.

My appreciation of the piece made me consider the effects of certain aspects of our cultural upbringing. Forgive the strange analogy, but I think it's rather like swearing. When you think about it, all words are simply packets of sound with no intrinsic meaning; they are imbued with meaning by cultural convention. Thus, although I have always railed against my parents' prudish dislike for swear words, I am simultaneously _thankful_ for their outdated attitude, because if it were not for their childhood reminders that the "f" word is a particular packet of sound not to be spoken in most circumstances, I would not today appreciate the humour of the word when spoken by someone else, or its power in certain contexts. It would be to me like "merde" is to someone who doesn't speak French as a first language, totally lacking the punch of its English "s" equivalent.

In the same way, for my appreciation of _Revelation_, I am positively thankful that I was inundated with equal temperament music as a child. Just like the prudish attitude towards swearing, it's culturally naive to surround oneself only with equal temperament for an entire life, but without a childhood immersed in it, _Revelation_ would not pack the significant punch that it does. It is precisely _because_ I am so used to the tonal system of the common practice period that this piece seems so compelling. Some people - me included - often argue that some music is too difficult to grasp because it is too far removed from the music we already know. I think this can be a valid criticism of some music, though it certainly speaks more to (still valid) human limitation than it does the quality of the music itself. In this instance, however, I find myself thoroughly immersed in the foreign-but-not-too-foreign sound.

The actual style of the piece is quite 'minimalist', I suppose, but I wouldn't use the label in any strict sense. It is fairly repetitive in technique and character throughout, with heavy use of arpeggios and repeated rhythmic patterns. It certainly seems to be a work driven more by rhythm than it is melody, though it is not without some melodic and harmonic intrigue. Personally, I might have found it more interesting if it foregrounded melody and harmony more than rhythm, but it is an introduction to a sound-world that I am now primed and excited to explore.

You can read his own in depth summary of the piece, its conception and style, on his website.


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## PetrB

You will want to be checking Le Monte Young's "The well-tuned piano" 
Here is 50 or so minutes of it: it is an ongoing composition project. Young's 'just intonation' is a little quirky, not exactly old school.





Terry Riley's "Lands End" from a series of pieces 'The Harp of New Albion" for just-intoned piano.





There is a book I have not read which many find interesting. "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care)" by Ross W. Duffin.
I imagine the upshot is what most of learn if we get through music history 101, i.e. that equal temperament very much heightens flights away from I IV and V, even those fundamental key areas having more 'distinct personalities.' If a piece modulated to the dominant, the subsequent harmonies within that transposition sounded clearly 'different' than the material in the dominant. All well and good up through a certain period of common practice harmony and relationships. Post the 'revolution / evolution' of equal temperament (and improved technology on other instruments) the music composed for the time might sound that much more dreadful if transliterated back to just intonation. While the author I'm sure makes an engaging argument for just intonation, there is a reason it was univerally abandoned - it had been replaced and did not work well with newer music written for more equal temperament.

The most telling about its real qualities in the proper context would be to audition period pieces in whcih the temperament was assumed. very early Baroque music or earlier. The contemporary works are fun and interesting sounding essays and may reveal something also interesting about the relationships which sound from this tuning. To our ears, of course, it sounds 'exotic' and 'fresh.'

ED ADD: Other than some evidence from old organs maintained for hundreds of years, those varying from each to each, there is no concrete or set numbering to determine exactly what just intonation was, or was at the time of the Greeks, or pre-baroque Europe. What we have today, with oscillators, electric tuners, and all the conclusive math, might be 'around' what was in the past. No one can be dead certain, that is all


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## kv466

So,...I think I may have seen him live and I am certain I have heard his recordings: Either way,...meh. I mean, sure, it's not bad or terrible or anything like that,...just,...'it is what it is'. Hey,...at least there's good one throughout the recordings. Wishing him the best,...kv466.


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## Praeludium

Michael Harrison ? is he the son of Lou Harrison ?


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## PetrB

Praeludium said:


> Michael Harrison ? is he the son of Lou Harrison ?


Well, there are many ways, but unless Lou Harrison and partner William Colvig made some special arrangement(s), I think Michael Harrison is from another lineal descent.


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## MichaelHarrison

PetrB said:


> Well, there are many ways, but unless Lou Harrison and partner William Colvig made some special arrangement(s), I think Michael Harrison is from another lineal descent.


I appreciate Polednice's insightful post about my work Revelation. My only comment is that today "just intonation" usually refers to an infinite set of tunings based on whole number ratios (not necessarily small as he indicates), as opposed to the historical just intonation tuning. In this modern sense the tuning I created for Revelation, including the 64:63 commas, is entirely within the system of just intonation. For anyone that wants to dive further into the matter, you can find my in depth program notes as well as program notes by Stuart Isacoff at www.michaelharrison.com on the page entitled "pure intonation." In short, the 12 notes of the historical just intonation tuning are all derived from the prime numbers/harmonics 2, 3 and 5, whereas in Revelation the 12 pitches are all derived from primes 2, 3 and 7. Instead of using any 5th harmonics, all of the black keys on the piano are tuned to a set of futuristic/non-western 7th harmonics. This gives it a completely different harmonic palette. In his masterpiece The Well-Tuned Piano (available on DVD from www.Melafoundation.org) my mentor La Monte Young uses a different tuning also based on the primes 2, 3 and 7. Also I have no genetic relation to the composer Lou Harrison, although he also worked extensively with just intonation tunings and non-western music.


