Mother Mallard celebrates 30th anniversary Oct. 3

From left, Linda Fisher, Steve Drews and David Borden, in a photo from 1973. Fisher and Borden will participate in the Oct. 3 concert celebrating Mother Mallard's 30th anniversary, and two of Drews' pieces will be performed.

By Franklin Crawford

Mother Mallard, the world's first portable synthesizer ensemble, celebrates the 30th anniversary of its electronic debut at Cornell on Sunday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. in the Proscenium Theatre of the Center for Theatre Arts. Sunday's concert launches this year's Proscenium Concert Series.

Prior to the performance, David Borden, director of Cornell's Digital Music Program, will speak with guest Robert Moog, Ph.D. '64, a legendary figure in the world of electronic music. The preconcert discussion will take place at 7:15 p.m.

In 1969 at Barnes Hall, the ensemble premiered under the name Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co., brandishing some of the latest musical technology engineered by Moog at his studio, a storefront on Main Street in Trumansburg, N.Y.

Sunday's concert premieres a new piece by Borden called The Perilous Night Companion, written for amplified prepared piano and synthesizer ensemble. This work will be played at the same time as John Cage's The Perilous Night (1944), for prepared piano, featuring Lisa Leong as soloist. Cage's music was featured on the group's first concert as well. The complete version of Borden's Variations on a Theme of Philip Glass also will be premiered. The program includes two pieces by Steve Drews, Mother Mallard founding member, titled Almost Two Years (1971) and Ceres Motion (1973), and Borden's The Continuing Story of Counterpoint, Part Seven (1978).

Mother Mallard members worked closely with Moog and his R.A. Moog Co., which introduced a line of electronic music synthesis equipment in 1964. In 1971, the company name was changed to Moog Music Inc., which became a division of Norlin Music Inc. in 1973. In 1978, Moog moved from Trumansburg to North Carolina, where he founded Big Briar Inc., which designs and builds novel electronic music equipment. He now is the world's leading maker of theremins, instruments played by moving hands through an electromagnetic field.

Looking back at musical trends of the last 30 years, Borden, whose compositions rank alongside American musical innovators like Glass, Steve Reich and John Adams, is surprised that graduate students majoring in music still focus on European composers.

"They spend most of their time studying European composers and therefore European culture and completely ignore most of the recent American composers," said Borden, whose Continuing Story of Counterpoint, released on three CDs from 1988 to 1991, was hailed as the "Goldberg Variations" of minimalism. "No one in academia takes Philip Glass seriously and his standing at universities is somewhat similar to that of John Cage a generation ago."

Borden was never interested in re-creating the sounds of common instruments, as were so many composers when the Moog first appeared. He said it still strikes him as strange that people insist on using new technology to mimic old technology.

"When synthesizers are programmed to sound 'exactly' like acoustic instruments, what's the point?" he said. "It takes maybe a generation or so for the new technology to establish itself on its own terms."

To keep up with new musical technology, Borden said he visits friends at the MIT Media Lab. Recently he amused himself by creating a composition that was "controlled entirely by a pair of shoes."

Mother Mallard achieved moderate success in the early 1970s. A close brush with fame occurred when 50 seconds of their music was used in the movie "The Exorcist."

Sunday's performers include Borden, Gabriel Borden, Judy Borsher, Richard Faria, Linda Fisher, Lisa Leong, Louise Mygatt, Chip Smith, Les Thimmig and Doug Wyatt.

Cuneiform Records has reissued Mother Mallard's first album on CD, titled "Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co. 1970-1973." Copies will be available at the concert.