1989
For percussion and fixed media | 8′40″
Written for Gordon Gottlieb
Featured image: Title page of the original score for In Memory of Gentle Giant, 1989. Design and score by Gustavo Matamoros.
In Memory of Gentle Giant is a game-like composition in which a percussionist attempts to anticipate and occupy the irregular openings within a prerecorded musical structure. Although written for percussion, the work may be realized with other instruments. It has been performed on piano and has also circulated as a fixed-media composition without a live performer.
The work was written for percussionist Gordon Gottlieb, who had performed Truly Yours and suggested that I compose another piece for him.
THE FIXED-MEDIA COMPOSITION
The fixed-media part was created with an eight-output, 16-bit sampler, an FM synthesizer and a computer-based sequencer. Several independent pulse lines articulate synthesized pitches at different rates—a note every five beats, another every eleven, and so forth. Their accumulated activity produces a polyrhythmic grid whose changing densities and silences are difficult to predict or memorize.
Short, somewhat percussive gestures sampled from Gentle Giant recordings occasionally appear in the foreground. I selected them primarily for their sound. A listener familiar with the group might recognize particular details, such as the meowing guitar from “Black Cat,” while others pass as brief timbral events within the larger structure.
The original equipment and floppy disk used to construct the piece still exist, although it is uncertain whether the disk or computer remains operational. The tape recording is therefore the only surviving playable version of the fixed-media composition. Its duration differs slightly from the time written on the manuscript, possibly because of a later tape-speed adjustment.
THE PERFORMANCE
The live performer listens for gaps in the prerecorded activity and attempts to fill them. Sometimes the intervention succeeds; often it does not. The score also permits the performer to emphasize figures already present while maintaining the underlying pulse.
The piece works best with limited rehearsal. Its central tension depends upon immediate response rather than complete familiarity with the fixed media. The transcription can be used to study and internalize the rhythm of the openings, but the score ultimately instructs the musician to perform without it.
The performer chooses the instruments. The score recommends fast-decaying, primarily non-pitched percussion and suggests organizing the selection according to a visual principle: small objects sharing a table, suspended objects, or a group of electronic pads. It also asks the performer to exaggerate bodily gestures as a direct physical response to the sounds, while avoiding melodrama.
When Jan Williams presented “Versions I & II” at Subtropics 3 in 1991, he performed the complete work twice using contrasting instrumentations: one realization with small objects arranged on a table and another with a drum set and larger percussion instruments.
INSTRUCTIONS AND PRACTICE SCORE
In Memory of Gentle Giant — Instructions and Practice Score
Gustavo Matamoros, 1989
Published by Subtropics Editions
The transcription is provided as a guide for studying the fixed-media structure. The preferred realization is performed by ear, without reading the score.
FIXED-MEDIA PART—for practice only
In Memory of Gentle Giant (1989) | approximately 8′40″
Practice copy of the complete fixed-media part.
This compressed version is provided for rehearsal and study. The full-resolution performance file is available from Subtropics Editions.
PUBLICATION
A 1994 recording of In Memory of Gentle Giant performed by Jan Williams was published in 1997 on Giant Tracks, a two-CD tribute album produced through the international On-Reflection Gentle Giant fan network. Because the complete performance was longer than the space available on either disc, the producer divided the same recording into two parts: Part 1 closes Disc One and Part 2 closes Disc Two.
Read more about the Giant Tracks project.
RELATIONSHIP TO IN GATED MEMORY OF GENTLE GIANT
In Memory of Gentle Giant should not be confused with the later In Gated Memory of Gentle Giant. The latter is a separate and more daring composition in its use of quoted Gentle Giant material. Much of that material remains concealed until sounds produced by a live performer trigger gates that allow it to emerge.
Read more about In Gated Memory of Gentle Giant
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
May 12, 1989 | World premiere
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Subtropics Marathon, Subtropics 1 Festival
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library
Miami, Florida
June 15, 1989
Fixed-media version
Música y Computadoras: Nuevas Perspectivas para la Creación Musical
Presented by Ricardo Dal Farra
Centro Cultural General San Martín
Buenos Aires, Argentina
October 28, 1989
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
SCL Regional Conference
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
November 2, 1989
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
University event
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
November 29, 1989
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Dance / Visual Arts Department
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
February 2, 1990
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Siete Evidencias Omitidas
Taller El Garabato
Miami, Florida
March 25, 1990
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
SFCA: Music for Percussion and Electronics
Hollywood Art Center
Hollywood, Florida
May 17, 1990
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Sentences, Sounds and Portraits
The Strand
Miami Beach, Florida
May 18, 1990
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Sentences, Sounds and Portraits
The Strand
Miami Beach, Florida
October 5, 1990
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
SCI Region IV Conference
Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham, Alabama
December 5, 1990
Performed by Norberto Minichilo, percussion
Ciclo de Música Electroacústica Iberoamericana
Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, ICI Centro Cultural
Buenos Aires, Argentina
January 29, 1991
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
III Encuentro de la Nueva Música Electrónica
Fundación CELARG
Caracas, Venezuela
February 5, 1991
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
PUNTO
Miami-Dade Community College, North Campus
Miami, Florida
March 9, 1991
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
A Festival With No Fancy Name
Experimental Intermedia
New York, New York
April 7, 1991 | Versions I & II
Performed twice by Jan Williams using contrasting percussion setups
Subtropics 3 Festival
Centre Gallery, Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus
Miami, Florida
November 8, 1991
Performed by Pablo La Porta
Música Electroacústica y por Computadora
Conservatorio Municipal de Música Manuel de Falla
Sala Juan Bautista Alberdi
Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 7, 1992
Performed by Michael Pugliese
Bang on a Can Marathon Concert
New York Society for Ethical Culture
New York, New York
February 25, 1994
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Outpost Performance Space
Albuquerque, New Mexico
February 26, 1994
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Explorations in Music
Center for Contemporary Arts
Santa Fe, New Mexico
September 2, 1994
Performed by Jan Williams
The Music Gallery
Toronto, Canada
September 9, 1994
Performed by Jan Williams
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
Buffalo, New York
October 21, 1994
Performed by Fumiko Miyanoo, piano
Roulette
New York, New York
April 29, 1995
Performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Tampa Bay Composers Forum
Tampa, Florida
CREDITS
Composition, fixed media and score: Gustavo Matamoros
Written for: Gordon Gottlieb
Original score and fixed media: 1989
Published by: Subtropics Editions
Giant Tracks recording: Jan Williams, percussion