Program Notes

The Recycler was commissioned in early 2014 by Bill Cahn and the NEXUS Percussion Ensemble. The work was requested in part to celebrate a new recycling initiative in the city of Rochester, NY. Composed in the summer of 2014, The Recycler is one of the final works composed by McKinley before his death in February 2015. The work was never heard by the composer and due to his passing, was not premiered until February 2023 with the Lugano Percussion Ensemble featuring soprano Rose Hegele under the direction of Simone Mancuso. The work calls for a mallet quartet plus a trio of auxiliary percussion (optional) and a solo soprano singer on a text written by the composer's wife, Marlene McKinley. No program notes exist for the work but, true to the title, the music revolves around themes of recycling and rebirth--the making of something new from something old. Additionally, the version heard here is Part I; McKinley composed a Part II which is optional and adds another 7 to 8 minutes of music to the work. The musical material revolves around a set of rhythmic cycles and thematic material which is, with intention, cycled and re-cycled throughout. Much of the primary chosen percussion sounds, especially in the auxiliary trio, are of metal and glass, analogous to materials often found in the recycling process.