The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs PRAYERS & CACHINNATIONS (Op. 137, Nos. 1-8); the GEEKBOX BRASS OCTET performs FESTMUSIK: FANFARONADES, PARADES & ESCAPADES; pianist ANDREAS Z. performs SCHMALTZ (Op. 1, No. 8). For more information on composer GARY LLOYD NOLAND, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

PRAYERS & CACHINNATIONS

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs EPISTEMOLOGICAL PARANUNDRUM, Op. 137, No. 3, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND (May 19th, 2022).

EPISTEMOLOGICAL PARANUNDRUM, Op. 137, No. 3

My FUNFARE FOR SANITY (Op. 129, July 1st, 2022) for brass quintet (two trumpets, horn, trombone). I started composing this piece in the early days of June, 2022 in anticipation of submitting it for consideration by a committee for a possible performance on a Cascadia Composers concert by a local brass quintet. After several days of intensive work in an effort to meet the deadline (which was about a week thereafter) I learned that I was ineligible to submit it on account of having already had a piece of mine performed on the previous Cascadia Composers concert a month earlier, which was just as well, since this quintet still needed work. I would have called it "FANFARE FOR SANITY" but didn't like the assonance in its title, thus: "FUNFARE," which is, perhaps, more evocative of its festive mood. I could be wrong, but assume that where one encounters "sanity," one also tends to encounter peace, harmony, and justice—all conditions of which are sorely needed in these troubled times. Prithee listen and enjoy!. Responses from listeners are more than welcomed. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

FUNFARE FOR SANITY for Brass Quintet (Op. 129)

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs THE MYSTERIOUS INNER WORKINGS OF A SUPERCOMPLICATION MECHANICAL POCKET WATCH by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

THE MYSTERIOUS INNER WORKINGS OF A SUPERCOMPLICATION MECHANICAL POCKET WATCH

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs LORPID TANGUOR, Op. 137, No. 7, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

LORPID TANGUOR, Op. 137, No. 7

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs NON-ADVERSARIAL DIARRHEALOGUES by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com.

NON - ADVERSARIAL DIARRHEALOGUES

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs THE DAILY GRUSTLE by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

THE DAILY GRUSTLE

FESTMUSIK: FANFARONADES, PARADES & ESCAPADES for brass octet & tympani, Op. 77 (2005)by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

FESTMUSIK: FANFARONADES, PARADES & ESCAPADES for brass octet & tympani, Op. 77 (2005)

Pianist ANDREAS Z. performs SCHMALTZ for piano (Op. 1, No. 8) by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com.

SCHMALTZ for piano (Op. 1, No. 8)

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs TRUTH BE TOLD: NO ONE GIVES A FLYING FIG by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

TRUTH BE TOLD: NO ONE GIVES A FLYING FIG

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs OUR PRAYERS AND CACHINNATIONS ARE WITH YOU, Op. 137, No. 2, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

OUR PRAYERS AND CACHINNATIONS ARE WITH YOU, Op. 137, No. 2

The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs HERR DOKTOR SQUIRCLE'S PROFOUND AFFLICTION WITH EVERYTHINGITIS, Op. 137, No. 1, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

HERR DOKTOR SQUIRCLE'S PROFOUND AFFLICTION WITH EVERYTHINGITIS, Op. 137, No. 1

THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs UNBOUNDED CONFUSIASM, Op. 139, No. 10, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

UNBOUNDED CONFUSIASM, Op. 139, No. 10

THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TILL EULENSPIEGEL INTO A WAR - PROFITEERING OLIGARCH'S FOOT - BOY, Op. 139, No. 3, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TILL EULENSPIEGEL INTO A WAR - PROFITEERING OLIGARCH'S FOOT - BOY

THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs SCATHING EXCORIATIONS OF ROMANTIC ESCAPISTS AND THEIR CASTLE-BUILDING SIDEKICKS, Op. 139, No. 2, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

SCATHING EXCORIATIONS OF ROMANTIC ESCAPISTS AND THEIR CASTLE-BUILDING SIDEKICKS, Op. 139, No. 2

THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs BEEHIVES OF BUMBLEDOM, Op. 139, No. 1, by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

BEEHIVES OF BUMBLEDOM, Op. 139, No. 1

Soprano HSIN YI LIN and pianist ASYA GULUA perform GARY LLOYD NOLAND'S setting of ALEXANDER THEROUX'S poem DESERT SPACE (Op. 113).

