This piece was written for the 2014 highSCORE Music Festival. It is the second movement of my second string quartet.

String Quartet No. 2, II

The Gloria of a mass setting.

The title of the mass is Mass of Mass, alluding to the releationship between the substantial and the ethereal. The "mass" of this music are the harmonies I've emplyed to bring about the ethereal feeling of a contemporary worship setting, which is contrasted by the moments of chant and medieval harmonies.

A reading the by the Texas State University Singers.

Mass Of Mass - Gloria

Public reading from the 2016 Snow Pond Composers Workshop, Sidney, ME.

Experiment No. 4 for Flute and Cello is the fourth in a series of experimentation in notation. This piece is inspired by a quote from the drummer J.D. Blair: "You can't hold no groove if you ain't got no pocket." Pocket Grooves is a work which explores rhythm, meter, and the lack of.

Nathan Mays Experiment No. 4 Pocket Groove

Machinations, written in 2016, is a set of three miniature movements for sax quartet.

Machinations

7 Step is dedicated to the Out of Bounds Ensemble and the 2017 Charlotte New Music Festival. With this piece, I utilize an amplified acoustic guitar and drumset to achieve a rhythmic drive found in the various styles of rock and jazz. To contrast these ideas, I broke the ensemble into two groups: a rhythm section and a flute trio. While elements of popular music are important to me as a composer, I also wish to explore more avant-garde areas. The opening of 7 Step is framed in seconds with figures for the musicians to improvise on in a controlled manner. This aleatoric section gives way to more focused thematic material, developing the rhythmic and harmonic motives presented in the previous section. A trio is first presented in the flute, violin, and viola, contrasted by interjections from the drumset. The aleatoric section returns, focusing on a trio comprised of piano, guitar, and drumset. Finally, the piece closes with a return to the flute, violin, and viola trio.
The title 7 Step is derived from the piece’s harmonic and rhythmic structures. Harmonically, the piece begins centered around B, shifts between B and E, and finally settles around A. Rhythmically, the piece explores divisions of the beat in 7, moving between 7/8 and 7/4, but ultimately settles in a completely unrelated meter.

7 Step

Written for the Space City New Music Festival.

Thanks!

nMr