Michael Douglas Mauldin is a writer member, and M. Mauldin a publisher member, of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), which licenses performances of his works (ASCAP, One Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY 10023) www.ascap.com.

Please choose from the following categories:


CHAMBER MUSIC

For details on a title, scroll down or click on a title:

 
Aki's Story, for Narrator and Woodwind Quintet
 
A'ts'ina: Place of Writings on the Rock (for String Quartet)
 
Bird of the Bright Mountain: Fantasypiece for Clarinet and Piano
 
Canyon Light: Four Scenes for Woodwind Quintet
   Children of the Dancing Valley: Concertpiece for Brass Quintet
  Etude in Phrygian Mode for Woodwind Quintet
  Fanfare for the Anasazi, antiphonal brass with timpani
 
Four Zuni Mountain Miniatures, fl, ob, vln, vla, 'cello, harp
 
Glyph, cl, vibraphone & pno
  Hymn-Tune Fantasia for Brass Quintet
 
Mountain Winds, fl, ob (or vln), harp
  Music for the Summer Shade, cl, 2 vlns, vla, 'cello, bass
   Mustangs, level 3 student string trio (vln, 'cello, pno)
   Reverence, level 1 student string trio (vln, 'cello, pno)
  The Rock With Wings, piano solo and percussion ensemble
   Santa Fe Trail, level 2 student string trio (vln, 'cello, pno)
 
Shaman's Power-Song, soprano, flute, pno
  Sonata for Clarinet and Piano: Three Studies of Children
  Song for a Windless Night: for Native Flute, Soprano and 'Cello
  Spring Dance: Native flute and pno
  Three Kokopelli Power-Songs, cl, vln, 'cello, pno
 
Three New Mexico Landscapes for Clarinet & Piano
 
Three Songs for Saxophone and Piano
 
Three Songs of the Green Earth: Sonata for Horn and Piano
 
Voices From Chaco: Concertino for Piano and Woodwind Quintet
   
 
= High quality mp3 clip(s) available.



+AKI'S STORY, for Narrator and Woodwind Quintet (commissioned by the Albuquerque Wind Quintet, with a story by Penny Raife Durant.
  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • Date Composed: 1994
  • Copyright: 1994 M Mauldin & Penny Raife Durant
  • Duration (MM:SS): 15:02
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Performed by the AWQ with KL Higgins, narrator, on the CD, "One of the Family" (ABC95101) produced by the Albuquerque Boy Choir, 2900 Palomas Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, $10.00 and $3.00 shipping.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: Author Penny Durant (whose son was in the boy choir I conducted—Adam recorded the part of Aki in the version on the Albuquerque Boy Choir’s CD, “One of the Family.”) allowed me to use her story about a boy not quite old enough to go on the hunt, whose wits helped the women, children and elderly of his pueblo survive marauders while the men were away. Though the ancient Puebloans did not always record events with their petroglyphs, there are panels of glyphs that some historians believe may tell such a story.

 


+A'TS'INA: PLACE OF WRITINGS ON THE ROCK (for String Quartet) Commissioned by the Placitas Artists Series for Willy Sucre and Friends, Krzysztof Zimowski and Joan Wang, vlns, Willy Sucre, vla, Joan Zucker, 'cello, who premiered the work May 19, 2002 at Placitas NM on a concert of world premiere strings quartets by New Mexico composers, sponsored by the Placitas Artists Series).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "The Spirit That Wants Me"
    2. "Starlight on Trees"
    3. "The Old Man and the Boy"
    4. "Raiders in the West"
    5. "Sanctuary in Box Canyon"
    6. "Circling Spirit"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 310556388
  • Date Composed: 2001
  • Copyright: 2002 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 17:56
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (computer-engraved, available for sale/rental)
  • Recording: By the Nevsky String Quartet, St. Petersburg, on the CD "Earth Spirit", produced by M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: A'ts'ina is an ancient, sacred Zuni city atop El Morro--also known as "Inscription Rock"--in west-central New Mexico. Mauldin has often been struck by the "presence" of the place, and drawn by the petroglyphs' communication of both the mundane and the spiritual. The new composition comes from his imagining of life there in the 1200's, and from the place's spiritual power today.

