VOTD 4/09/2023

 Bertoia: All and More/Passage (Sonambient)

Purchased at a record fair, possibly in Baltimore

A few days ago there was an article in the New York Times about the state of the Harry Bertoia estate. Short response: it's a mess. He didn't take care of business before he died, and his kids are somewhat at odds regarding the remaining works and barn where he worked.

I thought I'd pull out the Bertoia record I own. I'm going to unapologetically share some anecdotes in this blog post.

Bertoia's studio was in the woods in eastern Pennsylvania. The closest museum was the Allentown Art Museum. I grew up even closer to it, I knew the museum well. My parents were members (and lobbied hard to get their works shown there) and were friends with one of the directors, Mimi Miley.

There's a Bertoia gong that was installed outside the museum. They often had his works on display.

There was a big Bertoia show when I was a teenager. The center of the exhibit was a collection, something like a cage, of Bertoia's sound sculptures. I was there with one of my sisters, wandering around while my parents were probably taking care of business. Mimi saw me and said, "Oh Ben, you're musician. Why don't you play one of them?" and left the room. I nervously walked up to one of the smaller pieces, took a single finger to a single prong and plucked it. Immediately a guard came over and barked at me. "This is a museum! You can't touch the pieces!" I didn't say anything, and walked off.

Many years later, my wife and I visited a museum dedicated to design in Manhattan. There was a Bertoia exhibit. It was a good show, and included some of his jewelry, pencil sketches, furniture, and sound sculptures. Best of all, there was a group of large sound sculptures on the floor that you could play. I think they were done by his son, identical in every way except for the hand that built then. You better believe I played those! There's a video of me somewhere on social media gently manipulating them. 

Everyone knows about Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house in southwestern PA. Not so many people know of Kentuck Knob, another Wright house not far way. Kentuck Knob has a substantial sculpture collection, including a few Bertoias, large and small. There was a larger one outside the back door, and my wife decided she wanted to hear what it sounded like. She brushed some of the tall rods with her hand just enough to make them hit each other and sound. This time nobody came to yell at us.

I bought this LP at a record show years ago. I left the price on, $8. He had a stack of them, possibly all eleven Sonambient LPs. I figured I'd just get one, though I don't remember how much money I had on me. I should have bought more! These can go for $100 apiece now. I try not to have collector envy, at least I have this one. That said, I wonder how different they all can be from one another? 

Still, they're beautiful. Droning metallic sounds, rich in harmonics, occasional outbursts but mostly crescendos and decrescendos. 

If I had any metalworking skills, and the space to work, this is something I'd be doing.