'Sometimes' premiere with Iarla Ó Lionáird + Pascal Le Boeuf

Matthew McBane ·

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Iarla Ó Lionáird, Pascal Le Boeuf and I premiered my song ‘Sometimes’ for voice, violin, analog synth and bass drum on November 6. This was a collaborative process in putting it together and they both did a beautiful job with it. It was a great thrill to work with the awesome instrument that is Iarla’s voice.

‘Sometimes’ is an experiment in creating a simple number-based notation system that does not require the ability to read sheet music, such that the starkness of the music and notation pairs with the starkness of the text. The text is from Haruki Murakami’s ‘Wind-up Bird Chronicle’.

15th Annual Carlsbad Music Festival

Matthew McBane ·

The festival I started in my hometown after college is turning 15! There’s a ton of amazing “adventurous music by the beach” and my artistic contributions are a set with Build (LA version) and the awesome Eric Byers will premiere the solo cello version of ‘Linear Arithmetic’.

"On and On and" single for chorus released

Matthew McBane ·

New single! "On and On and," a choral piece based on the writings on John Muir performed by Sacra/Profana, conducted by Krishan Oberoi. 

Released 5/5/2015. Purchased or free download at bandcamp.

Premiered September 2014 at the Carlsbad Music Festival.

"a second hearing confirmed the strength and surprising emotional power of this piece. Although the terse John Muir text is little more than a koan, its mesmerizing repetitions suggest broader ontological significance." -Ken Hermann, San Diego Story

"Amazing piece" -Second Inversion

"On and On and" is inspired by the writings of John Muir and written for the San Diego-based choir, Sacra/Profana. It was premiered at the September 2014 Carlsbad Music Festival (which I curate), and below are my notes written at the time of the premiere: 

Last summer I took a road trip that started with surfing in Baja California and continued with camping in the Sierras near Mt. Whitney and on into Yosemite. This trip came at the end of an extended period in Brooklyn (where I live), during which I was starting to feel particularly disconnected from the rhythms and cycles of nature. As I settled into the rhythm of camping every day, I thought about the text for the piece I was going to write for the choral group Sacra/Profana upon my return. I wanted to use something that dealt with the cycles of nature and fit into the musical ideas I was thinking about with interlocking patterns for the singers. 

After a few dead ends (reading tide charts?), while in Yosemite I encountered quotes by John Muir on signs throughout the park. Prior to this, I was familiar with Muir as a naturalist, but had not paid attention to his writings. When reading them I was taken aback by how poetic they were. 

At a particularly stunning viewpoint to at the entrance of Yosemite Valley, there was a sign with the following Muir text: 

"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turns, as the round earth rolls." 

Reading this, I knew Muir's writings were what I was looking for. So, I searched his books for the right text, and saw that more than once when referring to the eternal cycles of nature, he used the phrase "on and on." In that, I found my text (and my title), just the two words "on" and "and." 

In "On and On and" the singers build up patterns first using only the word "on," then completing the patterns with the gradual addition of the word "and." As the piece ends the patterns break down removing the word "on," leaving only the word "and." 

-MM 
||: on and :||

"Drawn" live on WQXR

Matthew McBane ·

The Jake Schepps Quintet recently recording an interview and filmed live performances of tracks from "Entwined" (the record) including my piece "Entwined" from the the suite "Drawn" on WQXR in New York. The band sounds great and the folks at WQXR did a great job with the video. Check out the whole thing here.

New album: "Entwined"

Matthew McBane ·

New album! Jake Schepps Quintet's "Entwined"
Released 1/27/2015 on Fine Mighty Records.
New music for bluegrass string band by Marc Mellits, Matt Flinner, Gyan Riley and Matt McBane featuring 5-track suite "Drawn." 

Purchase: bandcamp (preferred), amazon, itunes.

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On and On and

matthewmcbane ·

My new (and first) choral piece "On and On and" was premiered by Sacra/Profana at the Carlsbad Music Festival on September 20. It got a really nice review by Ken Hermann in San Diego Story:

"A recently completed choral work by Festival Director Matt McBane repeated an utterly simple text, “On and On and,” with unexpected rests and closely structured hockets that created a hypnotic, almost mystical spell. It was the piece on a rich program I would most eagerly hear again."

I'll post a recording here soon, but for now, here's my program note on the piece:

This summer I took a road trip that started with surfing in Baja California and continued with camping in the Sierras near Mt. Whitney and on into Yosemite. This trip came at the end of an extended period in Brooklyn (where I live), during which I was starting to feel particularly disconnected from the rhythms and cycles of nature. As I settled into the rhythm of camping every day, I thought about the text for the piece I was going to write for the choral group Sacra/Profana upon my return. I wanted to use something that dealt with the cycles of nature and fit into the musical ideas I was thinking about with interlocking patterns for the singers.

After a few dead ends (reading tide charts?), while in Yosemite I encountered quotes by John Muir on signs throughout the park. Prior to this, I was familiar with Muir as a naturalist, but had not paid attention to his writings. When reading them I was taken aback by how poetic they were.

At a particularly stunning viewpoint to at the entrance of Yosemite Valley, there was a sign with the following Muir text:

"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turns, as the round earth rolls."

Reading this, I knew Muir's writings were what I was looking for. So, I searched his books for the right text, and saw that more than once when referring to the eternal cycles of nature, he used the phrase "on and on." In that, I found my text (and my title), just the two words "on" and "and."

In "On and On and" the singers build up patterns first using only the word "on," then completing the patterns with the gradual addition of the word "and." As the piece ends the patterns break down removing the word "on," leaving only the word "and."