Статья
26.03.2017, 22:36
Composing Music in the Twenty-First Century
In any time or place (regardless of trends or movements), good music (as well as good visual art, dance, or storytelling) holds the attention of the observer by using a balance of “same and different.” If what we write is too predictable, we lose the audience. If what we write is too unpredictable, we lose the audience. Part of a composer's prime directive (but his playful joy too) is to constantly search for the right balance between same and ...
Новости
03.11.2016, 16:33
Michael Mauldin
PREMIERES: “Valle Grande: Overture for Double String Orchestra,” commissioned by the Eldorado High School Orchestra in Albuquerque NM, was premiered by the school's top two string orchestras, conducted by Ruth Striegel, May 3 2016 at the school. It was inspired by a trip the composer, the conductor and the orchestras made to Valles Caldera National Preserve the previous September. “Spirit Tree: Soliloquy for Native American Flute” was premiered by James Pellerite on September 14, 2016 ...
Статья
17.08.2016, 18:07
INTRODUCTION
I’m not “special”--at least no more “special” than you are. If there’s anything unusual about me, it’s my undying belief that we’re all born “special.” The products of our lives may or may not be outstanding, but we never lose the opportunity (unless we give it up voluntarily or unkowingly from lack of use) to see and celebrate (share) the “specialness” of life itself--a fine balance between novelty and predictability, order and chaos. Why is it then that we often find the seeing and ...
Статья
23.05.2016, 21:33
Composing & improvising can be fun, whether you're a music-theory expert or not. The trigger for
most of us is enjoying (with the listener) musical gestures that remind us of things in our environment
that we all share. The gestures can be explored even before learning about chord-function. You and
another instrumentalist or two can experiment with them with surprising results.
Gravity/Magnetism:
+Pulling away, being pulled back (“board-pool”)
+Progressively overcoming the pull ...
Статья
05.08.2014, 02:46
The "ecstatic memories" (Greek: ek statis--standing outside ourselves) of delight or fear, or both, that radiate through our lives are self-validating, like all peak experiences. As with religious services, art shows, plays or concerts that do not always move us, we are unable to produce such experiences at will. We cherish them largely for that reason. But we continue to set up what we think are the conditions they require.
Moments of "ek statis" may seem like fleeting visions, but they are pieces of ...
Статья
08.12.2013, 15:16
Michael Mauldin is both the composer and conductor of these wonderful orchestral works performed by the New Mexico Symphony. "Enchanted Land" is an Orchestral Suite on tracks 6-10 with narration by Kathleen Church that demonstrates Mr. Mauldin's great love for Nature, Native American culture and spirituality, and the southwestern United States in general. Both the narrative and the orchestral tapestry powerfully evoke the spirits of the Earth, Sky, Ancestors, et al.
These performances by the New Mexico ...
Статья
10.11.2013, 21:26
The Spirit That Needs Me
Michael Mauldin, December 21, 2010
Of all human endeavors, music is perhaps closest to representing the world of the spirit. In music we attempt to render into form what is essentially formless, we attempt to describe what is beyond description, to frame silence, to measure infinity. --STING
As I tried to see the total eclipse of the full moon (on the Winter Solstice, exactly two years before the celebrated alignment in 2012), it occurred to me that it's ...
Статья
04.11.2013, 16:10
Why Some Contemporary Music is a Turnoff
Michael Mauldin, November 1, 2013 It may have been 15,000 years since we (logically) evolved into farmers, but we were hunter-gatherers for much longer than that. I think there's a part of us that still wants (perhaps needs) to sit in a circle, our faces lit by the campfire (concert stage), anticipating the story that the Shaman will tell. We’ve heard it before, but we’ve learned that he’ll elaborate on it, adding characters, orbiting into side-stories, ...
Новости
24.09.2012, 21:16
Jim Pellerite and Lawrence Golan did a SUPER job with the native flute and the Moravian Phil on my piece about the life of the Dalai Lama. Info and clips at http://mmauldin.com/comp_orchestral.html#o6
http://www.albanyrecords.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY893&Category_Code=WNR&Search=mauldin&Offset&filter_cat&exclude_word&the_fieldlist=g.SRCH_CODE%7C
Статья
24.09.2012, 03:57
Michael Douglas Mauldin (b. 14 June 1947 , Port Arthur , Texas ) first discovered the landscapes of New Mexico while still a boy, and has never ceased to marvel at the timeless interplay of space and light that imbues them with a sense of place unique in all the world. The son of a Presbyterian minister, during his school vacations in the 1950s Michael traveled with his family to church conferences held at Ghost Ranch, where he composed short pieces on an old piano he discovered in the convocation ...