Lentz, Daniel (Kirkland)

Lentz, Daniel (Kirkland), American composer; b. Latrobe, Pa., March 10, 1941. He studied music and philosophy at St. Vincent Coll. (B.A., 1962), music history and composition at Ohio State Univ. (M.A., 1965), and composition with Berger, Lucier, and Shapero at Brandeis Univ. (1965–67) and with Sessions and Rochberg at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (summer, 1966). He went to Stockholm on a Fulbright grant to study electronic music and musicology (1967–68), then was a visiting lecturer at the Univ. of Calif, at Santa Barbara (1968–70) and at Antioch Coll. in Yellow Springs, Ohio (1973). He formed the performing groups California Time Machine (1969–73) and San Andreas Fault (1974, 1976); later was active with the Los Angeles-based ensemble LENTZ (from 1982), featuring the agile American vocalist Jessica (actually Lynn Mary) Karraker (b. St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 4, 1953), other vocalists, multiple keyboardists, and occasional percussion. He held grants from various organizations, including the NEA (1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1993, 1994), the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst in Berlin (1979), Meet the Composer 1992, 1997), and N.Y’s Peter Reed Memorial Fund Prize (1998). Lentz is a proponent of the avant-garde; one of his most interesting early works was Love and Conception (1968–69), in which a male pianist and his female page-turner are ultimately directed to crawl under the lid of a grand piano and engage in sexual intercourse. Their performance, which is at first accompanied by 2 tandem AM radio broadcasts of fictional reviews of the piece, is finally replaced by a live, synchronous FM broadcast of the piece itself, which frees them to waltz about the stage, fall into each other’s arms, and, overcome with passion, fall into the piano. It was performed at the Univ. of Calif, at Santa Barbara on Feb. 26, 1969; as a result of this and later performances, Lentz was dismissed from his lectureship position there. He then devoted himself to composing, with increasing reliance on computer and synthesizer technologies. In 1991 he became a founding faculty member of a newly formed interdisciplinary arts and performance degree program at Ariz. State Univ. West in Phoenix; in 1992 he was a visiting prof, at the Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles. Since his relocation to the Sonoran desert in 1991, Lentz has collaborated on numerous pieces with Harold Budd, many of which have resulted in recordings, e.g. Music for Pianos (1992) and Walk Into My Voice (1995). Many of his works, such as the orchestral An American in L.A. (1989), are pure sensuality, with less attention given to formal procedures than to rhythmic vibrancy and sonorous effect. His text settings can challenge the ear; frequently phonemes are introduced in the beginning of a piece, which, through a gradual interlocking of parts, form audible words (and occasional truncated sentences) only at the very finish. While retaining its freshness and, at times, almost exquisite beauty, Lentz’s music throughout the 1980s was heavily equipment-reliant, demanding much not only from the vocalists and instrumentalists in his ensemble, but from Lentz himself, who has had to function as composer, producer, editor, sound mixer, and recording engineer during live performances. While some of his work dating from 1989 has tended toward acoustic media (his b.e.comings [a.k.a. Orgas-Mass, 1991] was his last piece utilizing multi-tracking), by the mid-1990s he began developing sophisticated techniques involving virtual ensembles. The Insect for Performers and Virtual Ensemble (2000) is a 30-year retrospective compilation of performance practices mingled with new techniques.

