Arthur Jarvinen had a problem: like many of us, he wanted the chance to play chromatic harmonica with a major contemporary music performance group, in this case the California EAR Unit. Unlike many of us, Jarvinen is a composer, and so he took it upon himself to compose a work that would allow him to play the harmonica in such a context. The result is "Egyptian Two Step." Jarvinen surrounded the harmonica with instrumentation that, by design, is so bizarre that the harmonica fits right in: piccolo doubling bass flute, baritone saxophone, piano, marimbas, an electric bass, and two spray cans of compressed air which are used as percussion instruments. "Egyptian Two Step" has to be one of the most cheekily earnest pieces ever written; it employs serialist techniques, but with such emphatically odd instrumentation and the insistent syncopated rhythms that permeate the piece, it's hard to avoid laughing out loud when listening to it. The music moves from serial funk to a Shostakovichesque burlesque and on from there, never losing its cool and never acting like it is as odd as it is. "Egyptian Two Step" ends with the spray cans discharging all their remaining compressed air. "Egyptian Two Step" is easily one of the funniest pieces of the twentieth century.



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