Gary Noland - The Melancholic Moneymonger, Op. 26

Gary Noland’s “The Melancholic Moneymonger” for piano is a bite-sized neobaroque composition that lasts less than one minute. The style of the piece uses mostly Baroque period language, until the final few measures of the piece, where dissonant chords break that illusion. Noland dedicated the miniature work to his pen-pal, Ladislav Kupkovič. Kupkovič, once a modernist composer who was a disciple of the Darmstadt School and a member of the Cologne school, and also no less the dedicatee of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s composition “Mixtur”, whole-heartedly embraced Classical period style composition by the 1980s. This artistic path was something Noland found very relatable given his own eclectic style.
Dr. Gary Lloyd Noland was born 1957 and grew up in a house shared by ten people. As an adolescent, Noland lived for a time in Salzburg, Austria and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Having studied with a long roster of acclaimed composers and musicians, he earned his Bachelor’s in music from UC Berkeley in 1979, continued studies at the Boston Conservatory, and transferred to Harvard University, where he obtained a master’s degree and a PhD in Music Composition in 1989. In addition, he has taught music at Harvard, the University of Oregon, and Portland Community College.
As a composer, Noland’s works come in a diverse range of styles. His catalogue consists of hundreds of tonal and atonal works, of which include piano, vocal, chamber, experimental, electronic pieces, and graphic scores. Noland’s compositions have been performed and broadcast worldwide, including his Grande Rag Brillante that premiered on the Yamaha Disklavier at NPR. Noland founded the Seventh Species concert series in San Francisco in 1990, and was also a founding member of Cascadia Composers association.
Date: 1992
Catalogue: Op. 26
Dedicatee: Ladislav Kupkovič
Performer: Meliton Soupelin on piano
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are used for non-commercial purposes. The contents of the video were obtained from the composer and uploaded with the composer’s permission.
Composer’s website: composergaryno...