The musikFabrik-built Harry Partch instruments throw up an interesting conundrum. I recall when the HP originals came over to London in about 1999 (?); there was much made then of 1) their fragility (presumably true) and 2) their irreplaceability (an assertion that played into the hands of their curators, but which now appears untrue). Not for the first time, there’s a knotty story about ownership and legacy to be told, I think.
That’s true, & furthermore there are questions that it may be worth raising in terms of authenticity, both in terms of performance practice as well as the instruments’ basic timbral qualities. i was discussing this with Lukas Hellermann after the concert, as he expressed concerns that these replicas may somehow be missing something from the originals. It’s early days, though, & there are still a few instruments left to be made; presumably a few years down the line, when musikFabrik actually starts recording these pieces, there may by then have been time to get greater certainty about it.
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The musikFabrik-built Harry Partch instruments throw up an interesting conundrum. I recall when the HP originals came over to London in about 1999 (?); there was much made then of 1) their fragility (presumably true) and 2) their irreplaceability (an assertion that played into the hands of their curators, but which now appears untrue). Not for the first time, there’s a knotty story about ownership and legacy to be told, I think.
That’s true, & furthermore there are questions that it may be worth raising in terms of authenticity, both in terms of performance practice as well as the instruments’ basic timbral qualities. i was discussing this with Lukas Hellermann after the concert, as he expressed concerns that these replicas may somehow be missing something from the originals. It’s early days, though, & there are still a few instruments left to be made; presumably a few years down the line, when musikFabrik actually starts recording these pieces, there may by then have been time to get greater certainty about it.