“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree;
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.”

    So begins the famous poem “Kubla Khan:  Or A Vision in a Dream” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  This poem talks about a “damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw”, and states, “Could I revive with me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight ‘twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice!”

    Inspired by this poem, Barton McLean has created “MAGIC AT XANADU (MAX)”.  The sensuous pulsative music has a somewhat Oriental flavor, evoking a dreamlike vision that reaches toward that special paradise of ecstatic wonder always beckoning but out of reach.  This trance-like quality is enhanced by surreal video alterations mixed with the live performance, especially created for this DVD.  The “Composers Playpen” is the music vehicle for “MAGIC AT XANADU (MAX)”.  This is a computer music program written in MAX/MSP software by McLean.  Central to the concept is the idea of initiating and changing melodic/harmonic/rhythmic loops in real time.  In”M.A.X.”, most of these loops are pre-recorded, while a few are recorded and modified as the work is playing.  In addition, a third stream of music is produced live on the keyboards.  Although not always evident, the live performance is very virtuosic, as McLean must modify up to fourteen separate musical ideas all playing at once!

    This YouTube video took place in live performance at the Knickerbocker Theatre, Holland, Michigan on April 10, 2008, sponsored by Hope College as part of The McLean Mix annual concert tour.

Details: A live-performed stereo work for McLean Mix tour, with just a minimal score (which can not be read by anyone except Bart McLean) which denotes items such as preset and controller changes, settings, etc., with some notation.  Performed with stopwatch which triggers some items during performance. Performed on two MIDI keyboards, and using 2 Alesis QC 6.2 synths and 1 Korg Wavestation, with a MIDI controller.  Uses  “Composer Playpen” software, which is modeled on the Cycling ‘74 MAX/MSP program.  Premiered at Washington & Lee Univ, 2/8/08.  Released on MCL Publications DVD (McLean Mix Live!) in 2009 as a video showing McLean performing live.  Recorded on Innova in 2011 on McLean’s “Soundworlds” album as part of a NYFA grant.

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Magic at Xanadu is © and ℗ 2008 Barton McLean