Acclaimed novelist/poet/essayist Alexander Theroux has given the composer permission to set as many of his poems as he wishes from his Collected Poems (published by Fantagraphics in 2015). Noland originally scheduled a recital of a number of these songs to be performed by soprano Hsin Yi Lin and pianist Asya Gulua on April 11th, 2020 at Classic Pianos in Portland, Oregon, but that recital was cancelled in the eleventh hour on account of the (then) escalating pandemic. The recital was finally rescheduled at Lincoln Hall Room 75 at Portland State University on December 4th, 2022 under the umbrella of CASCADIA COMPOSERS (a chapter of NACUSA). This recording is one of the raw takes from the recording sessions immediately following the concert.

Here is Alexander Theroux's poem "Desert Space":

I dreamt in my pain
you reckoned with mine
when my heart was broken in two

and hoped to see
as I looked for a sign
for what that happened you'd rue.

Who would deny
that's where you start
in hopes of remaining true?

But then again
if you had a heart
you'd be someone other than you.


Music copyright © 2020 by Gary Lloyd Noland
Text from Collected Poems copyright © 2015 by Alexander Theroux
Permission to set this poem to music has been granted by the author.

GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The December 4th, 2022 recital and recording sessions that took place at Portland State University were made possible in part by the selfless generosity of former co-owner of the Willakenzie Estate Winery and well-known and influential benefactor of the arts in Oregon: Ronni S. Lacroute.

A special heartfelt thanks also goes to my thirteen Facebook friends who responded with incredible kindness and generosity by donating to my Facebook Fundraiser almost three years ago (in the early months of 2020). Some of them are from the Portland (Oregon) region and others from different parts of the U.S., as well as from other countries and continents abroad. They are (in alphabetical order):
Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, Randi Botnen, Gerald W. Braden, Michel Bril, Tony Leonardo Cimino, Jean-David Coen, Leonid Korelstein, Huii Hu, Ruta Kuzmickas, David Lasocki, Leslie Sawyer, Johnoscar Nagum Villa, Matt Weiss

A special thanks to my friend Jack Gabel for recording/videographing this event and the scheduled sessions thereafter!

Also a special thanks to the entire Cascadia Board and membership for their help and support with publicity and other particulars related to this event! I would especially like to thank Jeff Winslow for his help and to Nicholas Yandell for assisting in getting the word out.

For more information on composer GARY LLOYD NOLAND, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

For more information on novelist/poet/essayist ALEXANDER THEROUX, please consult the Internet for numerous articles, reviews, interviews, etc.

DESERT SPACE for soprano & piano (poem by ALEXANDER THEROUX)

The Pimpleton Procrasturbation Ensemble performs "A Stern Prussian Head - Governess Follows to a T the Rigorous Codes of Practice Laid Out in Obsolescent Victorian-Era Toilet-Training Manuals for Micro-Regulating the Excremental Excretions of her Young Charges, viz. the Sons & Daughters of Prosperity-Gospel-Banging Fundamentalists and their Belarusian Mail-Order Brides" by Gary Lloyd Noland. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

A Stern Prussian Head - Governess Follows to a T the Rigorous Codes of Practice Laid Out in…

Pianist MYRNA SETIAWAN performes FUNERAL WALTZ, Op. 91 (2008) by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. This piece is dedicated to the memory of JOHN MEREDITH SWACKHAMER (1923-2006).

