Luciform for flute and electronics
Density 2036: part i (2013)
Latin lux, lucis (light) + form, "light-form"
Lucifer "light-bearer", "the morning star"
Seeking illumination through transgression of boundaries.
Luciform is a concerto for flute and electronic music. Luciform is a journey inward, a movement through a series of vision states. A difficult path, a rite of passage, hovering between diabolical intensity and lucid wakefulness.
Mario Diaz de Leon is a composer, performer, and recording artist, whose creative work explores intersections of sound, spirituality, and technology. His music has been acclaimed by the New York Times, Pitchfork, and the New Yorker, and he has received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and TAK Ensemble. Diaz de Leon is concurrently active in modern classical music, experimental electronic music, improvisation, and metal, having produced over a dozen albums of his work in collaboration with chamber ensembles, as a solo electronic artist, in the duo Luminous Vault, and with the improvisation trio Bloodmist. In his teenage years he explored electronic, metal, and hardcore music, which was followed by study at Oberlin Conservatory and Columbia University, where he received a doctorate in music composition. Under the stage name Oneirogen, he released several albums of heavy ambient electronics performed internationally, including CTM Festival in Berlin; Donaufestival in Krems, Austria; and The Kitchen in NYC. The first electronic release under his own name, Heart Thread, was released in 2022, and pursues an immersive, ecstatic sound across two side-long pieces scored for an ensemble of synthesizers, woodwind timbres, and electronic percussion. Heart Thread, Diaz de Leon explains, “is a way for me to explore sacred expressions of abundance—a technology for channeling mystical experience.” Having previously taught at Columbia as Core Lecturer, he is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Technology at Stevens Institute of Technology.