David Borden

Since the 1970s David Borden has pioneered electronic and minimalist music while serving as leader of Mother Mallard, the first ensemble devoted exclusively to synthesizers. The group issued its initial pair of recordings, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company and Like a Duck to Water, across the years 1973–1976.

After the ensemble dissolved in the late 1970s, Borden refined his compositional technique and brought out Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments in 1981. Mother Mallard later reassembled to record Anatidae for Cuneiform in 1986; the subsequent album Migration from 1988 incorporated jazz improvisation into the ensemble’s sound.

Between 1976 and 1987 Borden completed the twelve-part cycle The Continuing Story of Counterpoint, which appeared on three compact discs. The work fuses electronics with classical procedures, strict counterpoint, and dense textures, yielding an inventive yet immediately engaging listening experience.

Borden issued the more reflective Cayuga Night Music on the Linden Music label. Places, Times & People, released by Cuneiform, consists chiefly of solo keyboard pieces.