Ingram Marshall - Life

Life

"These are works so rich in associations, profound in their connection to our time and place in history, and so carefully and subtly made, that when they do sink in, they can very well come to haunt you." —Mark Swed, Chamber Music Magazine

Though the composer uses the term "expressivist" to describe his music, he is often associated with post-minimalism. His music often reflects an interest in world music, particularly Balinese gamelan tradition, as well as influence from the American minimalism trends of the 1960s (the composer often acknowledges the work of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and John Adams). Marshall also frequently cites Jean Sibelius as a prominent influence. Several of his pieces include samples of Sibelius symphonies and tone poems.

Marshall studied at Columbia University in the mid-'60s and in 1970 became graduate assistant to Morton Subotnik at Cal Arts, staying on to teach several years after receiving his MFA in 1971.

He first gained recognition for his electroacoustic pieces, often performed by the composer himself on synthesizer, tape looping, gambuh (a traditional Balinese flute), and voice ("Fragility Cycles" is one of his best known works using this method of solo performance). His acoustic music frequently incorporates tape delay, and later, digital delay (such as "Soe Pa", for solo classical guitar, and "Hymnodic Delays" for the Theatre of Voices). Many of tape parts of his pieces include the composer's own keening falsetto and gambuh playing (such as "Fog Tropes" and "Gradual Requiem").

He has written for the Kronos Quartet: Voces Resonae (1984) and Fog Tropes II (1982) and for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: Orphic Memories (2006).