Meet the 2001 MTNA-Shepherd: distinguished composer of the year - Composer Commissioning - Music Teachers National Association - Brief Article

American Music Teacher, June-July, 2002 by Thomas Ediger

David Mullikin exemplifies the modern performer/composer. When the Colorado Music Teachers Association offered him a commission with the suggestion he compose for piano trio, he consulted his colleagues in the Ariel Trio, the piano trio David has performed with since 1991. Mullikin composed Voice of the River Han, a song cycle for piano trio and soprano, the piece for which he has been named the 2001 MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Mullikin holds degrees in music performance from the University of Cincinnati and the University ofs Michigan. He has been a member of the Colorado Symphony, formerly the Denver Symphony, since 1973.

Over several e-mails, phone calls and an extended face-to-face meeting, I learned about David. He told me all of his compositions are written for specific performances. I asked him how he started composing.

"I was always fascinated by composition. Sitting in an orchestra for twenty hours a week for twenty-nine years you hear a lot of music, both good and bad," he says. "I tended to be pretty analytical about the music."

Mullikin says he didn't get around to writing any music until he was about 40. He got involved with the Colorado Symphony Education Department, composing musical programs to be presented to area school children. Overture for Strings was one of his first compositions created for the Up Close and Musical String Ensemble, a group from the Colorado Symphony who presented these educational programs. Since then he has been a pioneer in creating widely presented curriculum outreach programs, including "Math Notes" and "The Music of Life."

While he was playing serious chamber music in the Ariel Trio, his colleagues encouraged him to write music for their concerts. The results were such original compositions as Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird and the whimsical Fables for Piano Trio.

David credits his parents as his primary musical influences. They were enthusiastic music aficionados who took him to concerts and arranged for piano and cello lessons.

"My father had an extensive record collection, and his passion was Mozart. The music I grew up with had fairly definite boundaries: Haydn to Wagner. Through The Well Tempered Clavier, I developed a feel for counterpoint. In high school, I started to get excited about Bartok and Stravinsky."

He also was influenced by movie music.

"I remember getting a reel-to-reel tape recording that had the music to Ben Hur and How the West Was Won. I just had to figure out how the composer created the emotional effects and how they used the orchestra. Jon Deak, who was composer-in-residence with the Colorado Symphony in the 1990s, also taught me that it is okay for serious music to be entertaining."

Voice of the River Hah is based on eight Korean poems and incorporates two Korean folk melodies. "Han" is an actual river in Korea. The word also means melancholy or tragedy. In creating Voice of the River Han, the idea of using Korean folk poems seemed natural since this would involve the native culture of soprano Mee-Ae Nam, who was performing this piece. David says this is the first time he has composed for voice.

"The text really helped, calling to mind the alleged comment of Puccini that he could not write a note without a libretto. It also helped that each of the eight poems was relatively short, so the musical ideas could be direct and simple," Mullikin says.

The poems included in the cycle are "Old Age," "Spring," "A Mountain Remains," "Awakening," "Drinking Song," "I Bade you Farewell," "A Dash of Rain" and the "Lantern."

When asked about his sources for inspiration, Mullikin indicated he is very drawn to literary texts. In addition, David says melody and rhythm are most important to him in composing music. He also likes to create an evocative mood. This is evident in Voice of the River Han. To add a variety of colors in the song cycle, the string players are asked to double on percussion instruments. We hear the cellist playing cymbal and mark tree and the violinist playing triangle and drum.

Voice of the River Han is an evocative and sensitive song cycle with colorful Korean-influenced melodies and rhythms. It is a privilege to introduce the 2001 MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year, David Mullikin. Watch for him in the future.

--Thomas Ediger, NCTM
MTNA Composer Commissioning Chair
Nebraska City, Nebraska
He is director of choral activities and
professor of music at Peru State College.