    The title of the first movement, “The Spirit That Wants Me,” was the name of an anthology of testimonials by creative people who had migrated to New Mexico. My essay, “Beyond the Four Hills,” bore witness to years of sacred interaction. “Starlight on Trees” is a simple, elegant “moment musicale,” a mental framing of a nighttime walk in the Zuni Mountains. “The Old Man and the Boy” is about the affectionate companionship of a man too old to go on the hunt, and a boy too young to go. Such relationships, viewed now with suspicion and intolerance, were valued as natural and healthy then. There was mutual reverence, which is why the closeness was sacred. “Raiders in the West” broods on the threat these people faced from marauders, often coming from the west. “Sanctuary in Box Canyon” reflects the feelings of those who hid there, a safe place, yet open to the sky. “Circling Spirit” brings together all the characters, including the place itself, surrounded and energized by the earth spirit.

    ".... Though Mauldin called its six movements “unabashedly programmatic,” the music moved far beyond literal description.  Filtered through his sensibility, the landscape triggered a highly personal language. He subtly used elements of American Indian music, like small repetitive themes and pentatonic or five-toned scales, to evoke a sense of things ancient, hallowed. It was a lovely work, full of space and spirit."
    --Joanne Sheehy Hoover, Albuquerque Journal, 5/21/02

 


+BIRD OF THE BRIGHT MOUNTAIN: Fantasypiece for Clarinet and Piano (commissioned by Los Alamos pianist Rosalie Heller for clarinetist Robert Wingert and premiered by them June 12, 1982 at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • Date Composed: 1986
  • Copyright: 1989 as part of "Visions West" cassette.
  • Duration (MM:SS): 10:25
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Edited studio recording by Bonnie and Michael Mauldin, included on the commercial cassette, "Visions West", $10.00 and $3.00 shipping, from M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: "The music inspired by the beautiful Jemez Mountains surrounding Los Alamos and the vision of a solitary bird eternally soaring over the landscape--a mute witness to all that has ever taken place there."

 


+CANYON LIGHT: Four Scenes for Woodwind Quintet (commissioned by the New Mexico Woodwind Quintet, which premiered the work on May 16, 1990 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe and May 21, 1990 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque) (See ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL article, "Colorado River Rafting Trip Inspired Composer", Sunday, May 13, 1990). 

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Morning Prayers"
    2. "River Music"
    3. "Shimmering Heat"
    4. "Sunset"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 330553996
  • Date Composed: 1989
  • Copyright: 1990 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 12:15
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: by the New Mexico Woodwind Quintet, on the CD "Earth Spirit", produced by M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: This piece was inspired by a river-rafting trip I took with my sons, Kendall and Kevin, at Moab, Utah. My sons must have thought their father insane for taking them there in August. But the cooling white-water, the colors of the canyons and child’s play on sandy beaches made it a treasured experience for us all. “Morning Prayers” recalls “making peace” with the cathedral-like canyon before riding the Colorado River. “River Music” is full of white-water thrills, as well as quiet moments when the river is deep and slow, while we float beside the raft. “Shimmering Heat” recalls the surreal light effects of rising heat. In “Sunset” there is a sense of urgency to take in as much of the beauty of the rich light on the landscape before night falls. The energy we get from that beauty is real. Not just a fleeting mood, it sustains mind, body and spirit.

 


+CHILDREN OF THE DANCING VALLEY: Concertpiece for Brass Quintet (commissioned by the New Mexico Brass Quintet--Jeffrey Piper and Karen Baccaro, tpts; Karl Hinterbichler, trb; Herbert Winslow, hn; Phillip Black, tuba--which premiered it October 26, 1978 in Keller Hall, UNM).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • ASCAP Title Code: 330471655
  • Date Composed: 1978
  • Copyright: 1988 Wimbledon Music Inc./Trigram Music Inc. (1801 Century Park East (Suite 2400) Los Angeles, CA 90067-2326. Tel: 310-556-9683 Fax: 310-277-1278 www.wimbtri.com). 
  • Duration (MM:SS): 6:44
  • Score/Parts: Trigram Music (engraved)
  • Recording: Archival edited studio recording made by the NMBQ in Keller Hall, UNM.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: "This piece was inspired by the nationally-renowned fiesta dancing tradition of the Hondo Valley, a string of tiny villages between Ruidoso and Roswell, New Mexico.  The dances, which blend the cultures of Spain, Mexico and Native America, are performed with courtly grace each spring by the young people of the valley."

