Genesis of a Music

Genesis of a Music is a book first published in 1949 by microtonal composer Harry Partch (1901–1974).

Partch first presents a polemic against both equal temperament and the long history of stagnation in the teaching of music; according to Alex Ross, this is "the most startling forty-five-page history of music ever written". In particular, Partch holds Johann Sebastian Bach responsible for "the movement toward equal-tempered tuning, which meant that composers could not absorb the scales of other world traditions; and the urge to make music ever more instrumental and abstract."^[1]

He then goes on to explain his tuning theory based on just intonation, the ensemble of musical instruments of his own invention (such as the "Surrogate Kithara, a struck-string, harplike instrument",^[2] and the guitar with movable frets he used to compose Barstow^[3]), and several of his largest musical compositions.

The book has been highly influential to succeeding generations of microtonal composers, including Lou Harrison,^[4] Ben Johnston,^[5] and James Tenney.^[6] A revised and enlarged second edition was published just before Partch's death in 1974.^[7]