New York New Music Ensemble
New York New Music EnsembleThe New York New Music Ensemble began with a bang,
literally. This ensemble has been around for twenty-three
years and it is considered to be �the raising standard� in
contemporary chamber music. On Thursday afternoon, I saw
the ensemble perform three pieces: Trio, Nutturno, and
Marxville Songbook. These three possess very similar tone
color and composition.
The ensemble�s first piece, Trio, was composed by Donald
Martino. This musician pursued his interest in music at a
very young age. By age fifteen, he did not only know how to
play various instruments, but he also started composing.
Martino excelled as a member of American Academy of Arts
and Letters and was rewarded scholarships. In 1974,
Martino�s classic sextet, Notturno, won him the Pulitzer
Prize in music.
In Notturno there are three large parts, which could be
described as movements that maintain the music�s
continuity. Within these three movements, there are
nineteen smaller parts. The first and last movements have
nine parts that make up the contrasting sounds in the
music. The final movement concentrates more on the pitch
transformation. Structurally, this format would be a
recapitulation, but the use of pitch transforms it into
something new. To emphasize the pitch fluctuation, three
different kinds of flutes were played. Because of the pitch
variation in this piece, there were many melodies to
follow. In a way, the music sounded like sound effects to a
horror flick. For example, the tone color of the piece
would be nice and calm then all of a sudden the percussion
would contribute a crashing sound and disturb the quiet.
Towards the end of the piece, the musicians tapped their
instruments to add to the eerie atmosphere.
In comparison to Notturno, Martino�s Trio (the first piece
played) still produced the same psychotic and dramatic
sound. This instrumental consisted of small packets of
sound played softly then fiercely. The ensemble began the
piece slowly and worked its way to climactic units of music
throughout the set. The violin�s sound danced along the
piano�s ground. The piano set the rhythm, while the
clarinet and violin built on top of it.
This piece was a good example of non-imitative polyphony
because the clarinet and violin were playing melodies of
their own. To complete the piece, the clarinet trailed off
leaving the audience uneasy.
The second piece the ensemble performed was the
Marxville Songbook, which was composed by Jeffrey
Stadelman. Stadelman , an educated musician, studied
composition at University of Wisconsin at Madison and
received a Ph. D. in music from Harvard. He...
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