    "'Children of the Dancing Valley' is an exciting work that makes much musical sense and it can be performed many times and still be rewarding, challenging and new to the performers."
    --NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE WIND AND PERCUSSION INSTRUCTORS JOURNA

 


+ETUDE IN PHYRGIAN MODE for Woodwind Quintet (a student work, which won a composition contest sponsored by the Topeka chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and which was premiered by the Washburn University Woodwind Quintet on April 23, 1969). 

  • Date Composed: 1969
  • Duration (MM:SS): 4:55
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: None

 


+FANFARE FOR THE ANASAZI (antiphonal, using 6 tps in C, 3 hns in F, 3 trbs, 2 tubas, timpani, for the Olympian Brass of the National Repertoire Orchestra, which premiered it July 14, 1988 in front of Spruce Tree ruin at Mesa Verde National Park in honor of the 100th anniversary of the first sighting of the ruins)

  • ASCAP Title Code: 360281590
  • Date Composed: 1988
  • Copyright: 1988 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 2:15
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival recording of the premiere, M Mauldin.

 


+FOUR ZUNI-MOUNTAIN MINIATURES FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE (fl, ob, vln, vla, 'cello, harp, commissioned by the Ensemble of Santa Fe--Carol Redman, fl; Thomas O'Connor, ob; Kay Newnam, vln; William Kirschke, vla; Jeffery Levenson, 'cello; Rosalind Simpson, harp--which premiered it March 2, 1985 in Los Alamos, NM and March 3, 1985 in Santa Fe).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Summer Night"
    2. "Autumn Morning"
    3. "Winter Evening"
    4. "Spring Afternoon"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 361582334
  • Date Composed: 1984
  • Copyright: 2007 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 14:45
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (computer-engraved, available for sale/rental).
  • Recording: A recording of the Santa Fe premiere is included on the CD "Enchantment: Music by Michael Mauldin," produced by M Mauldin, $10.95 plus shipping.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: My wife and I bought and fenced 20 acres of Zuni-Mountain land, to allow it to recover from years of overgrazing. I reveled in the beauty and used the piece as a kind of journal. Back in Albuquerque, I could recall the feel of the place in different seasons and at different times of day.

    "These miniatures...evoke a vast, unpolluted openness. This new work...is an invigorating affirmation of life."

    --ALBUQUERQUE  JOURNAL

    "...touched by the reality of earth and its related elements and wholly disclosing Mauldin's unbelievable capacity to tap its essence."
    --Charles Maldonado, ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL.

 


+GLYPH FOR CLARINET, VIBRAPHONE AND PIANO (written for clarinetist Keith Lemmons and vibraphonist Christopher Shultis and premiered by them, with the composer at the piano, April 10, 1989 in Keller Hall at UNM).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • ASCAP Title Code: 371125318
  • Date Composed: 1978
  • Date Published:
  • Duration (MM:SS): 7:51
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: edited studio recording in Keller Hall, UNM for the OPUS ONE record (#52), performed by Floyd Williams, clarinet; Robyn Schulkoski, vibraphone; Michael Mauldin, piano.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: "A 'glyph' is a carved work or ornamental mark.  The  word is sometimes used in the Southwestern United States for 'petroglyph', a type  of rock-drawing left by ancestors of American Indians.  In this case, it means a "doodle'--a significant one, such as Pompeii graphiti or the boasts of Spanish explorers on Inscription Rock in New Mexico--but an impromptu human scribble."

 


+HYMN-TUNE FANTASIA FOR BRASS QUINTET (commissioned by the New Mexico Brass Quintet--Jeffrey Piper and Michael Montgomery, tpts; Kristin Thelander, hn; Karl Hinterbichler, trb; John Olah, tuba--who premiered it December 4, 1983 in Albuquerque). 

  • Hymns Included:
    • "The God of Abraham Praise" (Yigdal), adapted from a Hebrew melody
    • "Come, Thou Almighty King", an Italian hymn from 1769
    • "For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest" (Sine Nomine) by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906)
    • "Jesus, Priceless Treasure" (Jesu, Meine Freude), harmonized by JS Bach in 1723
  • Date Composed: 1983
  • Copyright: 1985 Mark Tesak Verlag, Leverhusen, Germany
  • Duration (MM:SS): 7:25
  • Score/Parts: Mark Tesak Verlag
  • Program Notes/Reviews: A portion of the Bach harmonization is directly quoted.  "(Mauldin) has crafted an excellent 7-minute single-movement piece that is serious, dramatic, and complex in emotion and style, an emotional challenge and excellent program material."
    --James Olcott, INTERNATIONAL TRUMPET GUILD, December, 1967.