FUNERAL WALTZ, Op. 91, performed by pianist MYRNA SETIAWAN

UNCATALOGUED PITCH TRANSPOSED PIANO IMPROV #2 by Gary Lloyd Noland (1984). For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

UNCATALOGUED PITCH TRANSPOSED PIANO IMPROV #2 (1984)

The Pimpleton Procrasturbation Ensemble performs CONSTELLATION OF NERVOUS SPASMS, Op. 142, No. 7, by Gary Lloyd Noland (March 8th, 2023). For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com

CONSTELLATION OF NERVOUS SPASMS, Op. 142, No. 7

Resides in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Berkeley, CA. Born in Seattle.  PhD, Harvard. “Gary Noland is one of the great composers of the 21st century.”—JACK RUMMEL, KGNU 88.5 FM, Boulder CO, “...iconoclastic, stylistic potpourri standards of giddy humor, no holds barred soup to nuts and high spirits.”—ROBERT LEVIN, pianist, musicologist, composer, "...a fleet-fingered, ebullient performer ... bright, witty and engaging.”—CHRISTIAN CAREY, SPLENDID MAGAZINE, “...distinctive, inventive ... subversive ... You can hardly be indifferent to Noland’s music and so I would urge you to try it.” —ROGER BLACKBURN, MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL, “...set in a dizzying harmonic language that loops uncontrollably through a wide-ranging gamut of possible and impossible tonalities ... The general effect is like watching wet paintings of 19th Century musical memorabilia drip into frazzled 21st Century oblivion...” —ALLEN GIMBEL, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, “Mr. Noland writes as a ‘time traveler’ in styles long abandoned by most composers as well as styles so new as to not have been imagined but by him. This he accomplishes naturally, convincingly, with originality and true passion. His command of all musical languages and his ability to traverse musical time is nothing less than remarkable. Listen!”—DONALD MARTINO, Pulitzer Prize winning composer, “...mind-bending spiraling of focus which is truly breathtaking ... spectacular...”—CHARLES AMIRKHANIAN, composer, sound poet & radio producer, “I'm amazed at your harmonic skill. Haven't seen or heard anything like it from any one else—except yours truly—certainly not from your generation. It falls somewhere between Strauss and Mahler. Especially like how you are able to slip in and out from the tonal to the atonal—or near atonal...”—GEORGE ROCHBERG, American composer, Pulitzer Prize finalist, “...court jester to the classical establishment...”—PAYTON MACDONALD, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, “...florid and juicy...” —RICHARD BUELL, THE BOSTON GLOBE, “...an incredible aural web ... a great ostinato of American kitsch. Sul pont never sounded so good.”—RUSSELL STEINBERG, composer, conductor of the LOS ANGELES YOUTH ORCHESTRA, “...I am bowled over by the expertise of your music: you use certain elements from the 19th century and from jazz, etc., and just at the moment when I am about to say, OK, what else is new?, you do a number of things, such as speeding up, becoming wildly dissonant, modulating to a distant continent, stopping completely and throwing some kind of total surprise ... you seem to know exactly when to do what and how much. I don’t know anybody else who can do it!” —ANDREW IMBRIE, American composer, Pulitzer Prize finalist, “... remarkable stuff...”
—MAX MORATH, American ragtime pianist, composer, actor & author, “...a loony composer from Oregon...” —MAX SHEA, WMUA 91.1FM, Amherst, MA, “Gary Noland is one of those 21st Century composers seeking to forge a new aesthetic based on older models that do not traffic in serialism or minimalism ... Zany waltzes, ragtime riffs, chorales, toccatas, and much else romp and tear through these depictions of superheroes and villains from his ‘chamber novels’; other pieces spoof serial music ... to grand operas ... and Jewish guilt.” —JACK SULLIVAN, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, “...Paranoid Ravel...”—ALEX DUNN, KZSU FM90.3, Stanford, CA, “...It’s a romantic romp, rhythmically robust yet melodically flirting with the nostalgia of cabaret, minus the sleazy diminution of spilled drinks and smelly ashtrays. Its elegance recalls Elgar, and the serious sides, a synthesis of those strange bedfellows Schubert and Ives. Composers hate it when their music reminds you of someone else’s, but writing within a tradition, Noland has incorporated divergent styles that, woven together, work. Cosmopolitan without snobbery, it’s intelligent, pleasurable and convincing.” —ROCKY LEPLIN, THE BERKELEY VOICE

PRAYERS & CACHINNATIONS

Gary Lloyd Noland, composer