Program Note from the Composer: "Fugue for Martians is a five-movement piece of chamber music written for the Martians as a meditation on the contribution of Black creators of music in the twentieth century and their influence on my compositional language. This video performance is its public premiere, and is intended to be followed up, when conditions are safe for musicians and audiences, with a public performance on the Sound and Fury Concert Series (Dr. Christian Dubeau and Dr. Christine Lee, directors). 

The piece is meant as a loving tribute to and appreciation of my musical forebears, most especially William Grant Still, McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters), Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Jimi Hendrix. Though it may not be apparent on the surface, their influence shapes every bar of music I write, for which I am grateful, and of which I am proud." 

The Martians chamber group is comprised of the following members: Spencer Keeling-Klass, oboe (in this performance, the oboe is played by Soli Jones); Reyneelynn Cameros, B-Flat clarinet; Christian Dubeau, piano; Christine Lee, synthesizer; Patrick Gibson, electric guitar and conductor; Gracie Sprout, harp; April Kim, violin I; Kaija Rose Hansen, violin II; Michael Aburas, double bass I; Jimmy Beall, double bass II. I am truly grateful for all of their hard work and artistry on this project! They are an amazing group of players and artists and it is my honor to work with them. 

For more information on Patrick Gibson's compositional output, please visit patrickgibsoncomposer.com. 

For more information on Sound and Fury Presents, please visit soundandfuryconcerts.com.

Patrick Gibson: Fugue for Martians, I. Prelude: 1619
©2022 Patrick Gibson

Fugue For Martians, I. Prelude: 1619

This was composed as a part of a call for new works to be read by HUB New Music Ensemble at the University of California, Riverside in 2017. This is a recording of HUB's excellent reading of the piece.

Slide Rule (Variations for a City on the Hill)for Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Violin, and Violoncello

This piece was commissioned by saxophonist, Kelsey Broersma, for the concert, "Sound and Fury Presents: HUB New Music and Kelsey Broersma," and was premiered on that concert, January 29, 2017. This recording is a studio recording that Kelsey and I made of the piece in March of 2017. Kelsey Broersma, alto saxophone; Patrick Gibson, electric guitar.

Gibson: Feedback Loop

Feedback Loop for Alto Saxophone and Electric Guitar

This piece was commissioned for the Multimedia Event, "UCR - Audiovisual Music IV: Absurdity," and is the score for a film of the same name, conceived and directed by myself, and starring the actress, Vanessa Cortez. It was screened at that event on May 19, 2017 at the Barbara and Art Culver Center for the Arts in Riverside, CA. It is composed entirely of four sounds: my voice speaking a few words, and a hammer, screwdriver, and rubber mallet, striking the same railing.

Gibson: Wholly Hemiola (MUS 137/292 [258] - Assignment 1)

Wholly Hemiola

This piece was written for harpist, Gracie Sprout. These first two movements were written as musical representations of two Los Angeles Area museums: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Getty Center, respectively. The music was inspired by afternoons spent with my sons at each place, as well as Gracie's tremendous capabilities and expressiveness on the harp. Gracie collaborated with me on these pieces, as she always does, by helpfully suggesting harp techniques and idiomatic writing that allows the harpist to produce the desired sounds with the greatest reliability and, thus, the greatest potential for clear expression. For more on this, see her thesis at https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/pubnum/1589654.html. This recording is of the premiere of these two movements at the concert, "UCR Is Composing," held on May 24, 2017 in the Performance Lab at the University of California, Riverside, in Riverside, CA.

Museum Preludes for Harp: I. Promenade; II. Valse

Walking The Dog (Score Excerpt From An Animation)

This piece was commissioned by Dr. Paulo C. Chagas of the University of California, Riverside, for the EARS Lab Tenth Anniversary Concert and Celebration. It was premiered at EARS on June 8, 2018. The initial performance was facilitated by Ethan Castro of the EARS Lab. This is a studio recording of the piece, featuring myself on electric guitar, accompanied by fixed media which I created for the piece. The fixed media track consists of samples of myself playing electric guitar through a 100 Watt Marshall Stack, which were then edited and processed. The piece is notated on a traditional score with time markings indicating entrances of prominent features in the fixed media track.

Patrick Gibson 4

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