NeologisticsMusicSelahSummer 1966 → Nonet
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Page 45 from Nonet. The instrumentation in score order is soprano saxophone (that line is cut off the scan, but it's not playing anything at this point), contrabass clarinet, bass trombone, harp (two staves), Hammond organ (three staves), percussion (three staves, with mallet instruments on top), electric guitar (in bass cleff), violin, and cello. The score is written at pitch, i.e., not transposed, even the guitar part. It makes life a lot easier for conductors.

This piece was doomed the day I started writing it. It's waaay too hard. Getting a Hammond organ (for free) was a huge problem. I don't remember how I swung it, but I did have one for the performance at my Black Bag concert on May 18, 1967.

However, my organist (long dead) was a drunkard who was frequently found asleep in the gutter and hauled in by the police. This was his condition the night before the Black Bag concert. I managed to locate him by calling the police station. When I inquired, the policeman on the phone called across the room, ``Hey guys, did anyone pick up Carl tonight?'' Yep, he was there. I had to get a stand-in pianist who was not much of an organist, and who had to virtually sight read the piece at performance. It was a joke. But I didn't want to cancel it yet again, after all the trouble I'd had getting it scheduled.

Nonet