Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. / David Borden - Make Way For Mother Mallard : 50 Years of Music 2 x CDs

SKU Rune 513/514
“I founded Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. in the spring of 1969. I was Composer-Pianist for Dance at Cornell University but I had also been working nights for two years at the Moog Company in Trumansburg, NY, a short drive from Ithaca, trying to understand the then-in-development Moog Synthesizer for making music and possibly to use it in live performance.

At first I used Mother Mallard to perform new music at Cornell because no one else was doing it. Steve Drews was the first member of my band. I was 30 and he was 23.

Our first few concerts involved asking other musicians to help and gathering amplification and sound system gear, which was new at the time for classical music. Some of the composers we presented on these early concerts were Robert Ashley, Morton Feldman, Daniel Lentz, Jon Hassell, Terry Riley, John Cage, Philip Glass, Steve Reich and others.

By 1970 Steve and I started performing with synthesizers while the MiniMoog was being invented. Bob Moog was an early supporter of the band and made sure we had the synthesizers we needed. We used the Model A Mini as well as a few portable modular models. It soon became obvious that we needed another keyboardist because all of the Moogs were monophonic (one could not play more than one note at a time) We soon found Linda Fisher; intrigued by the synthesizers, she decided to join our ensemble. By 1970, Mother Mallard became a synthesizer ensemble playing our own compositions. All the pieces on disc one are previously unreleased recordings from the 70s era band...

In 2000 I returned to my live synthesizer music and founded a new band. In 2006 I changed the live performance setup. Using Reason and Samplit software, we became a laptop-with-attached-keyboard-controllers ensemble—a computer ensemble. This made it much easier to travel. Sometimes the sponsor supplied the keyboards and we simply showed up with our laptops. But for our last concerts and recordings in 2019, which is what is represented here on disc two, we reverted back to analog, using many of the same instruments as the original 1970s band. After these concerts I retired from public performing.

This double CD recording is our last one. We have been with Cuneiform since the 1980s. It’s been a great 50 years with various ups and downs but it has always been fulfilling and continuously enlightening to be working with so many hard-working, beautiful and generous people.” – David Borden, 2023



"David Borden and Cuneiform’s relationship go back to even before Cuneiform, as I was a partner in a short-lived record label called Atmosphere that was meant to focus on electronic music and managed to put out two releases (Darren Kearns and The Nightcrawlers) before calling it a day. If my long-term memory serves me correctly, David Borden’s Anatidae was scheduled as Atmosphere’s third release, but when that label folded and as I had recently established Cuneiform on my own, it became Cuneiform’s fourth release.

David Borden is a woefully under-valued pioneer of electronic music and a marvelous composer. Besides his hugely important recordings and performances, he established and headed Cornell University’s Digital Music Program. He’s had a hugely active (if little noticed) career and I’m personally thrilled to be able to work with Dave again on one final release for our 40th year!" – Steve Feigenbaum

  • LabelCuneiform
  • UPC045775051321
Your Price $21.00
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