D.C.
Meckler
What
style of music do I write? “Neo-Rhythmic
Poly-Romantic Post-Classical.” By
which I mean: “Poly-Romanticism“
denoting both a dream of the rigor of modernism and an impulse towards
luxury. In so many ways Modernism is an
extension of Romanticism, the moral passion of art remaking society. I can’t quite give that up, but then I am
quick to indulge in whatever amuses just me.
The “Neo-rhythmic” part is about various simple post-minimalist rhythmic
devices and an interest in grooves that skip, based on fragmented
polyrhythms. “Post-Classical” is of
course Kyle Gann’s great term.
Composer David Meckler's
recent music often features simple, sometimes fragmented, polyrhythms in the
context of unusual meters; the pitch language is sometimes freely diatonic, but
rarely with traditional harmonic functionality.
Scenes from his Apollo
14, A Space Opera were presented by the New
York City Opera in 2002. His musical experience includes horn playing
(new music, a polka band, various orchestras and chamber music groups) and
studies in composition at the University of California, San Diego (Ph.D.), and
the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (MM). His
teachers include Rand Steiger, Roger Reynolds, Frederick Bianchi, Jonathan
Kramer, and Allen Sapp. He teaches music courses at Cañada College,
Redwood City, and has taught music, arts, and humanities courses at Skyline
College, San Bruno, the University of California San Diego and the
University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He is interested in
science (BS Physics, Lafayette College) and in the social dimensions inherent
in music. He was born in El Paso, Texas. He and his wife MaryLouise
currently live in Redwood City.
E-mail about music would
be gladly received at mecklerd [at-sign] smccd [dot] edu .
New
Pieces: Sonata Rocinante Undercurrent
Opera
Apollo 14, A Space Opera, an opera presented by
the New York City Opera in the Showcasing
American Composers Vox 2002 festival.
The Bank Robbery, short opera;
soprano, baritone & chamber ensemble; after a short story by Steven
Schutzman
Chamber Music - vocal
The Albion Deity Songbook, for medium voice and piano, original texts
Speed No Motion, for medium voice and
piano, on Shakespeare Sonnet 51
Two Republics, for tenor voice and
piano, text by Robison Jeffers
Shine,
Perishing Republic
Shine,
Republic
Natural Duet, 2 soprano voices &
piano; no text
The Bank Robbery, short opera;
soprano, baritone & chamber ensemble; after a short story by Steven
Schutzman
Finding Voice, song cycle on the poetry of A.R. Ammons, for two
sopranos & chamber ensemble
So I
Said I Am Ezra
The
Pieces of My Voice
Mechanism
Scene for a Snakewoman, for mezzo-soprano with piano, text by
Eugenie Chan
Choral Music
Natural Music, SA chorus, 2 horns, harp, piano; text by Robison
Jeffers
(SATB version also available)
Wind & Stone, SA chorus with piano;
text fragments
Black Cat, SATB chorus, alto flute,
purrcussion, black piano, text by Lourdes Sian
Solstice Carol, SATB chorus with piano
4-hands, text by the composer
Bright Love, for SSSAAA chorus with
piano and Vibraphone
On Contradiction, for
SATB chorus with piano, text by Walt Whitman
Chamber Music - piano
Sonata Rocinante,
solo piano
Elliptical Midnight (Nocturne 2005),
solo piano
Reclamation, solo piano
LOUD MUSIC, six short pieces in seven for
two pianos
Two Pieces After a Poem (Stonecutter, Old
Poems), two pieces for solo piano
Three studies for solo piano
Conversation Piece, My Bundled Dances,
AABA
Container
(complete score in
pdf file)
Stuck Piano, two pieces for solo
piano
Chamber Music - standard ensembles and
solos
Undercurrent, for chamber ensemble
Piano Trio
Symmetry Jumps, woodwind quintet
Treffpunkt, for horn, violin, and
piano
Doubled Variations, for large chamber
ensemble
Rebound, for chamber ensemble
Sirius Melody/Groove Cafe,
for chamber ensemble
Brooklyn Reel, miniature for solo violin
First Deconstruction in Wood,
solo percussion
Chamber Music - unusual ensembles
unnamed dance, 3 percussion, 1 piano
Quintet, viola, cello, piano, 2 perc. Audio example
Bliss, for cello, piano, and Vibraphone
Leucadian Waves, for small chamber ensemble (music for an experimental
music video)
Other Works
a list
Gear, for orchestra
HOUSE: Stability/Fragility, music for
theatrical dance work; synthesized audio recording; performable by percussion
duo plus piano duo
Scientists Say, theater piece for
4 actors with incidental music; synthesized audio recording; performable by 3
clarinetists
YNOT, music for a Derek W. Beck short film, synthesized audio recording;
performable by percussion and piano
Supported in part by . . .
David Meckler’s music has
been supported in part by commissions and grants from the American Music
Center’s Copying Assistance Program, the Lane Family Charitable Trust, the
Skyline College Partnership for Excellence, the Skyline College President's
Innovation Fund, and the American Composers Forum.
Reviews and articles about my music
Reviews, comments,
and articles about my work have appeared in the Buffalo News (New
York), the Orange County Register, 20th Century Music, the
Village Voice, the San Francisco Classical Voice
(website), the San Jose Mercury News, the New
York Times, the San Mateo Daily Journal and the San
Francisco Chronicle. Selected highlights of reviews ranging from “stark and gruesome”
to “an oasis of serenity” and “very fresh.”
San Francisco Chronicle, 19
May 2000
Some reviews I've written
Choral music in the Bay Area, 1998
Rova saxophone quartet, 1998
(larger version and a headshot)
Photo
credits: Rick English Pictures
Photo
at the top of this webpage was taken Dec 2007 in the beautiful cave of the Hall Wines Rutherford location.
[updated/revised
Jan 2008]