Event Title
Without a Net
Performer / Ensemble
John R. McGinn (Piano)
Date of Publication
3-26-2021
Document Type
Composition
Abstract / Program Notes
Without a Net is a substantial reworking of my earliest attempt, in 2008, to create a “refined” solo piano concert work based on free improvisations captured and transcribed with the help of MIDI software. An avid devotee of improvisation since the mid-1980s, I’ve long been fascinated by the question of what may be gained – or lost! – from the application of rigorous compositional techniques (judgment, development, revision and so on) to the bright, unpredictable flames of spontaneous creation. In works such as Without a Net, the aim is for such distinctions to ultimately fall away, leaving a music that feels at once fresh and immediate, yet also carefully structured. The original 2008 score of Without a Net not only utilized various transcribed improvisations, but also left sizable “gaps” to be filled creatively during the performance – hence the title! A number of such “filled gaps” from the most successful 2008 performance, at Old South Church in Boston, have themselves been transcribed and edited to figure in this fully notated 2020 version. All passages of transcribed improvisation are clearly labeled in the score. Perhaps in the end, all of this is neither here nor there? Either way, I had a lot of fun and hope that listeners will too. Enjoy!
Biography
Currently an Associate Professor of Music (Theory/Composition) at Austin College in Sherman, TX, composer/pianist John McGinn received his undergraduate music degree from Harvard University and his doctorate in composition from Stanford University. Among his teachers are such noted composers as Jonathan Harvey, Leon Kirchner and John Adams. His own works have won several honors and been performed at colleges and festivals nationwide. Recent premieres include Three Preludes (2019) for solo piano performed by the composer at a NACUSA/TX conference; Autumn Leaves (2016) and Three Preludes (2015) played by Young-Hyun Cho and James Knight respectively at SCI (Society of Composers Inc.) Region VI Conferences; a Trio (2013) for clarinet, violin and piano performed at the 2015 SCI Region VI Conference; a vocal setting of Yolanda Lockett’s “It’s a Letter” in A River of Words Song Cycle (2011) – a collaborative cycle commissioned by baritone Bruce Cain and guitarist David Asbury and performed at more than a dozen venues in the United States and Europe. As an arranger, McGinn has created piano reductions of several large-scale works including John Adams’ Nixon in China and Christopher Rouse’ Trombone Concerto, all for publication by Boosey & Hawkes. As a pianist and keyboardist, McGinn has performed throughout the United States and Europe and appeared on nearly two dozen commercial recordings, including a critically acclaimed solo album The 20th Century Piano (AmCam) and several recent CDs with The Shakespeare Concerts of MA, for whom he served as music director from 2003-08.
Keywords
Improvisation, Solo piano concert, MIDI software
Description
Duration: 10:00. Instrumentation: Solo Piano. Date of Composition: 2008/2020.
Without a Net
Without a Net is a substantial reworking of my earliest attempt, in 2008, to create a “refined” solo piano concert work based on free improvisations captured and transcribed with the help of MIDI software. An avid devotee of improvisation since the mid-1980s, I’ve long been fascinated by the question of what may be gained – or lost! – from the application of rigorous compositional techniques (judgment, development, revision and so on) to the bright, unpredictable flames of spontaneous creation. In works such as Without a Net, the aim is for such distinctions to ultimately fall away, leaving a music that feels at once fresh and immediate, yet also carefully structured. The original 2008 score of Without a Net not only utilized various transcribed improvisations, but also left sizable “gaps” to be filled creatively during the performance – hence the title! A number of such “filled gaps” from the most successful 2008 performance, at Old South Church in Boston, have themselves been transcribed and edited to figure in this fully notated 2020 version. All passages of transcribed improvisation are clearly labeled in the score. Perhaps in the end, all of this is neither here nor there? Either way, I had a lot of fun and hope that listeners will too. Enjoy!