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"Kansas City Connections" was the second concert of the series Crossings by the contemporary chamber ensemble newEar. The concert featured works by five composers, all of whom were in attendance at the performance, and had a connection to Kansas City. The concert also featured Roger Landes who played the Irish bouzouki in two of the compositions.

An introductory talk preceded the concert. Questions from the audience led to a discussion about a shift in contemporary music away from the technical processes involved in composition and toward the end result, or 'Process vs. Product.'

One of the composers in the concert was Ingrid Stölzel whom I interviewed this last September about her piece With Both Eyes. In that interview Ingrid noted that she considers herself a melodist, or one concerned with the melody. She is more concerned about the emotion conveyed by the melody rather than the technical discipline used in constructing the piece. In the discussion at newEar she remarked that she sees herself as having matured into a more emotional composer. She has become less shy. She had been afraid to indulge in melody in the past because she felt it had no place in contemporary music.

Much of 20th century music is based on process. The technical part of arranging the music takes precedence in producing the overall result. The composers at newEar conveyed a perspective that their own music and new music, in general, is making a shift toward reversing that trend.

Stölzel's work With Both Eyes is all about melody. The work is strung together with strands of the melody played by all the members in the ensemble. This particular quartet was flute, guitar, piano and vibes. The piece is comprised of melodic fragments that are woven together into a seamless fabric of sound. The resulting form is more organic and emotional than a more process-driven structure.

Stölzel also commented on the challenge of writing for two instruments of similar tone and range, piano and guitar. One of the other composers on the newEar concert was the ensemble's Artistic Chair, David McIntire. His piece also involved two instruments of similar tone and range, bass clarinet and baritone saxophone. A percussionist on marimba and vibes completed the trio for From the Gland of Intention.

Counterpoint for two instruments of similar tone is a bit of a departure from previous styles. It complicates the 'Process' part of composition to use instruments this way. Some would say that two instruments of similar color would "fight" over the same place in the composition. McIntire's piece, like Stölzel's, also played with melody and fragments of melody but is now in a chase to a culminating motif. At the finale this motif is stomped out on the low range of the marimba and the other two bass wind instruments with a force that seemed to tap the ground. This sound was otherworldly as if opening a door on something beyond. McIntire said he thought of this piece as a sort of bagatelle--an innocent messenger. It was also an overture that opened the curtain with subtle variation in analogous counterpoint juxtaposed with surprising extremes. Throughout the concert each piece varied in the contrast of the counterpoint and the limits of the extreme.

Composer Narong Prangcharoen's Whispering is an emotional prayer from humanity to Heaven in regard to recent natural disasters throughout the world. The composition begins with one of the instrumentalists dropping a heavy metal chain on a low tom-tom drum, literally throwing down the trappings of grief. There were other sounds from the beyond: a prepared piano, breath through the bass clarinet, as well as melismatic notes and glissandi on the soprano saxophone and heavy use of percussion that lilted of an Asian influence. At one point the bass clarinet player got up and moved to the back of the stage and played to the back of the house. The sonic and observable effect of distance was explored and gave way to inclusion as the performer returned to his chair while playing. Utilising sounds that are unfamiliar and asking one of the instrumentalists to walk to the back of the stage and play away from the audience are both examples of using emotional response instead of technical precision.

There were two more compositions in the concert, both that incorporated Roger Landes on bouzouki. This is a medium sized tear-shaped 8-stringed instrument reminiscent of a large mandolin. It is essentially an Irish folk instrument derived from a Greek ancestor. Roger collects and plays many rare and unique stringed instruments.

Paul Elwood wrote In Blue Spaces for bouzouki and an ensemble of piano, flute, clarinet, cello, and two violins. Using folk idioms is nothing new to music, but to make the composition itself idiomatic by including the actual folk instrument is another departure from process-based music. It removes that part of the compositional process that would interpret a folk tune, and replaces it by actually including the folk instrument in the piece. And then takes that instrument to a new place as it explores combinations of pitches and phrases unusual to it. The bouzouki is more resonant of the emotional attachment to Irish tradition than an interpretation on another "classical" instrument.

Paul Rudy composed Sibling Rivalries for bouzouki and electronic accompaniment. He made samples of Roger Landes playing his collection of stringed instruments and other sounds to form a soundscape in which the solo live bouzouki explored. Rudy remarked in the pre-concert discussion that he has noticed the "shift from process to results" in composition. He said his music has "less to do with thinking and more to do with feeling." He thinks that artists are coming back to feeling and emotion and away from theory. He tries to compose as the listener.

The entire performance rendered great examples of new chamber music. The pre-concert discussion delved into a perceivable shift from 'Process' to 'Product' in new music. All five pieces were world premiers with one exception; Ingrid Stölzel's piece was premiered earlier this year. All the pieces showed an emphasis on emotion and a departure from process at varying degrees. All had an organic quality. Whereas before process-based music was looking outward to prove its character; now music is looking inward to uncover emotion.



REVIEW
newEar Contemporary Ensemble
"Crossings - Kansas City Connections"
Saturday, November 1 at 8 p.m.
816.235.6222 or www.newEar.org



  

By Scott Easterday

New Classical Contributor, VIDs Department Director

Scott Easterday is a musician and singer/songwriter. He writes reviews and performs interviews for KCMetropolis in New Classical and explores new directions in the performing arts.

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