Improv on the traditional Moravian Christmas carol.

Byla cesta (2021)

Three Pieces For String Quartet - Telegraph

Live recording of the world premiere,
Senzoku Wind Symphony, conducted by Jerry Junkin

Full score viewable here: http://ostimusic.com/NightGarden.php

As the old, famous philosophical thought experiment muses: if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? The gist of the question, somewhat clichéd in its frequent application, is to ponder whether direct observation is the catalyst for the existence of any phenomenon. John Mackey’s The Night Garden toys with the fringes of this experiment by depicting—in a loosely programmatic way—the goings-on of nature in the late evening, undisturbed by human intervention. As the composer notes, the imagery of the title provided uncommon inspiration for the direction of the piece:

The Night Garden was commissioned by the Senzoku Wind Symphony at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan (Masato Ikegami, director), and the tremendous virtuosity and tradition of that ensemble is made immediately apparent in the workings of the piece, which demonstrates remarkable technical dexterity, a substantive architecture, and refined contours that make the piece exceptionally challenging. The piece is a stylistic departure in many ways for Mackey, with innovations in his compositional voice that are striking and mesmerizing. The work, as a whole, is highly textural, with very little in the way of traditional melodies, instead favoring fragmented flourishes of technique and flaring dynamics that give dramatic color shifts in short bursts. In this way, The Night Garden seems less like a typical 21st-century musical composition and more an Impressionist painting, with a vibrant landscape portrayed in visible brushstrokes.

The composition unfolds in a long arch, with a symmetrical form that brings earlier elements back in reverse order. It opens with a quick, lilting 6/8 introduction that evokes a classic sensation of pastoral themes set atop a shimmering background. After a brief flirtation with a tune in clarinet that evaporates just as quickly as it appears, this bouncy introduction resolves and gives way to a moto perpetuo in the piano – a crystalline skittering of sixteenth notes that floats unassumingly underneath capricious scalar interjections from woodwinds. These layer atop each other, with progressive frequency, building up the texture and excitement, assisted by slowly shifting, but increasingly crunchy harmonies reminiscent of late minimalist composers such as John Adams. A release of tension, and a change to the piano ostinato, introduces the reflective central section of the work where a mist-like web of harmonies gives way to a melody in bassoon. This, the first and only fully-developed melody in the piece, is taken up by trumpet and eventually the whole of the ensemble, before receding back into the constant of the piano. A repetition of the first moto perpetuo follows fairly true to its original, but this time becoming even more emphatic at its climactic moments, pressing into the tension and release of sliding fifths in a cathartic release. The mist returns at the coda, with a gentle oscillation of flutes joining the piano to reminisce on the introductory motivic fragments, before dissipating into a sparkle in the final moments. Like a garden illuminated by moonlight, its magical beauty has become tranquil once more.

- program note by Jake Wallace

MACKEY: The Night Garden - world premiere

Title: The Endling Suite: Last of Its Kind 
I – No creature ever knows it’s the last of its kind 
II – It just is
III – And then it isn’t

Piano: Lihao Li, Flute: Emily Annesley, Clarinet: Martha Rolón, Violin: Jasmine Yanase, Cello: Christopher Jung, Percussion: Jimmy Stagnitti

Notes: 

The comic shown as the image struck me, and I found myself obsessed with it. The serene quality of the image, juxtaposed with the various messages behind it, speaks volumes. This piece is for endlings, those who are the last of their kind, and is my commentary on extinction.

I - No creature ever knows it’s the last of its kind: This movement explores the idea of music sprouting from a single moment and attempts to embody blissful ignorance of one’s own circumstance.

II – It just is: My intention is to take this phrase as out of context as I can. By itself, there is something calming about the phrase “it just is.” It is not a sad realization, but a celebration of life itself. Launching immediately into driving, playful, and declamatory moments, the music then settles down. It plays out in the context of the preceding movement, and as a harbinger of what is to come in movement III.

III – And then it isn’t: The music reintroduces the dissonance from the first movement and gives it further context. Behind the ignorance, there is a knowing quality that steadily moves into the foreground until it simply stops.

Thank you for listening.

The Endling Suite - Last Of Its Kind Movt. 1 - 3

For symphony orchestra (triple winds) and piano.

Recorded at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Yangchunzi Duan conducting.

Fughetta (2015 rev. 2018)

In Stars (2019) for violin

Flute Impr 430

Poetry by Rumi (trans. Coleman Barks)

Written for Maggie for our wedding.

Recorded by friends for our 5th anniversary.

Nicolas Lell Benavides, composer and vocals
Tim Sherren, guitar
Maxwell Nesbet, bass
Bryan Lin, piano

Mix: Zach Miley

Thirsty Fish

California-based composer for concert & media

Fughetta (2015 rev. 2018)

S. A. Workman

Related tracks