 


+MOUNTAIN WINDS: Episodes for Flute, Oboe (or Violin) and Harp (commissioned by the Ensemble of Santa Fe--Carol Redman, fl; Thomas O'Connor, ob; Rosalind Simpson, harp--which  premiered it April 27, 1986 in Santa Fe).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "North"
    2. "South"
    3. "East"
    4. "West"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 430384328
  • Date Composed: 1985
  • Copyright: 1999 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 12:00
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (computer engraved, available for sale/rental).
  • Recording: By the Ensemble of Santa Fe, on the commercial cassette, "Visions West", $10.00 and 3.00 shipping, from M Mauldin, and on the CD "Earth Spirit", produced by M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: On visiting a favorite haunt in the mountains, I realized I had been there in all times of year and all types of weather. I had felt the wind coming from each direction, bringing with it the “spirit” of the lands and the people over which it had traveled.

    "The highlight of the concert, however, was New Mexico composer Michael Mauldin's 'Mountain Winds'...  With its characteristic and grateful instrumental writing and attractive, expansive melodies, it revealed Mauldin's keen descriptive power and ability to paint wholly convincing tonal pictures, descriptive of the winds that blow from the four cardinal points of the compass."

    --THE SANTA FE REPORTER

 


+MUSIC FOR THE SUMMER SHADE (clarinet, 2 vlns, vla, 'cello, bass, for the Serenata de Santa Fe, which gave the premiere on August 7, 1988 at the Ballpark Pavilion in Madrid, New Mexico).

  • Date Composed: 1988
  • Copyright: 1994 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 7:30
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: None

 


+MUSTANGS (level 3, student string trio--vln, 'cello, pno--commissioned by the Mesilla Valley Piano Teachers Association, first performed July 13, 1989 by students at the Music Adventures Camp, Las Cruces, NM).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • Date Composed: 1989
  • Copyright: 1995 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 1:30
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript). Printable download available for purchase from MyScoreStore.com:
  • Recording: Archival recording of the premiere, M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: For an early teenage pianist, violinist and ‘cellist. The piece’s “hemiola” rhythms were stimulating for the young performers, also challenging and sharpening their ensemble skills.

 


+REVERENCE: Three Trios for Young Performers (level 1, student string trio--vln, 'cello, pno--commissioned by the Mesilla Valley Piano Teachers Association, first performed July 13, 1989 by students at the Music Adventures Camp, Las Cruces, NM).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • Date Composed: 1989
  • Copyright: 1995 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 1:10
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript). Printable download available for purchase from MyScoreStore.com:
  • Recording: Sequenced

 


+THE ROCK WITH WINGS: Legend for Piano and Percussion (for the University of New Mexico Percussion Ensemble, Christopher Shultis, Director, which premiered it March 27, 1989 at the UNM Composers Symposium in UNM's Keller Hall, with the composer at the piano).

  • ASCAP Title Code: 480211901
  • Date Composed: 1988
  • Copyright: 1989 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 7:06
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival recording of the premiere, M Mauldin & UNM.

 


+SANTA FE TRAIL: (level 2, student string trio--vln, 'cello, pno--) commissioned by the Mesilla Valley Piano Teachers Association, first performed July 13, 1989 by students at the Music Adventures Camp, Las Cruces, NM).

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • Date Composed: 1989
  • Copyright: 1995 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 1:00
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript). Printable download available for purchase from MyScoreStore.com:
  • Recording: Archival recording of the premiere, M Mauldin.

 


+SHAMAN'S POWER-SONG (soprano, flute & pno, for the Santa Fe Trio--Donna McRae, Frank Bowen, Rita Angel--Bowen passed away before a premiere.  The first performance was by soprano Donna McRae, flutist Gwen Powell and pianist Arlette Felberg in Corrales, NM in 1998.  The text is by the composer's good friend, Robert Seufert.

  • Sound Clip(s) (mp3):
  • ASCAP Title Code: 491600881
  • Date Composed: 1989
  • Copyright: 1990 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 4:45
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: The CD, "Alabado" with soprano Donna McRae, flutist Gwen Powell and pianist Michael Mauldin, produced by Gwen Powell, 6656 E. Circulo Otono, Tucson, AZ 85750-1225.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: "My close friend Robert Seufert once wrote, 'I too am a Native-born American and claim as my birthright the meaning of this continent.  Only when I understnad it in my bones, and understand it much further back than the arrival of Columbus, can I hope to be no longer a European transplant on these shores, but an American.'  I think Bob found some of the meaning he was seeking when he wrote the poem, 'Shaman's Power-Song.'  He 'got inside the bones' of an American Indian Shaman--perhaps an Anasazi--at the moment of calling on the powers that are needed to heal and to serve as a spiritual leader.  The multi-metric swirling of the energy of these powers in the flute and the piano contrasts with the earthy steadiness of the singer."

