Another day, another awesome Four/Ten Media video premiere.
Today’s video features the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet performing For Triangles by Matt McBane. For Triangles was first written for the Sō Percussion Summer Institute in 2016 and subsequently performed by over a dozen percussion ensembles (and counting) across the country.
Here’s what the composer had to say about the piece:
For Triangles is inspired by the simple design and complex sound of the triangle. It is an extended meditation on the sound and the playing techniques of the triangle through the framework of simple mathematic processes and gradually changing patterns. It uses orchestral and Latin playing techniques, and, while entirely acoustic, invokes electronic processing through careful physical manipulation of sound.
Watch the video for For Triangles below, and purchase the single via Bandcamp.
About Matt McBane
Matt McBane is a composer whose music ranges from visceral rhythms and complex grooves to delicate melodies and subtle textures, and has been described as “a natural composer, a fresh voice” by the Los Angeles Times. Matt’s projects range from a collection of percussion quartets with analog synthesizer for the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet; to “Drawn,” a 25-min suite for bluegrass string band released on the Jake Schepps Quintet’s album “Entwined” and praised as a top album of the year by Colorado Public Radio; to “On and On and” based on the writings of John Muir and written for the San Diego-based chorus Sacra/Profana.
Matt is the violinist and composer for his Brooklyn-based band, Build, which released two albums on New Amsterdam records and has been described by New York Magazine as a “rocking post-classical quintet which takes inspiration from minimalist chamber music, instrumental rock, modal jazz, and more.” He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Carlsbad Music Festival, widely known for Matt’s programming of “adventurous music by the beach.”
Matt has written for many ensembles and instrumentalists including the Calder Quartet, Meehan/Perkins Duo, Chatham Baroque, Wild Up, NOW Ensemble, and pianist Vicky Chow, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Brooklyn Festival, the Bang on a Can Marathon (NYC), the Whitney Museum of Art, Le Poisson Rouge (NYC), and many others. He studied composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and is currently a doctoral fellow at Princeton University.
About Los Angeles Percussion Quartet
Since 2009, the GRAMMY-nominated Los Angeles Percussion Quartet (LAPQ) has forged a distinct identity as a world-class contemporary chamber music ensemble that is dedicated to commissioning and presenting new works for percussion quartet. Originally, members Nick Terry, Matt Cook, Justin DeHart, and Cory Hills joined together to create a classical percussion ensemble that would champion the important contributions of 20th century West Coast composers while collaborating with local artists to continue the tradition of innovation and exploration. Today, the group continues their mission while broadening creative output through recordings, performances, and educational outreach.
LAPQ’s partnership with Sono Luminus Records has contributed some of the most dynamic and realistic recordings of percussion music to date. Rūpa-Khandha, LAPQ’s seminal album recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin, CA, pioneered a new level of sonic achievement in 2012 as the first 7.1 surround-sound high-fidelity recording of percussion chamber music. The quartet’s recorded performance was praised by Neue Musikzeitung for presenting “the entire color-spectrum of global percussion instruments intelligently and with great competency,” while Percussive Notes hailed LAPQ’s commitment towards “championing composers of thought-provoking and uncompromisingly intelligent music.” The album won multiple nominations in the 55th GRAMMY Awards, including the prestigious category of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. In 2014, LAPQ released their second surround sound album with Sono Luminus Records, entitled The Year Before Yesterday, featuring works by Shaun Naidoo, Eric Griswold, Nick Deyoe, Isaac Schankler, Joseph Pereira, and PAS Hall of Fame member William Kraft. The album was hailed by the New York Times as “mesmerizing,” with “colorful, atmospheric and…supremely melodic music.”