JACK LANGDON

is an experimental composer, filmmaker, and writer who was born in 1994 and is a citizen of the sault ste. marie tribe of chippewa indians.

[archive and documentation of past performances can be found here]

UPCOMING EVENTS

3.8.26

Jack Langdon (bibigwan), Luke Martin (tone generator), Jeff Kimmel (clarinet), Graham Stephenson (trumpet)
Frequency Series at Constellation
Chicago, IL

3.17.26

performance of “Fish Laying Egg in a Circle” by Brightwork Ensemble
Tuesdays at Monk Space
Los Angeles, CA

5.14.26

performance of new work for clarinet by Zach Good
Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

BIOGRAPHY, CV, CONTACT

PHOTO BY HANNAH KRUSE

Happy Life
for piano and percussion

September 2024

first performance by:
Jon Hannau, piano
Kyle Flens, percussion
Constellation, Chicago
9.7.24
score

Happy Life is a work which I wrote for the Flannau Duo in the summer of 2024. During the previous year, I increasingly found myself questioning common sense approaches to relating emotions to musical expression. This work instigated a re-examination of how musical materials—particularly those of a reduced and simple kind—can signify a stereotype of emotion, but refuse to evoke this emotion. This piece strives to make common emotive signifiers—like a major chord signifying “happiness”—unfamiliar and hollow. Accompanying this, musical materials which have no stereotype of emotional significance are placed amidst the work: groaning noises from a superball-dragged washboard, isolated jingle bell clinks, and muted dyads on a glockenspiel.

Category
Composition