Stenberg, Jordan
Stenberg, Jordan
Stenberg, Jordan, American avantgarde composer; b. Fresno, Calif., May 31, 1947. He studied music theory with Robert Moran at the San Francisco Cons. and worked on electronic problems with Robert Ashley at Mills Coll. In his compositions, he aims at creating an organic expression of cosmic philosophy as formalized by his deep reading of Russian theosophists and Indian psychologists. His zodiacal parameters are sun in Gemini, moon in Scorpio, with Libra rising. In addition to the works listed below, Stenberg composed music for flower conservatories to stimulate the growth of timid plants.
Works
88 Fog-Horn Seconds, a recording of Foghorns on Electronic Tape (1967); A Snail’s Progress in a Goldfish Bowl for Strings glissandi within a definite integral of white noise (1968); Music for 4 Horse-Drawn Carriages, a literal equestrian exercise (1968); Mind over Matter, film opera for Voices and Instruments (1969); Extension Chords, to be perf. by nomadic bands on the desert floor during a lunar eclipse or at the winter solstice (1970); A Stitch in Time for 11 Acoustical Sources (1970); The Clock Struck One, operaplay for Voices, Instruments, and Dervish Dancers (1970); Circles, Lines, Planes, a choreographed acoustical dance notated in the form of an enneagram, to be produced in a canyon by 9 Bagpipers and 9 x 9 Buglers (1970).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire