Blake Cordell
Composer | Sound Designer | Playwright
Skeuomorphic Memory
For Chamber Orchestra
Dur. 3' 45" Premiered March 12, 2026 Program Notes The technology of the early 2000s: glossy, transparent, and vibrant. An open invitation into a colorful digital world. That world, however, has since quietly dissipated. What happened to the vibrant grassy fields, the endless watery expanses, and the technologically utopic city skylines? It may be that music--the only temporal art--is the sole means of revisiting this future we once envisioned. It is curious, however, that we can only embody this future by reminiscing of the past. Research has coined a term to describe the complex emotion that arises from this juxtaposition: "ersatz nostalgia," that is, nostalgia without memory-- nostalgia of a time and place that never actually existed. How is it that music can affect this type of nostalgia, and how can it consistently evoke such specific imagery? "Skeuomorphic Memory" was written as part of ongoing research into the position of video game music as a vehicle for ersatz nostalgia of early 2000's technological imagery. It draws inspiration from pieces within the colloquially canonized "Frutiger Aero" subgenre of music: "Lease" by Takeshi Abo, "Lotus Waters" by Mosenite, "Aquatic Ambiance" by Skizzie, and "Aquatic Ambiance" by David Wise. Using musical features idiomatic of video game water levels, this piece attempts to evoke not only the ebb and flow of the open ocean but also the skeuomorphic design aesthetic that was once globally ubiquitous.
Silicious Sinter
For String Quartet
Dur. 3' 10" Premiered March 11, 2026 Program Notes Like the calcification of a rock, the smallest idea can harden into something infinitely more defined, detailed, and fortified. Jagged layer upon jagged layer, each one its own echo of a past eruption. Though the core gradually disappears over time, buried underneath an iterative shell, it remains a defining element of the sculpture that emerges. In this way, a musical idea can grow as if it were silica molded by the Earth's watery vents, both destined to grow, carried forward by their own potential.
Prismatic Thermophiles
For Clarinet in Bb, Cello, Piano, and Percussion
Dur. 6' 05" Premiered August 7, 2025 Program Notes A constellation of life thriving under the ever-bubbling water’s surface, its form unseen but its presence unmistakable in the rocky rainbow that descends deep underground, an iris of the Earth’s many watchful eyes. This piece is inspired by the geothermal pools of Yellowstone National Park – in particular, Morning Glory. The music represents the many colors of the earth, the glimmer of the still water, the unseen bustling world of microscopic organism thriving on the heat, and the perpetuity of the pool.
Dear Daedalus
For Soprano and Double Bass
Dur. 5' 50" Premiered May 3, 2025 Program Notes In the fateful flight from the labyrinth on Crete, not only did Icarus perish, but Daedalus’ past and future were erased from his narrative. The lesson learned from his flight with Icarus overshadows his legacy as an inventory, architect, and artist. One forgotten story in particular, that of his tutorship of his nephew, paints a cruel irony when paired with his more famous tale. Fearful that his prodigal nephew would surpass his own genius, he flung him from a window only for the gods to turn his nephew into a bird – a bird that would return years later to torment him at his son’s death.
Wind-up Clockwork Temple, Tin and Glass
For Cello Quintet/Ensemble
Dur. 7' Commissioned by Olivia Palen Premiered April 11, 2026 Program Notes A simulacrum of the grandiose, made from thin, delicate pieces. Pristine painted glass juxtaposed with rusted metal... the tintinnabulations of winding mechanisms, heard from within... what natural wonder could we find within this tiny construct? To exist within the micro and experience the grinding gears shaking off their layers of dilapidation, to see the prismatic edges of the construct rotate through the light... Only for as long as the gears can turn.
