The 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 too, like

Donald Martino, was recognized for his musical

accomplishments with various awards . Today, Stadelman

works as an assistant professor of music at the State

University of New York, Buffalo where he teaches

composition and twentieth century music. He has also

written many books on musical subjects since 1986.

Stadelman s, Marxville Songbook, has two songs that

are about the same length. This piece did not seem to have

a set beat, but after getting used to the harsh sounds, a

rhythm can be found. In this case, the percussion had some

fill-ins and served as an accompaniment to the whole

ensemble. In this piece, it sounds as if the musicians were

given different sheets of music and were asked to play

together. The texture of this piece was very loose. The

musicians played their own melodies simultaneously making

their set a little coherent. Dissonance was a major element

that the composer included. There were few moments of

consonance, which were quickly masked by the dissonance.

The music did not give a sense of obvious return to a

single theme.

The three pieces I heard were very similar to each

other. If I did not take notes on the pieces, I would be

completely lost. The music I heard barely had any structure

because it seemed as if the musicians were improvising and

hitting harsh notes at their own whim. This music is

different than anything that I have ever heard because I am

not used to it. The music I listen to has many reoccurring

themes. The themes that the New York New Music Ensemble

played were hard for my ears to pick up. The tunes were not

catchy at all because the melodies kept changing. To me,

Notturno and Marxville Songbook sounded alike because they

included the same instruments. I found it interesting that

the xylophone was included because it made the music

creepier. I always associated the xylophone s sound with

something happier and orderly. The ensemble did a good job

in showing me that any instruments can be used to produce

an effect. To me, the closest musician to keeping a ground

bass was the pianist because all the other instruments

played as an accompaniment.

This music was new to me because I am accustomed to hearing

drums as the basis and foundation for any group of

musicians. The combination of a piano, flute, xylophone,

percussion, clarinet, cello, and violin contributed to the

music s atmosphere of confusion. Overall, I thought the

concert was a new experience because it opened me up to

another world of music.