Erik Jekabson - Anti-Mass (2012)

Ever since I got serious about writing music, I've loved to stroll through museums and imagine what the artwork would sound like. Usually, when staring at a piece that really interests me, the music that comes into my head contains fresh new textures, colors, melodies, harmonies and dynamics; music I never would have come up with without the artwork's inspiration. The compositions on this CD are these sounds. They’re inspired by pieces in the permanent collection of the DeYoung Museum of San Francisco, and by aspects of the museum itself, such as its architecture, its surroundings, and its history of supporting artists. The music was composed for my String-tet, an ensemble of trumpet, tenor sax, violin, viola, bass and percussion. This instrumentation gives the String-tet great flexibility to go in many different musical directions, flexibility that I needed to interpret the great variety of artwork at the DeYoung Museum (not to mention interludes of strolling around looking for the next inspiration) Not only did I write the music for these instruments, but I wrote it with these specific players in mind, and it was great hearing the music "come to life" in their skilled hands. My hope is that this music conjures up new ideas, images, and colors in the head of YOU, the listener, and that you may be similarly inspired as I was, to try to create something new and different.