Honoring Music's Nontradition

Carefully stepping between moments of sharp dissonances and orchestrated whispers, Wednesday's Contemporary Music Ensemble concert led its audience through four excerpts spanning 50 years of non-traditional performance pieces.

Bookended with Sofia Gubaidulina's "Concordanza" and Toru Takemitsu's "Archipelago S.," the 90-minute performance highlighted the Ensemble's ability to adapt to different repertoire within the limits of one sitting. Gubaidulina uses the tools of solo parts versus group collaboration to guide her musicians through thematic surges of mock-bee-buzzing to violent pizzicato panic and the quiet valleys in between. On the other hand, the piece that followed, American Lou Harrison's "Suite for Violin, Piano, and Small Orchestra" was much more traditional, both in rhythm and tempo, as well as the organization of the piece itself.

Perhaps "Concordanza" was placed first because of the most obvious aspect that separated it from the others, arguably deeming it the most successful performance of the evening. Midway through the piece, fragments of human-voiced "shh"-ing and "tsh"-ing echoed across the stage in no apparent organized fashion. The musicians' voices were so subtle that at first, one might have wondered where the white noise was coming from. In the down time, cellist Adam Friedberg led the group through quiet moments of non-spoken hush, with bass, violin and light cymbals building anticipation.

Harrison's "Suite," the longest piece on the program, opened with "Overture," featuring a single grand piano in center stage, an upright piano further bac, and a celeste to one side. Harrison's notorious East Asian influences were apparent from the get-go; later movements, "First Gamelan" and "Second Gamelan," were the most prominent examples of the composer's favoritism toward these styles. The pianos shone as percussive instruments and kept constant time throughout these movements. Though the grand pianist made a few insignificant mistakes in difficult, fast-paced octave jumps, for the most part, the richness of the tonality in the orchestra compensated and flaws went virtually unnoticed.

After a brief intermission, Weiss re-entered the Finney stage with tongue-in-cheek class as he pushed his conducting platform aside to begin Conlon Nancarrow's "Piece No. 2 for Small Orchestra," with almost the full ensemble on-stage. Much of "Piece No. 2" is a conversation between two pianos, played by senior Emily Manzo and senior Mark Polesky, though one of them was set up so far back on stage that it becomes forgotten. Nancarrow writes in so many fragments, it is difficult to make any sense out of such sounds as sharp trumpet calls.

Finally, the stage was rearranged for contemporary music giant Takemitsu's "Archipelago S." The composer's original program notes specify that the piece be performed by 21 players, arranged into five groups throughout the stage, representing the groups of "islands" that the piece is named for. For the CME's performance, there were three distinct groups on the stage itself and two lone clarinetists hiding on the balconies over-looking Weiss. Though Takemitsu's specific stage-directions, the piece was successful nonetheless.

Despite harpist Catherine Barrett's poignant introduction, Weiss was apparently dissatisfied enough with the first 40 seconds of the Takemisu that he turned to his audience to declare, "We're going to start again." Seemingly unfazed, the CME began again with confidence scared into them and played solidly through the end of the concert. Outstanding performances were contributed by flutist Claire Chase and the brass instruments in the Ensemble; they tied the abstracted moments of the piece together.

"Archipelago S.," composed to mimic conversations amongst the five, reflects obvious Debussy influences but sounds just as modern as its atonality would have the audience assume. The duality of the piece, as well as Takemitsu's infamous writing-style, made for a fitting ending to the concert.