Composed between 1963 and 1964 and revised in 1966, And on the Seventh Day, Petals Fell in Petaluma consists of 23 one-minute duets, which can be overdubbed in recording, or played by multiple instruments in live performance, making an additional ten quartets and a concluding septet. The title refers to the location of Partch's new home in an unused hatchery in Petaluma, California, after an absence of six years while he was on sabbatical.
It was the time of year when the petals fell.
The music (ranging in spirit from the light-hearted, gamelan-like and playful to the nocturnal and quiescent) is played on a wide variety of Partch's timbre-ful 43-tone to the octave instruments, like the Zymo-Zyl, Cryochord, Harmonic Canon, Blue Rainbow, Boo, Spoils of War, and so on.
"This is my trinity: sound-magic, visual beauty, experience-ritual." (Partch)
Harry Partch, And on the Seventh Day, Petals Fell in Petaluma (excerpt)