This is Not a Carol was commissioned for a Bandcamp release, “Seasonal Séance: Winter Solstice,” to celebrate the 2020 winter solstice on December 21. I composed and performed it on a Chromelodeon. The title of my composition, This is Not a Carol, (an oblique reference to “This is Not a Pipe,” the famous painting by René Magritte), seems to be fitting for the seasonal festivities surrounding the winter solstice of the pandemic era.

Basically a pump organ retrofitted with tunings reflecting Harry Partch’s microtonal scale of 43 tones to the octave, the Chromelodeon is an instrument I’ve become enamored with during the time I’ve been writing my opera, LSD: Huxley’s Last Trip. The opera is scored for a chamber ensemble plus several of the Partch instruments, all of which are built according to Partch’s instructions and tuning system. There are only three Partch Instrumentariums in the world, including the collection in Los Angeles.