Videos
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Barstow — Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a highway railing near Barstow, California (1941/68)
Notes
- Today I Am a Man
- Gentlemen
- Considered Pretty
- A very Good Idea
- Possible Rides
- Jesus Was God in the Flesh
- You Lucky Women
- Why in Hell did you Come?
Voices ~ Boo ~ Chromelodeon ~ Diamond Marimba ~ Surrogate Kithara
Program note by John Schneider:
The legendary 1969 Columbia recording of Barstow imprinted the work in the imaginations of a generation, and like US Highball that followed, it underwent numerous orchestrations. Hitchhiker graffiti is put to music, telling the tale of eight wanderers – some funny, some sad, but always engaging when seen through the lens of Partch’s re-telling. He gives us an earthy and poignant first-hand account that is unique in the world of music, one that is sure to become a permanent part of our American cultural landscape. Taken along with the rest of his Americana from the 1940’s, Partch has created a body of work that places him shoulder to shoulder with the two best-loved storytellers of the era, John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie.
Additional Instruments:
Voice
Performances
Recordings
Related Pieces
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Ulysses at the Edge of the World
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U.S. Highball — A musical account of a transcontinental hobo trip (1943/55)
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San Francisco — A setting of the cries of two newsboys on a Foggy Night in the Twenties ~ (1943/55)
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The Letter — A depression message from a hobo friend (1943/55)
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Barstow — Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a highway railing near Barstow, California (1941-…)
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The Wayward
Composer
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Partch, Harry