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Little House I Used To parallels in FZ music I cut this tidbit out of Little House I Used To Live In from Burnt Weeny Sandwich [1970], as a cameo illustration of the type of harmony writing used on Put A Motor In Yourself from Civilization Phaze III [1993], 23 years later. On CPIII, it is much more dense and compressed melodically, but this clip from BWS gives a good "slowed down" example of a note by note harmonization method FZ loved to baffle us with. Specifically, he writes a melody that is always changing, and writes countermelodies with the same rhythms, but different notes, and the progression of independently moving pitches in rhythmic unison produces momentary harmonies, or chords, that are as unpredictable as the course of the original melody, but tightly unified in whatever combinations are happening at the moment. CPIII is filled with this stuff, only its moving faster, farther, and it has more happening at one time, but the basic method is the same. What I find astonishing about this Little House excerpt is how much it makes my heart ache when I hear it. The melody is so frail and beautiful, the bassoon seems so sad. The vibes and harpsichord sound so good with woodwinds, the contrary motion produces coiling blends between the various voices, they seem to come alive, and then gradually wind down almost to a stop, then comes an energy surge, but the tonal center has dropped a few notches. Frequency is reducing on several levels in different gradations, and the notes gradually settle to the bottom of the pond and come to rest. This quiet interlude is one of my all time favorite FZ gems. 1. download the mp3's
My Favorite Frank Zappa Photo |