The Fortune Teller's Tent
For String Quartet
Avg Dur. 11' 30" Premiered February 6, 2025 Program Notes Step into the tent, take a seat, and open your mind; the cards have the answers that you seek. No two journeys are the same, past always shaping the future, the present but a liminal fleeting moment, and the future only known by the hands of fate. When our story ends, how will we interpret what we've seen and what we've heard? What will we remember? Will we be left wanting for that which we did not experience, or will we be resolute in that which we did? The fortune teller's tent contains a magic that turns our questions into a certainty of what the future may bring. In performing this piece, the 22 Major Arcana cards from a standard Tarot Deck are used to determine the order in which movements are played. Only eight movements are to played in any given performance. All performances must being with 0. The Fool and end with XXI. The World, but countless permutations of the six internal movements, as determined by card draws, exist.
Seven-Legged Spider
For Alto Saxophone and Yamaha YDS-150
Dur. 5' 33" Premiered February 23, 2025
Súile Foaroise
For Solo Flute
Dur. 5' 10" Premiered September 28, 2024
This Was a Story
For QWERTY Keyboard and Vibraphone
Dur. 8' 30" Premiered October 27, 2024 Program Notes In which we question what a narrative is made from. The words? The letters? The spaces and punctuation in between? Is there coherence in the natural cadence? Is the tale spun inside the rigid framework or beyond? Was this a story? Screen recording available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUv6_M9lfS4&t=34s
Celestial Wings
For SATB Choir
Dur. 5' 50" Workshopped February 11, 2025 Program Notes Inspired by the haikus of Basho (1644 – 1694), Chora (1729 – 1780), and Issa (1763 – 1828), and Kyoshi (1874 – 1959), this piece explores some of life’s smallest creatures; the dragonfly, butterfly, and firefly with eyes, wings, and illumination reflective of our sky’s largest celestial bodies. How does the dragonfly embody the nature that surrounds us? Who does the butterfly stitch the sunshine for? Why does the firefly call to the moon? Text by Blake Cordell
Lotus Clour
For Wind Band
Dur. 12' 15" Commissioned by Bethel College Premiered April 24, 2024 Program Notes This is a testament to twilight, to the balance of light and shadow, and to the little bit of light that waltzes through the darkness. It’s a snapshot of an eclipse. It’s a journey through the duality of light and dark. Hear the light flittering through the penumbra while the shadows steadily churn underneath. Listen as the shadows dance under twinkling refractions, and see the balance on the edge of occlusion. Then, at the center of it all, celebrate the perfection of the antumbra, the balance that exists only fleetingly before the eclipse starts to wane. The bright light gives way to the darkness once more, but perhaps it holds on a bit too long reminding us that the worlds of light and dark aren’t opposed; they stand just inches apart as reflections of one another.
A Year of Repetition
For Viola with Piano acc. and Multimedia
Dur. 5' 00" Commissioned by Elizabeth Tobald Premiered April 14, 2021 Program Notes Coming off of the chaos of 2020, this piece was written to reflect the unpredictable nature of things, segmented to ultimately place an emphasis on the mundane everyday sounds that have come to define our repetitious lives in quarantine. The composition's mode, D phyrigian, is restrictive, limiting the chord progressions available. The main melodic motif, D - F - C - Eb, was chosen by the roll of dice. The multimedia samples and sounds underscoring the latter half of the piece come from over 20 audio files submitted by people in response to the question, "What sounds have come to define your life in 2020?"
Fanfare Anemoi
For Wind Band
Dur. 4' 18" Program Notes Zephyrus, Boreas, Notus, Eurus; the Anemoi, the Greek gods of the winds. Or, as the Mesopotamian people knew them, they were the winds of the mountain, the cloud, the Amorites… Even still, the winds can evoke certain guardian stars: Scropio, Ursa Major, Pisces, the Pleiades. No matter what faces they wear, the winds have been constant and unpredictable forces throughout time. They bring rain, storms, and destruction just as quickly as they flow through flowers and fauna, billowing forth from the mountains with the sunrise in tow. A bird that drifts about on their backs cares not about their names, only the way in which they weave together.
All That is Done
For Solo Piano with Spoken Word
Dur. 11' 06" Commissioned by Kansas State University Premiered April 5, 2016 Poem by Catherine Strayhall Written for Kansas State University's 2016 Innovation and Inspiration philanthropy campaign.