Composer Michael Markowski (b. 1986) claims that he is “fully qualified to watch movies and cartoons” on the basis of his bachelors degree in film from Arizona State University. Despite this humility regarding his musical training (and glossing over the performance of his joyRIDE at Carnegie Hall when he was a high school senior, and his Frank Ticheli composition prize for Shadow Rituals the following year), he has gained attention as a composer of unique and sophisticated works for wind bands at all levels, film, and other media. His works are being performed across the United States and around the world, leading to an ever-growing list of commissions and guest appearances.
Markowski wrote Machiavelli’s Conscience in 2017. It was commissioned by a consortium of individuals and institutions led by Sean D. Smith, who conducted the premiere at the University of Illinois on April 23 of that year. Its instrumentation (flute, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones) matches that of the legendary Stravinsky Octet. It is dedicated to Elizabeth and Steve Peterson. Markowski provides his own program notes (to which I have added links):
Machiavelli’s Conscience refers to the Italian writer and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli who is perhaps best known today for having written a political treatise called The Prince in the early 1500s. To quote Wikipedia: “The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes—such as glory and survival—can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.” Think: Frank Underwood from House of Cards. This is where the word “Machiavellian” comes from. When a person is described as being Machiavellian, he or she is allegedly “cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one’s career.” The more I discovered Machiavelli (who wasn’t known for always writing this darkly… he wrote comedies and plays and songs, too), the more I became fascinated by how a person like this could possibly come to some of these morally-outrageous but politically-justified conclusions. At its core, I think the octet imagines the cogs of such a conflicted mind at work as it searches for a way to justify these radical ideas in the name of power and ego.
Machiavelli’s Conscience premiered on April 23, 2017 at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, under the direction of Sean Smith. The musicians were: Tori Lupinek (flute), Anjali Sivaainkaran (clarinet), Annie Lyle Mason (bassoon), Garrett Jones (bassoon), Ashley Hedlund (trumpet), Dylan Meyer (trumpet), Brandon Jarot (trombone), Reid Lasley (bass trombone).
The world premiere recording, by the Hartwick Faculty Wind Octet, conducted by Andy Pease (yes that’s me):
See more at Michael Markowski’s website.