Essay, Research Paper: New York New Music Ensemble

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.