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Texas Christian University Review
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School of
Music
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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE IS IMPRESSIVE AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE
written by Gerald Gabel of TCU (Texas Christian University).
The ensemble from the Center for
New Music at the University of Iowa established itself as one of the leading
proponents of recent music with a stunning performance at the Society
of Composers, Inc. Region 1 Conference Friday, November 20, at
Connecticut College in New London, CT. The Center for New Music, a vital
force in decades past, had fallen on lean times and relinquished, at least in
part, its leadership role. Under the able guidance of David Gompper,
the Center and the ensemble appear ready to fill the void of recent years
with precision performances of works by established and emerging composers.
If Friday's concert was any indication, the ensemble, especially, is
back with a vengeance!
Flashbacks (1995) by Mario Davidovsky provided an engaging beginning. The work
exhibits the language of his Synchronisms series (for which he is most revered) updated and
expanded. The allusion to music of his past is relevant for Flashbacks, in the composer's
words, "is a musical fantasy attempting to make an intelligible musical narrative out of an
apparent chaotic landscape": a landscape of musical images recalled during the composition
process. The resilience of the work lies in adept manipulation of rapid textural changes
signaled by striking and forceful ensemble gestures and extreme sensitivity to timbral
nuance. Virtuosity was a major aspect of this work and one wonders why the composer's
large chamber and orchestral works are not performed more often.
Composer/conductor/pianist David Gompper's Finnegan's Wake (1997), for violin
and piano, is a transformation of two Irish fiddle tunes via rhythmic manipulations evoking
a playful dialogue between the performers. Gompper's ability to fluidly move between
disparite styles was impressive. At one moment the Irish idiom predominated which was
followed by a style more reminescent of ragtime which led to a section in a thoroughly
modern mode; at one moment quasitonal and the next invoking abstract tonal relations.
The work does not make a direct, dramatic statement, and is probably not intended to do
so. It does provide an enjoyable stylistic excursion not unlike recalling contrasting
musical moments in rapid succession. The success of this effort was amplified by
impressive performances from both Gompper and violinist Andrew Carlson.
Gompper's Don't Go There (1998) was composed for those performers who appeared
in only one other work on the concert. It's style was significantly different from
Finnegan's Wake which underscores a fact which became evident as the concert progressed:
David Gompper is a composer and performer of unquestioned talent and considerable range.
The combination of bassoon, horn, violin, viola, double bass, harp, percussion and piano
is not easy to manipulate but the composer produced impressive music. Particularly
engaging was the middle section with its ostinato interplay between viola (with the
strings delicately struck with a metal rod) and double bass which transformed into a
dialogue between double bass and marimba. The ostinato eventually manifested itself
in a multi-part counterpoint shared by the entire ensemble. The work once again displayed
the composer's ability to connect highly contrasting and adroitly shaped events with
apparent ease.
Highly regarded for intricate contrapuntal manipulation and sensitive
orchestration, Bernard Rands' Concertino for Oboe and Ensemble (1998) carried these
trademarks to new heights. But the Concertino exhibits a more subtle declamation than
is usual for the composer. Its apex is achieved through a masterful reflection of
materials between soloist and ensemble often in a multi-part stretto. Its lyric melodic
materials ultimately transform into a breathtaking section of delicate, intricate, yet
intense flourishes. Rands' use of multi-timbral octave or unison articulations of
selected pitches in a melodic line provide an orchestrational and, at times, harmonic
complexity which is seductive in its beauty and engaging in its intricacy. Soloist Mark
Weiger's virtuosic abilities were a perfect fit for this difficult work. His playing was
smooth and lyric. He approached even the most difficult passages with absolute precision
and ease: no gesture was labored. Not since Heinz Holliger in his prime have we heard an
oboist with his control and mastery.
Conference Director Noel Zahler's Agarttha (1998), which drew extramusical influence
from the book Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, was written for an ensemble of 17
performers. At the beginning, a very mysterious soundscape develops (not unlike that
of the opening of Le Bon Pasteur from Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint-Sebastien) with
focal points being crystalline chordal articulations in the upper ambitus of the ensemble
set against a low rumble characterized by the contrabassoon. This was followed by contrasts
between flights of figuration and near massive sonorities: sometimes eery and mystical
and at other times irritated and edgy. While the work was highly impressive in its performed
state, it is a "work in progress." It will be interesting to hear the completed version
for it suggests not only satisfaction, but also intense engagement.
Perhaps the most controversial work on the program was Sinatra Shag by Michael Daugherty.
The work was inspired by a postcard from 1966 of Nancy Sinatra sitting on a motorcycle,
wearing, among other garments on would presume, a pair of knee high white boots. It is
a high energy work with quotations from rock and roll which has become a Daugherty
trademark. Even though it was extremely well performed (solo violinist Takuya Horiuchi
was particularly impressive), the work fails to capture the imagination beyond providing
a diversion. It has its pleasing aspects but does not possess the degree of structural
elegance and depth which is expected in works for the concert stage.
Performing William Albright's Abiding Passions (1988) for Woodwind Quintet at the end of
a concert for mostly larger ensembles could have been anti-climactic. But this fact was
overcome not only by the marvelous performance, but also by the memory of Albright's
demise on September 17, 1998. The final movement, entitled "Stage Four: Loss", was
strongly felt by an audience aware of Albright's lifetime contributions to education,
research, creativity and the elevation of his art. Abiding Passions is in four short,
subtle and strongly contrasted movements displaying a wide range of characters. The
first movement featured rapid, agitated repetitions of pitches, the second a mesmerizing
ascending and then descending broken chordal texture and the third short, fast figuration
separated by silences of varying lengths.
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