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Each work on this disc
relates to some aspect of celebration, ritual, or
ceremony that brings people together. All my life I have
been struck by how the qualities of the human spirit can
manifest themselves in music, and have learned that
rituals and ceremonies are the vehicles through which the
human spirit (manifest through joy, humor, poignancy,
reflection, triumph, sadness) is most closely bound to
art.
In writing Ritual of the Dawn, I was influenced by the
philosophies of H.G. Wells and especially his novel The
Time Machine. I was struck by his ideas with regard to
the transience of our existence on this earth. Despite
all our most “civilized” efforts, the earth
will eventually return, eons from now, to its natural
state of equilibrium. This was the same philosophy put
forth in ancient Nahuatl poetry (Pre-Columbian 13-15
century), from which I composed a huge ceremonial
tableaux called “Mysteries of the Ancient
Nahuatl,” for choruses and instrumentalists in 1975.
Ritual of the Dawn, depicting a Nahuatl ceremony, was the
only portion of this to ever be performed.
The sultry yet pulsative nature of the Ritual of the Dawn
is produced through the technique of groups of performers
playing different rhythmic cells simultaneously without
coordinating their beats, as if several tape recorders
were playing at the same time but not in sync. The score
gives strict time frames (usually 5 to 10 seconds in
length) for the various musical events and at certain
junctures the conductor/pianist provides hand cues to
coordinate the ensemble.
Ritual of the Dawn was revised in 1996 and premiered in
its current version by the Syracuse Society of New Music
in 1998. This recording was made subsequent to the
premiere with several of the Society members.
Forgotten Shadows was inspired by an old tintype photo I
found between the floorboards of my 1790’s farmhouse
we were living in (1993). It consists of some proper
ladies all dressed up for an outing (c. 1890). These
ladies and others from the past are the “forgotten
shadows.”
The basic materials of the piece began as part of an
audio/media installation, sponsored by the small historic
village of Petersburgh, New York (where we now reside),
in December, 1994. The exhibit seemed to evoke in the
visitors a feeling of communal timelessness, yet it also
brought to mind the mortality of one’s own brief
existence. Later, I extracted the best from the
installation material, fusing it into a coherent,
quasi-symphonic electroacoustic tape work.
Used as a constant thread in the 39-minute musical
tapestry are tunes that were sung and played during the
period of 1900 to 1925 for the rituals and traditions of
the era. There is music for parades, church choirs,
fiddle and ragtime piano dance halls, concerts,
children’s playground games, etc.
To unite the many elements of such a large work and to
give it a structure, I used the technique of flashback,
and placed narrators near the beginning and the end of
the piece. One phrase in particular, uttered by
Petersburgh resident Victoria Green, is central to the
literary idea of the work and appears at the beginning
and the end: “That is all gone now... you can’t
hardly see where it is.” Children’s voices are
used to transition from the present to the past and back.
There are two main climaxes, and many thematic
interrelations throughout the work, along with a number
of juxtapositions such as the mad, distorted canon with
“Good Night Ladies” toward the end.
Just as in the music of Charles Ives (who was a model and
mentor for this work), one may at times be fooled into
relating only to the strings of existing
“tunes,” and lose sight of the overall
interweaving and structure. On repeated hearings, I hope
that the deeper relationships (motivic and otherwise) and
the more elegant macrostructure will become apparent.
All of the spoken and sung voices, as well as
instrumental performers, marching band, etc., are my own
recordings of actual residents of my present home,
Petersburgh, NY, and my boyhood home of Cincinnatus, N.Y.
The work was composed in our electronic music studio of
The McLean Mix from 1995 to 1998. As in many of my works,
the interest lies not especially in the equipment used,
which includes a variety of synthesizers, samplers,
processors, software, but rather in the uniqueness of the
concept and in the extensive recordings made of
performers and groups in their natural settings
throughout the state over a long period of time.
Throughout my life there has been the continuing presence
of my first music teachers, Alton and Marjorie Wilbur. My
study with the Wilburs began in 1951, at age 13, and has
led to a rich collaborative relationship to this day, as
can be heard by the choirs in Forgotten Shadows,
comprising a recording I made of Mrs. Wilbur’s
church choir and congregation made in my boyhood village
of Cincinnatus, NY. The Wilburs have been an inspiration
to me throughout my composing career, and in recognition
of that, this album is dedicated to them.
Happy Days is a lighthearted work that forms the opening
of the current concert of the McLean Mix entitled
“Inside the Time Machine.” Its immediate appeal
stems from the juxtaposition of some traditional New
Year’s Eve celebratory instruments (buzzers, horns,
whistles, etc.) over a fabric of haunting and sprightly
music boxes, enhanced by keyboards and FM synthesizers.
As such, it depicts the fun and wonder of the ritual New
Year’s celebration. During the live performance,
some theatrical and humorous elements surface as well,
such as the way Priscilla McLean (my wife and musical
collaborator) is busy trying to control five music boxes
on stage by winding them up and starting and stopping
them in the right places, and finally assumes the guise
of a music box herself and “winds down,” only
to be rescued by me, her “charming prince.”
This can be heard in the winding sequence towards the end
which is followed by a frenetic burst of activity.
— Barton McLean
BARTON McLEAN pioneered the first large-scale
commercially-available digital sequencer and sampler in
the USA as director of the electronic/computer music
studios at the University of Texas-Austin and Indiana
University-South Bend. With his wife, the composer
Priscilla McLean, he has produced 14 LP recordings and 6
Compact discs, some of which have become staples in
electronic music courses. In 1983 he and Priscilla left
academia to develop their electroacoustic duo, The McLean
Mix. His major interests have been the integration of
nature sounds into the web of traditional and
non-traditional structures, the use of technology to
articulate ideas based on environmental and cultural
concerns, and the development of new instruments such as
the recent sound/light project the “Sparkling Light
Console.”
McLean’s output contains numerous orchestral,
chamber, and solo works, including perhaps his most
characteristic “Dimensions” series (as in
“Dimensions II for Piano and Tape,” recorded on
Capstone CPS 8637). Along with his contributions as
officer of composers organizations, McLean has authored
many articles on esthetics, electroacoustic music/media,
audience development, and independent composer issues.
These can be found at:
<http://members.aol.com/mcleanmix/index.html>
THE McLEAN MIX electroacoustic music/media duo
(compromising Barton and composer/performer wife
Priscilla) has performed extensively throughout the U.S.
(in 41 states) and in many European, Pacific Rim, and
South Asian festivals and residencies. Collectively they
have been the recipients of numerous grants and awards.
Recent residencies of The McLean Mix have included the
Zagreb Biennale, MacDowell Colony, Banff Bentre for the
Arts, Relache Ensemble at Yellow Springs, Artspace in
Auckland, Chautauqua Institution, Buffalo North American
Music Festival, Universiti Malaysia in Sarawak (Borneo),
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), and
the Tunugan ‘97 (ACL) festival in the Philippines,
as well as at many universities in the U.S. Since 1983,
composer / performers Barton and Priscilla McLean have
toured as a full-time career, and collaborate closely on
each new work. The McLeans reside and compose in a 1830
vintage restored home in Petersburgh, New York.
Contact the McLean Mix at: mclmix@aol.com or
55 Coon Brook Road
Petersburgh, NY, 12138, USA
(518) 658-3595.
For information on the six other recent compact discs
containing Barton and Priscilla McLean’s music, go
to the
following website:
http://members.aol.com/mclmix2/index.html
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