commissioned by Line Upon Line and Owen Weaver
percussion quartet or trio, 16′
quartet: 21 pages, 9×12 inches
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trio: 18 pages, 9×12 inches
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I. Industry
II. End User
III. Prophets and Profits
IV. Plastic Deity
V. Landfill
Premiered by Owen Weaver and Line Upon Line on April 7, 2010 at the Butler School of Music, Austin, TX.
Program Note:
The initial idea for Missa Materialis was inspired by a visit to the Cathedral of Junk in Austin, Texas. The site is built upon an array of old junk yard items welded together by artist Vince Hannemann to form a series of towering, pyramid-shaped sculptures. Considering the ritualistic cycle of western society’s economic materialism, I set out to create a soundtrack for this life-sized installation. Borrowing from the Cathedral of Junk’s religious imagery, Missa Materialis mirrors the form of a liturgical Mass (“Missa” in latin), and includes references to specific musical fragments and texts. The work’s core instrumentation features ‘found’ objects inspired by common consumer products such as a garbage can, boombox radio, saw, plastic water bottles, and shopping bags. As the piece progresses, our throw-away product culture is subjugated to the inevitability of environmental destruction.
