Steven Jon Landis, Jr.
Graduate Composition Recital
Friday, February 8, 2013
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, Music Building
u performance to take place on Peabody Park Bridge outside from the recital hall
…and we build our own truths Steven Jon Landis, Jr. (b.1977)
Elisa Foshay, choreography
Elisa Foshay, Michael Lee, John Meroney, Trevor Helms, Dylan Reddish,
Allie Ratcliffe, Emilie Raleigh, Danielle Kinne, Caroline Althof – dancers
Emily O’Shields, Kaitlyn Wagner, Nicholas Rich, Ned Emerson, Brian Koenig,
Steven Landis, Eric Pzadziora, Jonathan Wall – bridge percussionists
u performance to take place in the Foyer directly outside the recital hall
Transit of Venus, for solo flute
Dana-Leigh Gilg, flute
u remaining performances to take place in the recital hall
Exordium, for mixed chamber ensemble
Jennifer Neese, flute; Luke Baker, oboe; Holly Blanchette, English horn;
Leslie Simmons, bass clarinet; Neil Ostercamp, tenor saxophone;
Justin Johnson and Justin Bunting, percussion; Brian Koenig, electric guitar;
Walton Lott, piano; Amy Zigler, celesta; Anna Baker, violin;
Charlie Rasmussen, violoncello; Steven Landis, double bass;
Timothy Ellison, conductor
Piano Trio No. 1, for clarinet, violoncello, and piano
Leslie Simmons, clarinet; Charlie Rasmussen, violoncello; Antonio Truyols, piano
I.
II. meditation
III.
IV. élégie
V.
Squirrel!!!, for alto saxophone and piano
Neil Ostercamp, alto saxophone; Shannon Huang, piano
Gesticulating Wildly While Occupying a Legitimate Chicken Sandwich,
for clarinet and piano
Leslie Simmons, clarinet; Antonio Truyols, piano
String Quintet No.1 (ghost town portraits)
Lauren Eastman, violin I; Anna Baker, violin II; Eric Eakes, viola;
Charlie Rasmussen, violoncello; Steven Landis, double bass;
Timothy Ellison, conductor
I. Ravenswood
II. Fort Lonesome
III. the Holey Lands [sic]
apostate… Heretic! BLASPHEMER!!,
for double bass, digital media, and live electronics
Steven Landis, double bass
Steven Landis is a student of Mark Engebretson and Alejandro Rutty
__________
This recital is in partial fulfillment of the degree
requirements for the Master of Music in Composition
…and we build our own truths (2012)
This work encourages listeners to experience sounds as they are, while framing the
space the work inhabits. In doing so, the piece illuminates the juxtaposition of man
and the natural environment all the while fostering a connection that has largely been
discarded. The music is created using the bridge in Peabody Park on the campus of
UNCG with sounds found naturally in the surrounding environs (water flow from
the fountain and the creek, wind through the trees, ambient street noise, insects, and
the sounds of pedestrians). The work engages the audience to be active participants
rather than passive observers in the performance.
“If we needed any truths, we could construct them ourselves.” – David Bowie
Transit of Venus (2012)
Transit of Venus is a time-lapsed vignette of the 243-year cycle on which the transit
currently occurs. In addition to the beauty of an astronomical convergence, this work
explores how we experience and measure time in relation to natural events. Dr.
Kristen Stoner, Flute Professor at the University of Florida commissioned Transit of
Venus in June of 2012.
Exordium (2011)
The character of Exordium is one of rhythmic aggressiveness, frenetic energy, and
forward motion. The work is relentless in its exuberance and at times, like an
overzealous hello in an otherwise quiet room. Present Continuous premiered
Exordium on its inaugural concert in December 2011.
Piano Trio No. 1 (2012)
The five brief movements of the Piano Trio no. 1 were composed for and dedicated to
the Flint River Trio from Albany, Georgia. These miniatures were written to focus on
distillation, laying bare the essence of form and content. Each movement details one
aspect of music making: rhythm, melody, form, color, and, temporal perception. The
haiku serve to further illuminate the genesis of each movement.
I.
maple seeds gliding
like silent helicopters
above Flint River
II. meditation
small, dim, resolute
shimmering in the darkness
not bowing to it
III.
choose your adventure
freely wander soft places
dream forms and form dreams
IV. élégie
to them, the others
and the ghosts in the mirror
better luck next time
V.
detailed minutiae
crystallized, swirling both at
once and not at all
Squirrel!!! (2012)
This work depicts how I imagine the scene played out as a squirrel found its way into
our house while my wife and I were away during the Christmas Holiday…No this is
not fiction…unfortunately…Did you know a scared and hungry squirrel can eat
aluminum window sills? Not to mention all the blinds. Yes all of them... He did
however forgo climbing into the Christmas tree that was still decorated, ignored the
piano, my double bass, our library, the single malt, but not the bitters or the
curtains…or the brand new sofa… The title though self-explanatory, does owe a small
debt to Chevy Chase’s National Lampoons Christmas. This work is dedicated to the
memory of the squirrel that died while living it up.
Gesticulating Wildly While Occupying a Legitimate Chicken Sandwich (2012)
The work is a catharsis as well as a weapon wielded against the dross of mass media
in the form of a feedback solo. The piece explores the variety and complexity of sound
found in noise solos within the tradition of bands such as Nirvana, the Melvins, and
Sonic Youth. This piece was composed at the request of clarinetist Leslie Simmons.
String Quintet No.1 (ghost town portraits) (2012)
Cast in three-movements, this work is a sound journal recalling the wide array of
feelings experienced while traveling the Eastern United States through places where
desolation, openness, claustrophobia, hope, hopelessness, and isolation are common
residents.
I. Ravenswood
Through the slow decay of a river town, the American dream fades as it is fulfilled.
II. Fort Lonesome
During the 1930s, Fort Lonesome hosted a mill, a general store, and an inspection
station for all produce entering south Florida. The inspection station closed, the mill
burned, and at a lonely crossroads sits a general store patiently waiting for its front
door to chime.
III. the Holey Lands
A small facet of the Florida Everglades once used by the U.S. military as a bombing
range, the Holey Lands are as beautifully remote as they are harshly desolate.
apostate… Heretic! BLASPHEMER!! (2011)
The six constantly evolving sections in this work create a loose narrative of shifting
timbres. Each section explores a single timbral identity while the introduction and
coda superimpose them. The prerecorded material was derived from non-traditional
and/or extended double bass techniques. The improvisatory nature of this work
fosters the hope that every performance will be a unique experience of possible sound
colors.
