John Mackey (composer)
John Mackey | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Composer |
John Mackey (born October 1, 1973) is an American composer of
Biography
John Mackey was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio and grew up in Westerville, Ohio, where he attended Westerville South High School. Though musicians themselves, Mackey's parents did not provide him with music lessons, and he never formally studied an instrument. His grandfather, however, taught him to read music and introduced him to digital music notation. Through experimentation with programs intended for entertainment rather than education, Mackey began to compose his own music.[1] He wrote his first piece, Lacrimosa, at age 11, after being inspired by the film Amadeus. As a young composer, he took some lessons from one of his mother's friends, who had a Ph.D. in music.[2]
Mackey received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995 from the
Mackey lived in New York City from 1995 to 2005, where he collaborated frequently with choreographers such as
Concert band
Mackey's first professional work was writing for dance companies. However, after attending the College Band Directors National Association conference in Minneapolis, he received a commission to reorchestrate his 2003 orchestral work "Redline Tango" for concert band. After reluctantly accepting, he completed the concert band version in 2005, and it became a great success.
List of works
Orchestra
- Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (1993)
- Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (2000)
- Redline Tango (2003)[note 1]
- Antiphonal Dances (2003)
- Under the Rug (2004)
- Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra without Strings (2009)
- Aurora Awakes (2019)[note 2]
- Songs from the End of the World (2019)[note 3]
Wind ensemble/concert band
- Redline Tango (2005);Ostwald Award
- Sasparilla (2005)
- Turbine (2006)
- Strange Humors (2006)[note 5]
- Turning (2006)
- Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007)
- Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (2007); a piano reduction is available as of 2013.
- Clocking (2007)
- Undertow (2008)
- Asphalt Cocktail (2009)
- Aurora Awakes (2009); won the Ostwald Awardand the NBA William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest
- Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra without Strings (2009)
- Xerxes (2010)
- Hymn to a Blue Hour (2010)
- Foundry (2011)
- Drum Music: Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble (2011)
- Sheltering Sky (2012)
- High Wire (2012)
- The Frozen Cathedral (2013)
- The Soul Has Many Motions (2013)
- Night on Fire (2013), movement II of "The Soul Has Many Motions" (available separately)
- Unquiet Spirits (2013),[note 6] movement III of "The Soul Has Many Motions" (available separately)
- (Redacted) (2013)
- Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band (2014)
- The Ringmaster's March (2014)
- Lightning Field (2015)[note 7]
- Fanfare for Full Fathom Five (2015), for brass and percussion ensemble (and optional organ)
- Liminal (2016)
- This Cruel Moon (2017)[note 8]
- Antique Violences: Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble (2017)
- The Night Garden (2017)
- Snarl (2018)
- The Rumor of a Secret King (2018)[note 9]
- Until the Scars (2019)[note 10]
- Places we can no longer go (2019), for vocal soprano and wind ensemble; text by A. E. Jaques
- Sacred Spaces (2019)
- Some treasures are heavy with human tears (2021)
- Let Me Be Frank With You (2022)
- A deep reverberation fills with stars (2022)
- Divine Mischief: Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2022)
Adaptable Ensemble
- This Cruel Moon – adaptable (2020), minimum 5-parts (SAATB)
- Strange Humors – adaptable (2020), minimum 4-parts (SATB) plus djembe
- Let Me Be Frank With You (2020), minimum 4-parts (SATB) plus drum set
- Sheltering Sky – adaptable (2020), minimum 4-parts (SATB)
- Night on Fire – adaptable (2021), minimum 4-parts (SATB) plus one percussionist
Choir
- Alleluia (1992), for 5-part choir (S1, S2, A, T, B)
- The Rumor of a Secret King (2017), for SATB choir; text by A. E. Jaques
- Cradle Song (2021), for SATB choir; text by A. E. Jaques
Chamber ensemble
- Elegy and Fantasie (1989, 1991), for violin and piano
- Tango (1991), for viola and two pianos
- Mom Song (1991), for flute, guitar, cello, and harpsichord
- Piano Trio in Two Movements (1992), for violin, cello, and piano
- The Other Side (1994), for double bass or cello and piano
- Mood Indigo (1996), for piano and drum set
- Strange Humors (1998), for string quartet and djembe
- Damn (1998), for amplified clarinet and four percussionists
- Voices and Echoes (1999), for string quartet
- Rush Hour (1999, revised 2000), for clarinet, electric string quartet, and drum set
- Breakdown Tango (2000), for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
- Juba (2003), for electric string quartet and percussion
- Wrong-Mountain Stomp (2004), for violin, viola, and cello
- Mass (2004), for percussion ensemble
- Strange Humors (2008),[note 5] for saxophone quartet and djembe
- Sultana (2009), for saxophone and piano
- Strange Humors (2012),[note 5] for clarinet quartet and djembe
- Unquiet Spirits (2012), for saxophone quartet
- Hymn to a Blue Hour (2012),[note 2] for trombone ensemble
- Songs from the End of the World (2015),[note 11] for vocal soprano and mixed chamber ensemble;[note 12] text by A. E. Jaques; a piano reduction is available as of 2017.
- Hymn to a Blue Hour (2021),[note 2] for minimum 16-part ensemble[note 13]
Musical theater
- Score and songs for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Dallas Theater Center (2001)
Notes
- ^ Adaptation of Mackey's "Breakdown Tango".
- ^ a b c Transcription of concert band version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ Transcription of chamber ensemble version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ Transcription of orchestra version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ a b c Transcription of string quartet version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ Transcription of saxophone quartet version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ An adaptation of "The attentions of souls", the third movement of Mackey's "Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band".
- ^ An adaptation of "Immortal Thread, So Weak", the second movement of Mackey's "Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band".
- ^ Transcription of choir version. Transcription by the composer.
- ^ An adaptation of "Hubris", the first movement of Mackey's "Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band".
- ^ Third movement, "At Sea", is a transcription of "Immortal Thread, So Weak", the second movement of Mackey's "Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band". Transcription by the composer.
- ^ Flute, Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bass Clarinets, Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Double Bass, Harp, Piano, 3 percussionists (marimba, vibraphone, bass drum, and suspended cymbal)
- ^ Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Optional Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Alto Saxes, Tenor Sax, Optional Baritone Sax, 2 Trumpets, horn, 2 Trombones, Euphonium, Tuba, and Optional Bass Drum
References
- ^ a b John Mackey: The Composer... Archived July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine pp. 21–23
- ^ a b "John Mackey's Unusual Path to Composing Success | Cued In". blogs.jwpepper.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ John Mackey: The Composer... Archived July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine p. 28
- ^ "Meet the Composer..." Uknow.uky.edu. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
- ^ a b John Mackey: The Composer... Archived July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine pp. 12–13
- ^ "Austin 78704". Ostimusic.com. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
- ^ "NSFW Workspace". Ostimusic.com. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
- ^ "USM Concert Band and Casco Bay Wind Symphony Perform With John Mackey | School of Music | University of Southern Maine". usm.maine.edu. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Bibliography
- Meet the Composer: John Mackey with UK Bands Meet the Composer: John Mackey with UK Bands UKNow (University of Kentucky)
- John Mackey: The Composer, His Compositional Style and a Conductor's Analysis of Redline Tango and Turbine Rebecca L Philips' doctoral dissertation
- JW Pepper long-form interview with John Mackey