Works

dramatic: theater and mixed m e d i a:A Piano: Piece (1965); Ecumenical Council (1965); Gospel Meeting (1965); Paul and Judy Meet the Time Tunnel (1966); Paul and Judy Meet Startrek (1966); Hi-yo Paint (1968); Air Meal Spatial Delivery (1969); Work of Crow (1970); Lamentations on the Legacy of Cortei for Chorus, Strings, 2 MIDI-Keyboards, and 2 Percussion (1993–95). performers and echo delay:Canon and Fugue (Canon and Fugle) (1971); King Speech Songs (1972); You Can’t See the Forest… Music (1972); Missa umbrarum (1973); Song(s) of the Sirens (Les Sirènes) (1973); 3 Pretty Madrigals (1976); Dancing on the Sun (1980); Music by Candlelight (Love and Death) (1980); Uitoto (1980); b.e comings (a.k.a. Orgas-Mass) for Soprano, Baritone, and Chamber Ensemble (1991). performers with multi-tracking:Is It Love (1983; Santa Barbara, Calif., Aug. 1984); On the Leopard Altar (1983; Santa Barbara, Calif., 1984); Time Is a Trick (Rouen, Dec. 1985); Bacchus with Wineglasses (Los Angeles, Nov. 1985); Wild Turkeys for 3 Keyboard Synthesizers (N.Y., Dec. 1985); La Tache with Wineglasses (Boston, June 5, 1987); NightBreaker for 4 Pianos (Los Angeles, March 30, 1990). vocal: I (Senescence sonorum), double concerto for Amplified Body Sounds, Chorus, and Orch. (1970); Fermentation Notebooks:!, Kissing Song; 2, Rising Song; 3, Drinking Song for 28 to 48 Unaccompanied Voices, with Wineglasses in No. 3 (1972); O-Ke-Wa (North American Eclipse) for 12 Solo Voices, Bells, Rasps, and Drums (1974); Sun Tropes for 7 Solo Voices, Recorders, and Kalimbas (1975); Composition in Contrary and Parallel Motion for 16 Solo Voices, Percussion, and 4 Keyboards (1977); The Elysian Nymph for 8 Solo Voices and 8 Marimbas (1978); Wolf Is Dead for Solo Voices and Percussion (1979; rev. for 6 Solo Voices and 8 Keyboards, 1982); Wail Song for Vocal Soloist, 5 Voices, and 8 Keyboards (1983); wolfMASS for Vocalist, Keyboards, and Percussion (Rouen, June 1988); Cathedral of Ecstasy for Vocalists, Electric Keyboards, and Percussion (1990; Tokyo, Nov. 1991); Pear Blossom Highway (aka Abalone) for Baritone and Electronic Keyboards (1990); Talk Radio for Vocalist and Chamber Ensemble (1990-91; Pittsburgh, Nov. 1991, Joan La Barbara soloist); White Bee for Solo Voice (1992; Tempe, Ariz., April 1993). instrumental:Piano Piece for Little Kids with Big Hands (1962); 3 Episodes from Exodus for Organ and Percussion (1962); 3 Haiku in 4 Movements for String Quartet (1963); 8 Dialectics 8 for 18 Instruments (1964); Funke for Flute, Vibraphone, Drums, Double Bass, and Piano (1964); Sermon: Saying Something with Music for String Quartet and Electronics (1966); The Last Concert, in 3: Love and Conception, Birth and Death, and Fate and Death for Piano and Electronics (1968); Pastime for String Instruments and Electronics (1969); 10 Minus 30 Minutes for Strings (1970); Point Conception for 9 Pianos (1981); Lascaux (Chumash Tombs) for Vocalists and Wine Glasses (1984); Topanga Tango for Chamber Ensemble (Pittsburgh, Oct. 1985); A Crack in the Bell for Vocal Soloist, 3 Keyboards, and Optional Chamber Orch. (Los Angeles, Nov. 10, 1986); An American in L.A. for Synthesizer and Orch. (Los Angeles, March 30, 1989); A California Family (Group Portrait), trio for Violin, Piano, and Percussion (N.Y., Nov. 1989); Apache Wine for Chamber Orch. (1989; Tucson, Feb. 16, 1990); Blues for Mary J. for Small Chamber Ensemble (1996). per-former(s) with virtual ensemble:Apologetica (1994–95); Temple of Lament (1996); Zeitghosts (1996); Apparitions ofJB (1997); Huit ou Neuf Pièces Dorées à Point (1998); A Tiger In The Garden (1998); The Insect (2000). tape:Montage Shift (1963); No Exit (1963); Eleison (1965); Medeighnia’s (1965).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire