Nocturne

On a first listen, Schoenberg’s work can sometimes feel a bit acerbic and unapproachable, but he was a composer who clearly poured an abundance of emotion into his music. His Sechs kleine Klavierstücke remain some of the most intensely compact pieces of music I know. The sixth movement, Sehr langsam (very slow), is only 90 seconds long, but it hits so damn hard. You can feel every gesture, and most importantly feel the space in between every gesture; like staring at a sparse landscape painting. I always had wondered what it might be like to play with the space in the piece: playing a piano piece on the electric guitar and highlighting the textures of gestures within the negative space by using a tape delay as an additional instrument. It felt like an opportunity waiting to happen. Schoenberg wrote these pieces as he was working on his Gurrelieder - a massive post-romantic choral and orchestral work of his and it’s clear how much of a foil these pieces served for him. The sixth one in question served as a sort of homage to the then-recently passed Gustav Mahler. This piece is slow. Very very slow. And quiet. With a bounty of time and space as it draws your ear to the time around the played notes. Every gesture feels like a supernova happening ages away. It demands an ear and a mind that are both focused without being over-focused.

Sech Kleine Klavierstücke - vi. Sehr langsam

Last year I spent some time traveling and couch surfing throughout the central United States with no intention beyond spending time with friends and family. Being in sonic environments that were so different from home, I couldn't help but feel like a spell had been cast and I wanted to capture those sounds and the emotions that arose. ridgeland is one of the songs that came from those travels. Crickets, trains, and tea kettles stirred up a painfully sweet sense of melancholy, peace, and nostalgia for a home both past and present. 
 
'ridgeland' is the opening track to my next full-length album 'do you believe in ghosts?' arriving in spring 2023
order, listen and watch here: https://vibe.to/robertnancemusic

do you believe in ghosts?

ridgeland

An organ calls, eliciting a feeling as though you’ve suddenly awoken in a church to the sunrise streaming through stained glass windows, and realize you’ve been in the cavernous building all night, but can’t remember why or how you got there. Pings and samples and the interplay of synthesizers all converge to create a tapestry of nostalgia and a choir of electronic memories

Dawn Particle

Robert Nance’s debut solo record pays homage to his strongest musical influences. “A Musical Offering in Spite of My Flaws” features four tracks offering a glimpse into Nance’s creative DNA.  The album showcases his solo guitar playing alongside self-generated live electronics as it explores relationships to what sound and creativity mean to the artist. The majority of the playing is improvised within a loose framework.

It was recorded by four/ten media on 28 May 2019, mixed by Travis Andrews, and mastered by Myles Boisen. The album artwork is by Stephen Rollick.

3 Motet Rising

2 Those Quiet Evenings...

1 Lockstep DMM

Robert Nance is an American guitarist, composer, and producer creating immersive sonic cocoons through the use of guitars, synthesizers, electronics, and field recordings. His works seek to build lusciously abstract environments that invite listeners to engage as actively or passively as their own experience unfolds, and have graced the stages of Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and SFMOMA. Nance’s second full-length album do you believe in ghosts? premiers in Spring of 2023 as a follow up to his debut album A Musical Offering In Spite Of My Flaws. His first installation work The Spectrum of Dreams’ Resting Light was an acclaimed evening-length meditation opera, and during the lockdown Nance teamed up with long-time dance collaborator Kit McDaniel to present a recurring virtual movement and music event Allow To Realign for participants to enjoy guided movement and ambient music. As a founding member of Mobius Trio, he champions new forms of guitar music from disparate backgrounds. Robert's musical journey began with piano and trumpet lessons, but he never quite felt at home until discovering the guitar and catalogs of post-minimalism composers, pioneers of ambient music, electro-acoustic improvisers, and artful noise. When not making music he can be found loudly screaming at his beloved West Ham United, or brewing himself a cup of coffee.

Robert Nance

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