Senior Recital April 18th 2014

Homage - II. Renaud Cote-Giguere

Homage - III. Joe Williams II

Guitar quartet exploring minimalist techniques and alternate guitar tunings. 
Guitarists: Thales Smith, Luis Rangel, Steve Kostelnik, Matthew Lyons

Ominosity - Matthew Lyons

Cassini's Last Moments is a short tribute to the recently deceased spacecraft which, as part of NASA's Cassini mission, had taken photos of and gathered information on Saturn and its moons for the last seven years. I was inspired by the poignant ending to the mission, in which the spacecraft was directed into Saturn's atmosphere and allowed to disintegrate, collecting and sending back to Earth final bits of data. The piece begins with the sense of a probe floating in space near Saturn's rings, until the entrance of a pulsing background texture evokes being stuck in the gravitational pull of the planet. Soon glitchy and unstable sound masses foreshadow the spacecraft's death-dive, and after a reflective wisp of the opening harmonies floats over the subtle chaos, the music begins its final descent towards annihilation.

matthewlyons1006