    Text:
    Swallow on my right shoulder, eagle on my left.

    I am brother to the four strong winds.
    Mother Moon bathes me.  Father Sun licks me dry.
    I ride the backs of four strong winds into a beckoning sky.
    I ride the backs of four strong winds into a thundering sky.

 


+SONATA FOR CLARINET AND PIANO: Three Studies of Children (written for Mauldin's fiancee, Bonnie Buchanan, who premiered it with him on May 21, 1973 in UNM's Keller Hall on a concert sponsored by the New Mexico Composers Guild). 

  • Movement Titles:
    1. "March"
    2. "Serenade"
    3. "Dance"
  • Date Composed: 1971
  • Duration (MM:SS): 13:20
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival

 


+SONG FOR A WINDLESS NIGHT for Native Flute, Soprano and 'Cello (for James Pellerite, flutist, and premiered by him February 8, 2008 at Northwestern University School of Music with soprano Tricia Melzer-Swydrak and 'cellist Steven Houser).

  • Date Composed: 2007
  • Copyright: 2009
  • Duration (MM:SS): 3:55
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival recording of premiere.
  • Text: (by Peggy Pond Church, used by permission)

    Straight up above the still clouds stand
    And hide the moon and never blow
    Westward or East.
    At the world's edge the mountains float in silver glow.
    A light that is not dark nor light
    Falls on the fields and makes no shade.
    In the hushed trees a bird's voice faints
    In terror at the sound it made.
    And suddenly and like a dream
    The moon escapes the clouds and drowns
    In a white light like noiseless rain
    The fields and hills and huddled towns.

 


+SPRING DANCE for Native Flute and Piano (for James Pellerite, and dedicated to his wife, Helen, for the concert, "Native Voices," given by De Profundis, A Cappella Men’s Ensemble of Albuquerque, David Poole, Director, with special guest James Pellerite, on March 28/29, 2009 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church and St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Albuquerque).

  • Voicing/Instrumentation: Native flute and Piano. 
  • Date Composed: 2008
  • Copyright: 2009 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 3:25
  • Score/Parts:  Manuscript, M. Mauldin
  • Recording:

 


+THREE KOKOPELLI POWER-SONGS for Clarinet, Violin, 'Cello and Piano (commissioned by Los Alamos scientist Leon Heller for his wife, to celebrate their wedding anniversary, with a surprise performance at their home in 1991).  

  • Movement Titles:
    1. "Invocation"
    2. "Pastorale"
    3. "Dance"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 503336198
  • Date Composed: 1991
  • Copyright: 1991 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 15:32
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival recording of February 16, 1992 performance in Keller Hall on a UNM Friends of Music concert of Mauldin's music.

 


+THREE NEW MEXICO LANDSCAPES for Clarinet and Piano (written for the composer's wife and premiered by her and him February 22, 1976 in Albuquerque; winner of the NM Bicentennial Composition Contest, leading to a Kennedy Center performance in 1976; also the second-place winner in the 1983 American Chamber Music Composition Competition).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Enchanted Mesa"
    2. "Sleeping Snow"
    3. "Aspen Race"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 500961802
  • Date Composed: 1975
  • Copyright: 1978 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 11:30
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival recording of the premiere, and edited studio recording for the OPUS ONE record (#42), performed by Bonnie and Michael Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: The first movement of "Three New Mexico Landscapes" is entitled "Enchanted Mesa" and is a result of my “ time-machine” experience there, which was no more than feeling in touch with the land and the people who had lived and died there centuries before. "In touch" in a very "present" way. It was my first reference to the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. The other two movements hinted at the tugging forces of adversity and bliss: the second, "Sleeping Snow", was sophisticated "blues" with a touch of panic in the middle, and "Aspen Race" was a child-like celebration of a colorful, stimulating environment.

    "This work, filled with an interesting mix of harmonies sounding simultaneously archaic and contemporary, beautifully captures the grandeur of three aspects of this state's rich geographical phenomena:  mesas, snow and aspens." 