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## Polednice

Thanks for that correction. :tiphat:


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## violadude

MichaelHarrison said:


> I appreciate Polednice's insightful post about my work Revelation. My only comment is that today "just intonation" usually refers to an infinite set of tunings based on whole number ratios (not necessarily small as he indicates), as opposed to the historical just intonation tuning. In this modern sense the tuning I created for Revelation, including the 64:63 commas, is entirely within the system of just intonation. For anyone that wants to dive further into the matter, you can find my in depth program notes as well as program notes by Stuart Isacoff at www.michaelharrison.com on the page entitled "pure intonation." In short, the 12 notes of the historical just intonation tuning are all derived from the prime numbers/harmonics 2, 3 and 5, whereas in Revelation the 12 pitches are all derived from primes 2, 3 and 7. Instead of using any 5th harmonics, all of the black keys on the piano are tuned to a set of futuristic/non-western 7th harmonics. This gives it a completely different harmonic palette. In his masterpiece The Well-Tuned Piano (available on DVD from www.Melafoundation.org) my mentor La Monte Young uses a different tuning also based on the primes 2, 3 and 7. Also I have no genetic relation to the composer Lou Harrison, although he also worked extensively with just intonation tunings and non-western music.


 really? Michael Harrison is now a member of this forum??


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## MichaelHarrison

Polednice said:


> Thanks for that correction. :tiphat:


No problem. Also since you wrote "Personally, I might have found it more interesting if it foregrounded melody and harmony more than rhythm, but it is an introduction to a sound-world that I am now primed and excited to explore," I thought you might enjoy my large work "From Ancient Worlds" for harmonic paino (an extensively customized and re-tuned piano) on New Albion Records that includes a lot more melodic emphasis than Revleation, as well as recurring and varied themes, etc...


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## Polednice

MichaelHarrison said:


> No problem. Also since you wrote "Personally, I might have found it more interesting if it foregrounded melody and harmony more than rhythm, but it is an introduction to a sound-world that I am now primed and excited to explore," I thought you might enjoy my large work "From Ancient Worlds" for harmonic paino (an extensively customized and re-tuned piano) on New Albion Records that includes a lot more melodic emphasis than Revleation, as well as recurring and varied themes, etc...


Ah, thank you very much for the suggestion! I was planning to have a listen to more of your works in the coming weeks, so it's nice to know where to start.


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## tortkis

I love the music of Michael Harrison. My favorite is _Revelation_, but any of the released albums is fascinating. Regarding melodic aspect, I think the earlier album _In Flight_ is very melodic and tuneful. At first, it felt a bit too catchy, but the music does not wear off even after many repeated listening. Also, the latest album _Time Loops_ (Cantaloupe) is more melodious than _Revelation_. Maya Beiser's performance is fantastic.


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## tortkis

Michael Harrison performs Tone Cloud II from Revelation




fantastic performance. La Monte Young is in the audience. Marian Zazeela is sitting next to him?


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## tortkis

The world premiere performance of Michael Harrison's _Just Constellations_ by Roomful of Teeth, at MASS MoCA, August 28, 2015.





_Ever since the 1980's, when I started working as La Monte Young's composition and tuning assistant, I have wanted to compose a work like Just Constellations for specialized singers exploring gradually evolving constellations of tones in extended "just intonation" tunings. However, it was not until Brad Wells commissioned me to compose for Roomful of Teeth that the opportunity finally presented itself._ - Michael Harrison


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## tortkis

Harmonic Constellations ~ Works for Violin & Electronics (New World Records)
http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=94280










Mari Kimura (b. 1962): Sarahal (2013)
Eric Chasalow (b. 1955): ScuffleandSnap (2010)
Michael Gatonska (b. 1967): Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing) (2013, rev. 2015)
Hannah Lash (b. 1981): Mièle (2014)
Eric Moe (b. 1954): Obey Your Thirst (2014)
Michael Harrison (b. 1958): Harmonic Constellations (2016)

Mari Kimura (violin)

Works for violin and electronics by Michael Harrison and 5 other composers. The Harrison's piece is mostly static, but the thick layers of just intonation harmony, including strong beats created by comma, cause the strange effect which is like sonic hallucination. A mesmerizing work.

_"All of the tones in Harmonic Constellations are perfectly tuned in extended just intonation, with each tone creating a whole number proportion in relation to every other tone. This creates an invisible geometric formation of periodic composite waveforms which can be experienced as a sonic hologram in which the listener can move, or slightly shift the position of their head, to hear different tones in every part of the room. In this way the listener becomes an interactive participant, and unless headphones are used, the work will never be heard the same way twice."_ - Michael Harrison


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## Nereffid

tortkis, thanks for posting about the new album!

I loved the "Time Loops" album and must renew my acquaintance with Harrison's music.


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## tortkis

Time Loops is fantastic. I think it represents Harrison's melodist aspect, along with his early piano pieces. Harmonic Constellations is more experimental, close to La Monte Young's drone works.


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