ARTS

CME keeps on going, and going

by Emily Manzo

As Tim Weiss explained to the audience in Finney Chapel on Wednesday evening, "At the Contemporary Music Ensemble's last concert I featured just one work, so I thought at this one..."-he'd feature seven.

The seven pieces couldn't have been any more different than the last contemporary music event at Oberlin: John Luther Adams' "In the White Silence." While that piece focused on the power of concentrated sound, this week's concert was very dispersed and diverse.

Oddly enough, the program began with the Oberlin Wind Ensemble performing "Serenade No.12" by good old W.A. Mozart. Members of the group could not have disagreed that their appearance on this particular stage was odd; there were, perhaps, some ulterior-motives of the conductor going on behind the scenes.

Despite very sensitive playing-particularly on the part of Junior Debra Nagy, oboeist-audience members didn't sit up straight until the Contemporary Music Ensemble first came on stage, and the Mozart only made the evening longer.

"Musicians Wrestle Everywhere" by Judith Weir and Ellen Taffe Zwilich's "Concerto for Trumpet and Five Players" were two spirited pieces for smaller ensembles on the first half of the program.

Weir's "Musicians Wrestle Everywhere," named after a poem by Emily Dickinson, captured the feeling of "New Life!" as described by Dickinson. The "urban folk" elements in the rhythm and melodies were very apparent and well defined by the performers.

Zwilich's "Concerto" featured assistant professor of trumpet Ryan Anthony, whose virtuosity pierced every rafter of Finney Chapel, and culminated in the short cadenza at the end of "Allegro Energico." Zwilich's play on a single rhythmic theme in each movement made for a very cohesive listening experience. All players in this small ensemble had a substantial supporting role, especially Junior pianist Mark Polesky who found his way on stage for an excellent performance in practically every piece on the program.

"Psalmodies" by composer Poul Ruders was a truly stunning piece and performance. Senior classical guitarist Joshua Miller gave a tremendous display of artistry in his interpretation of the solo part. The 11-movement work moved through a variety of sound colors and expressions.

Ruders's sense of a beautiful motion was exemplified in sections such as "Cadence for one," and "Cadence for all." With precision and concern for every arrival of a sonority and execution of a gesture, Miller and the members of CME did more than respectable homage to Ruders' intentions.

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the premiere of Benedict Weisser's work, "Songs without words" for chamber orchestra and tape. Drafts of cold air sifting in from the outside only added to the chilling effects of this composition-it would have felt like December no matter when it was heard.

Against the stark backdrop of Ezra Pound's distorted Italian radio propaganda broadcast, a percussionist slapped two tambourines against his sides in a hollow pulse independent from the material written for strings and piano. The tape fragments and dance tunes shifted in and out of consciousness as the listener was drawn to following the tambourine slaps.

One was surrounded, primarily, by composition students if one stayed until the end of the concert, and not just for the cause of hearing more and more contemporary music. It was THEIR music-60-90 second orchestra sound bites, to be exact-arranged by Ben Weisser and conducted by senior Amitabh Rao.

As Weisser stated in program notes, "Little Train Party (89 eclections from 'Prelude to a Diva')" including works by Juniors Kevin Cron, Corey Dargel, Manu Vimalassery, Sophomore Yvan Greenberg, Seniors Jarred McAdams, Toshio Mana, Pushkar, Amitabh Rao, Huang Ruo, and Ian Shafer, "is very much in tune with our pluralistic cultural environment."

Contrary to "Six Composers, 3 pianos, 12 hands," featured on Tuesday night's composers' concert, the personalities of the individuals were not evident at all. By the end of the "train party," there was a very socialist smear of the borders between what were once separate entities.

Although the crowd had severely disbanded by the time Harrison Birtwistle's "Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum" came to the stage, CME certainly had not. Weiss and the ensemble maintained a communicable fervor for the material until the very end.

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Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 12, December 11, 1998

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