    --ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

 


+THREE SONGS FOR SAXOPHONE AND PIANO (commissioned by the University of New Mexico for saxophonist Carrie Koffman and pianist Lawrence Blind, who premiered it March 30, 1999 at UNM as part of the John Donald Robb Composers Symposium).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Call and Lament"
    2. "Lullaby"
    3. "Reel a Bouche"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 500803223
  • Date Composed: 1999
  • Copyright: 2000 Dorn Publications (PO Box 206, Medfield, MA 02052, dornpub@dornpub.com). 
  • Duration (MM:SS): 8:45
  • Score/Parts: Dorn Publication (above)
  • Recording: By Carrie Koffman, Saxaphone, Lawrence Blind, on the CD "Earth Spirit", produced by M Mauldin.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: I knew both performers and loved their playing, which is both expert and communicative. So I set out to make the piece a set of “songs” that were both adroit and human. “Call and Lament” refers to the regret we have for not having made our love and acceptance known early enough or clearly enough to someone who dies or goes away. “Lullaby” comes from the peaceful feeling one gets from gently stroking a child to sleep, an experience I had with my own children and other people’s children in my care. It’s a sacred act, not manipulation. A bit before I composed the third movement, “Reel a Bouche,” the boy choir I conducted performed a fun piece by that name. It was filled with nonsense syllables and harkened back to the custom of singers providing lively music for dancing when no instrumentalists were around. I was inspired by the delight the boys took in sharing the infectious, earthy joy of the piece.

 


+THREE SONGS OF THE GREEN EARTH: Sonata for Horn and Piano (for Joel Scott, hornist, who premiered it, with the composer at the piano, in a concert celebrating the beginning of Spring, March 21, 1985 in Albuquerque). 

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Elegy"
    2. "Pastorale"
    3. "Ballade"
  • Date Composed: 1984
  • Duration (MM:SS): 16:55
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (manuscript)
  • Recording: Archival edited studio recording, made in the composer's studio with Joel Scott, hn on May 20, 1985.
  • Program Notes/Reviews: This was the first piece written after a brief but deep personal crisis. My “new direction” was that I no longer felt I needed to see things through the eyes of the Anasazi. In my reconnection with the sacredness of “all that is” in the natural world, I could experience and share the good and evil, the order and chaos myself.

    "With melodies chiefly composed of half steps and wide, angular leaps, Mauldin created a melancholy atmosphere intensified by the horn timbre.  Mauldin's love for the 'green earth' draws forth melodic riches meshed with the elemental spirit of the earth.  Keenly attuned to the land's essence and able to tap its unlimited inspirational resources, Mauldin has written a work of reverence and mystery that signifies a step in an exciting new direction." 

    --ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

 


+VOICES FROM CHACO: Concertino for Piano and Woodwind Quintet (commissioned by the New Mexico Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers Association, winner of the 1980 MTNA Composer of the Year Competition; premiered November 1, 1980 at the NMMTA state convention by the composer and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet, then showcased at the MTNA national convention April 28, 1981 in Phoenix, performed by Mauldin and the Gammage WW Quintet from Arizona State University).

  • Movement Titles (click for mp3 sound clips):
    1. "Invocation and Response"
    2. "Tombeau"
    3. "Fete and Offertory"
  • ASCAP Title Code: 520102532
  • Date Composed: 1980
  • Copyright: 2006 M Mauldin
  • Duration (MM:SS): 16:40
  • Score/Parts: M Mauldin (computer-engraved, available for sale/rental, including two-piano score).
  • Recording: Edited studio recording in Keller Hall, UNM by Mauldin and the NMSO WW Quintet for the commercial cassette, "Our Magic Places", now sold out (archival copies only). The same recording has been remastered and is included on the CD "Enchantment: Music by Michael Mauldin," produced by M Mauldin, $10.95 plus shipping.
  • Program Notes/Reviews:  "The work is dedicated to the memory of Paul B. Muench,  an Albuquerque teacher and pianist, who was killed in a 1978 aircraft accident.  The work was written to provide advanced pianists of high-school or college age with a solo work and instrumental accompaniment of chamber proportions.  It was the first of my pieces inspired by Chaco Canyon, which was the  capitol and Mecca of the Anasazi (a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones").  The Chacoans created beautiful cities, accurate solar/lunar markers, intricate artwork, straight roads, and a far-flung trade network--all centuries before Europeans came to North America."

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Copyright © 2009 Michael Mauldin