To be honest, I've agonized over this post for weeks. I now find that I needn't have.
Today - June 24, 2026 - marks the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of Harry Partch's birth, which makes this year his very own quasquicentennial. My agony, noted above, stemmed from focusing on this one day only, while the reality is that an entire year encompasses the stated occasion. I now have many more days to say what I need to say and do what I need to do. Today, I honor Harry by sharing my recent activities.
It is almost two years since my mentor, colleague, and friend Danlee Mitchell passed away. He also proceeded to pass on the legacy project that encompasses all that Partch created in craft and deed, instruments and works, concepts and realities. From all I can tell, few people outside of a very small circle realize how much this entails; often, it is assumed that Partch's instruments are the only 'currency of the realm' and one must simply take care of them. Of course, it is a deeper and wider a set of tasks than even I had envisioned, the upward slant of the hill daunting. The incline to be scaled I have named "The Great Reset".
Progress thus far has been slow, but here are some of the meta-tasks being worked on:
The instruments have all been moved to San Diego, and a thorough assessment of their health and condition is being compiled so that a plan for all needed restoration can be created and then acted upon;
Decades and decades of documents - from both Harry and Danlee's life-long collections (nee' hoardings) are being sorted through in stages of refinement. The eventual goal is to have a core collection of these materials that will either be installed in an appropriate archive/library situation or will have a home created for them;
Likewise, there are photographic archives (the bulk of which I have curated since the early 1990s) as well as many of Partch's original tape archives (similar curation) that require revamped organization, storage and cataloging;
The obvious but unending legal, financial, and managerial work attending such a legacy project.
For too many years, Partch's magnificent carnival of a life's work has lurched to and fro, batted about by the whims of institutional support and the eventual lack thereof, and without a long-term plan for how to manage this. Even when people functioned with the best of intentions, things happened that were not always what one would hope for; in worse hands, real bad stuff occurred. In discussions with Danlee, we came to the conclusion that a gathering needed to occur and a re-evaluation of the entirety was required. Allowed to continue rolling down the road, Partch's original works - the instruments in physical form, the compositions in aesthetic form - would continue to splinter, degrade, come apart at the seams and risk permanent and irreversible damage. The liminal space I have created will be the moment to alter that perilous course so that future generations will have Partch's work, in all it's forms, restored and protected in ways that I hope will last for decades.
Top: Partch in rehearsal at University of Illinois, late 1950s; bottom: Partch on the set of The Dreamer That Remains, San Diego, 1972. The amount of life he expended in that short span of years is evident in comparison.
I will continue to post about progress on my work in the months ahead, with more detailed views when possible. I am not alone in my work, and am aided at times by people who are known and others who are new to the world of Partch. I am guided almost daily by my memories and dialogues with Danlee, and as I have laid my hands on some of Partch's earliest objets d'arte and personal items, I am transported back to when I was assisting Harry, immediately remembering his vigorous frustrations as well as his beneficent gratitude. These two men are with me in the workspace, and every ounce of my effort is to see that what they accomplished is well-preserved and documented. The time for me to let go will come soon enough, but for too many years and too many actors, the role of conservator has taken a backseat to putting on a show. For a moment, the priorities will shift. It simply has to be.
I've spent many hours in a large room, filled with Harry's instruments, stacks of more than sixty banker's boxes looming, notable discoveries wanting to pull me into a small and dedicated project when I know that would only impede initial progress. Often, it really is too much, but I sit there and realize that it was, in fashions large and small, all generated by the mind and heart and hands of one extraordinary gentleman. Few people pass our way like Harry Partch. It was the gift of a lifetime to come in contact with him early in my life, and only through first meeting Danlee Mitchell. I will return the favor to both of them as best I humanly can. For now, for today, let us marvel at the passing of one hundred and twenty five years and the man who created the remarkably beautiful chaos that is resting on my shoulders.
~ Jon Szanto
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