Name: String Quartet No. 2 - II. Finale by Johnny MacMillan
Duration: 7 min 20 s
Description: The second and final movement of my second string quartet. Performed by members of Decoda at the ICEBERG Peace Chronicles Part 2, May 14 2022.

The second and final movement of my second string quartet. Performed by members of Decoda at the ICEBERG Peace Chronicles Part 2, May 14 2022.

String Quartet No. 2 - II. Finale

perf. by the National Estonian Symphony orchestra, cond. Olari Elts
concert recording / 10.9.2021

Commissioned by Musica femina München and composed for the Münchener Kammerochester, cond. Clemens Schuldt

"Hier ist alles Abstand, und dort wars Atem". R.M.Rilke. Die achte Elegie

Following the series of my aquatic pieces, “Apnea” (in latin “absence of breathing”) for string orchestra, written during the pandemic winter, reflects the importance of breathing whilst exploring the physical and emotional transformation during the immersion under the water. The macro form of the composition reminds of a very long breath-in and a gradual breath-out stretching the time in between while continuing to delay the climax and increase the tension until the limits. The orchestra is playing without any pause taking both the players and listeners through the existential odyssey.

"Apnea" for strings (2021)

"On the Thin Ice of Modern Life" (2021) - David Carlton Adams

This piece explores the fragile nature of continuous consciousness in today’s noisy, distracting world. As in our lives, intricate underlying structures are obfuscated by cacophonous interruptions that challenge us even to finish a thought.

Performed by the Talea Ensemble, conducted by Jim Baker. Recorded live at its premier in Griswold Hall at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD, Saturday, October 30, 2021.

Barry Crawford - flute, bass flute, and alto flute
Rane Moore - clarinet, bass clarinet
Chris Gross - cello

Conducted by Jim Baker

This concert was part of the celebration of 150 years of composition at Peabody.

The Talea Ensemble’s fall 2021 residency at the Peabody Institute
received support from a 2020 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award, awarded to Felipe Lara.

Cover art by the composer

On the Thin Ice of Modern Life (2021) (Talea live premier)

“memories of a stone skipping the skin of the Water on the Lake” is about the repetition of a still image that moves in the memories of the mind. There are five versions of this musical single memory, each one being different from the others; and the difference is due to repetition, since transformation occurs through repetition.

This piece intends to experiment with internal and aural perception of time, the idea of being in sync, and trying to be in sync, aurally and internally. 

* This piece was composed for the Composer Conference Ensemble, as part of the Fromm Fellow Composer Conference Festival 2021

memories of a stone skipping the skin of the water on the lake-August 2021

Polillas (2021) for string quartet was read by the JACK quartet on Nov 30, 2021 and premiered by the JACK quartet on March 30, 2022 on the campus of the University of Iowa.

this piece on youtube: https://youtu.be/lUhz6I958Mk

Polillas (2021) for string quartet

Four Brainscapes (2021) for fixed media

june 13, 2022
nmop 2022
amy williams

for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Genesis 22: 12-13

sound engineer: brian riordan

the ram and the offering (2022)

pop song for piano & electronics performed by conrad tao at new music on the point 2022

audio engineering: brian riordan
https://soundcloud.com/conradtao

pop song

Abyssus Ascendens ad Aeternum Splendorem for piano, orchestra, electronics.
(the Ascending Abyss to the Eternal Brightness) 

In accordance with certain Hebrew mysticism, the Heaven is divided in seven kingdoms, each one ruled by one Angel. 
The Seventh Heaven, ruled by the Angel Cassiel, is the most sacred of these places. This the kingdom where God inhabits. 
Underneath of the Throne of Glory is the Chamber of Guf (Hebrew word for "body"). This chamber is the house of all the souls of human beings not yet  born. 
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ mentions the place of comfort and happiness after death, Abraham’s Bosom, also known as the Limb of the Fathers. And, according to some Hebrew-Christian traditions, this is the place where the just human soul goes after death, while it waits the Final Judgment. 
Faith is the power that takes the soul in its journey from the descending of the Guf, through the earthly existence, and finally into the Limb of the Fathers. 
Faith is also described by Simone Weil, as being an Ascending Abyss. It is abysmal because it pushes the human being into a state of higher perfection. It is ascending and its vortex culminates in a higher sphere, the Eternal Brightness. 
The form of the piece was suggested by a visit to the Convent of the Capuchos, in Sintra, Portugal. The paths inside of this convent takes us through the sad and dark altars of the low area, till we reach an ascending path where we find multiple references to the symbolism of the Cross. Finally the path ends in the higher altar of the Convent, almost at the top of the mountain. There, the shady environment of the “earthly” sections of the convent is replaced by brightness and light. 
This is what inspired this piece.

Interpreters:
Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras
António Lourenço - Conductor
Ana Telles - Piano
João Pedro Oliveira - Electronics

Abyssus Ascendens ad Aeternum Splendorem

February 15, 2020
Chapel of the Resurrection
Katharina Uhde, Valparaiso University Symphony Orchestra

Polje Kosova is a violin concerto commissioned by violinist Katharina Uhde. The finale to the concerto is entitled "Moj Golube" (My Dove), one of the most tender Serbian folk songs in the Sevdah tradition. Dr. Uhde expressed her interest in my synthesis of Balkan, and Eastern Orthodox music, with the Western Art Music tradition. Thus, I chose a subject dear to the hearts of those with roots in the Balkans and Asia Minor: the suffering of Christians. 
     I chose to quote this song in the finale to “Polje Kosova” because it is a song so full of passion, from a region devastated by tragic history.

The text: 

Oh dove, my dove
oh dove, my dove,
don't fall on my raspberries, green forest
don't fall on my raspberries, red rose!
The raspberries are still green,
raspberries are still green.
When the raspberries become ripe, green forest,
when the raspberries become ripe, red rose.
They will fall themselves, 
and they will fall themselves,
like a girl's tear, green forest, 
a girl's and a man's, red rose!

"Moj Golube" from Polje Kosova (2019)

Composer, film composer, pianist, just intonation enthusiast.

String Quartet No. 2 - II. Finale

Johnny MacMillan

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