The Percussion Music of Marc Mellits: 1994-2016
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE PERCUSSION MUSIC OF MARC MELLITS: 1994-2016 by Oliver Neil Molina An essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2019 Essay Supervisor: Professor Daniel Moore Copyright by OLIVER MOLINA 2019 All Rights Reserved Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ____________________________ DMA ESSAY _________________ This is to certify that the DMA Essay of Oliver Neil Molina has been approved by the Examining Committee for the essay requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music at the May 2019 graduation. Thesis Committee: ____________________________________________ Daniel Moore, Essay Supervisor ____________________________________________ Richard Mark Heidel ____________________________________________ Kevin Kastens ____________________________________________ David Gompper ____________________________________________ David Puderbaugh To Marc Mellits ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are several people I would like to thank for helping me reach this stage of my life. First and foremost, I would like to thank my essay supervisor and committee chair, Daniel Moore. Your support and guidance over the years has allowed me to achieve my current success and has prepared me for a career in music. Thank you for allowing me to learn from you and for not giving up on me when things looked bleak. I also thank my committee members, Richard Mark Heidel, Kevin Kastens, David Gompper, and David Puderbaugh, for your time, support, and guidance through this process. I have learned a great deal from you, and your passion and excellence in music is acknowledged. I would also like to thank my percussion teachers, who have inspired me to strive for my best: my high school band director, Rhett Cox, for allowing me to grow under his tutelage and realize that I wanted to spend a life in music, and my percussion professors, Jeff Moore and Chalon Ragsdale, who have helped shape me into the musician and person I am today. Your never-ending wisdom and guidance have never let me down and are always greatly appreciated. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Marc Mellits for allowing me to write about him and his music. He has been more than supportive throughout the entire process, and I am honored that I am able to share my research about him. I would like to thank my family, my parents and my sister, who have encouraged and supported me my whole life. Thank you for all the rides to and from band practice, all the late nights, and for letting me pursue my dream in music, even if it was across the country. Thanks for putting up with me all these years and helping me see things through. iii Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Rebecca. You have been with me every step of this journey and I could not have done it without your love and support. Four states, seven houses, and three dogs later, you have been by my side. You have made me a better person, and I look forward to the next chapter of our lives once this degree is complete. iv PUBLIC ABSTRACT Marc Mellits (b. 1966) is considered a member from the post-minimalist generation of composers, who took a fresh approach to the sounds of the 1960s minimalists. Mellits developed a style that merged his love for classical music and rock music. His output of compositions is generous, and performances of his music are steadily gaining prominence in the music community. His chamber works that include percussion and his stand-alone percussion works are being programmed regularly at both professional and educational levels. Despite these frequent performances, I have found that there is a lack of scholarly research about him and his music, especially his music for percussion. This document provides an overview of Mellits’s background and compositional style with a detailed view of the following works for percussion: Red (2008), Stick (2010), Gravity (2013), and Zodiac (2016). General background information, music analysis, and performance suggestions are provided for each of the compositions. The purpose of this document is to serve as a reference for those seeking more information about Marc Mellits and his works for percussion. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: Biography .................................................................................................... 6 Beginnings ....................................................................................................................... 6 Peabody Preparatory ....................................................................................................... 7 College ............................................................................................................................ 9 Mellits Consort .............................................................................................................. 11 Big break in the Big Apple ............................................................................................ 12 Syracuse ........................................................................................................................ 13 Current day in Chicago ................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 3: Compositional style ................................................................................... 16 Labels ............................................................................................................................ 16 Influences ...................................................................................................................... 18 Compositional style ....................................................................................................... 20 Compositional process .................................................................................................. 22 Writing for marimba ...................................................................................................... 27 Percussion writing style ................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER 4: Works for solo percussion ......................................................................... 39 Stick (2010) ................................................................................................................... 40 Background and notes ............................................................................................... 41 Form and structure ..................................................................................................... 44 Vocabulary ................................................................................................................. 45 Rhythm and texture ................................................................................................... 47 Thematic material ...................................................................................................... 48 Performance notes ..................................................................................................... 51 Zodiac (2016) ................................................................................................................ 53 Background and notes ............................................................................................... 53 General considerations .............................................................................................. 56 Form and structure ..................................................................................................... 58 Harmony .................................................................................................................... 60 Rhythm and meter ..................................................................................................... 62 Texture ....................................................................................................................... 64 Thematic material ...................................................................................................... 65 Performance notes ..................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5: Work for percussion duo ........................................................................... 70 Red (2008) ..................................................................................................................... 70 Background and notes ............................................................................................... 70 Form and structure ..................................................................................................... 73 Harmony .................................................................................................................... 75 vi Rhythm and meter ..................................................................................................... 76 Texture ....................................................................................................................... 77 Thematic material .....................................................................................................