Ceaseless Staircase (2024) at SCMEA 2024
Ceaseless Staircase ships as a fully bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for either printing or tablet viewing.
M.C. Escher’s Ascending and Descending (1960) depicts a series of faceless figures trudging up and down never-ending stairs. The feelings of disorientation and monotony this visual work conjures in many have been quite cleverly bottled and made palatable in Ceaseless Staircase by Matthew Kilby.
Written for an experienced marimba soloist and percussion quintet, the piece employs various harmonic and rhythmic devices that depict a sense of unending routine; however, Kilby has accomplished this with sparks of musical energy that make it anything but tedious to perform or listen to.
The Pocket Sized Funk Machine (2022)
5A Allstate Percussion Ensemble TMEA 2024
Matthew Kilby describes The Pocket-Sized Funk Machine as "a malfunctioning musical box." Scored for advanced percussion ensemble, this work is equal parts funky, off-kilter, and absurd. Groovy bebop lines sputter into minimalist phrases, whirls around the circle of 5ths, and Jacob Collier-inspired beats.
The piece offers a high degree of individual responsibility, with each player providing a unique layer to the grooves and musical episodes. The xylophone player is invited to "lean back" their feel on solo lines; the drumset part may be embellished freely; even the glockenspiel part enjoys an unexpected solo moment over a heavy-hitting percussion beat. Kilby's work is uniquely humorous yet listenable, and is a well-rounded addition to concert programs!
The Pocket-Sized Funk Machine ships as a printed, professionally bound score, and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or tablet viewing.
This new percussion ensemble piece is described as the sound of a “malfunctioning musical box that sputters (often abruptly) into off-kilter funky episodes.” A recurring melodic theme and groove are the earworm, while the “sputters” are fun and interesting surprises.
The piece not only requires multiple players capable of advanced four-mallet parts, but the entire ensemble must understand various time signatures, including 12/16. The timpani player doubles the bass guitar often, which requires a lot of pedaling. In the performance notes, Matthew Kilby includes suggestions for substituting or doubling instruments, if necessary. He also mentions that the drum set part, which is notated, can be “embellished to taste.”
The score is very well-marked, clear, and user-friendly. I recommend this piece for an advanced high school or university percussion ensemble. The harmonic language and groove are accessible to both audience and players. The “off-kilter” nature gives the music just enough unpredictability to keep the audience guessing.
—Justin Bunting
Percussive Notes
Vol. 60, No. 5, October 2022
Appian Way (Steel Band) 2021
Indiana University Steel Band Spring 2022
Signals in the Dark (Steel Band + Timba Rhythm Section) 2020
Indiana University Steel Band Spring 2022
Photovoltaic (2019)
By the photovoltaic effect, light from the sun bombards electrons, kicking them from their stable configuration and through a solar cell. Photovoltaic depicts how this chaotic quantum interaction can produce a continuous current and ultimately generate enough electricity to power our society’s future.
Inklings 2019
An inkling is a slight knowledge or suspicion; a hint. Inklings is meditative but also yearning and eager, at least, before refocusing. It is a sketch of a self-aware but distracted mind, looking for a way to calm its passions and express them as coherent thoughts. It is a gentle mantra to be mindful in the face of tangled reality.
Performer Notes:
This piece is not meant to be too metronomic or rhythmic. Find the melody and let it guide you through the accompaniment, never letting the two conflict. There are moments that are written as four against three, and flowing moments written as 16th notes. Please understand that these are moments of impressionism, meant to be romantically “sloppy” and gestural, and are not meant to be played mechanically.
