2/26/15

Alexis Brown

Acb3578

Story #1 Rewrite

New Music, Different Sound

The newest genre in the music world right now, new music, has been labeled as

odd, groundbreaking and just all around different.

“(New music) isn’t fun to listen to, but it’s really enjoyable to play,” Michael

Zahlit, junior, viola performance major said. Zahlit continued by adding that new music

is enjoyable to play because of the tempo of the songs and how different it is from any

other genre of music out there right now.

The Butler School of Music, at the University of Texas at Austin, displayed new

music during its New Music Ensemble. The ensemble was hosted at the Bates Recital

Hall on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m., with the audience consisting of roughly 115 people.

The ensemble opened up with apiece titled “Divertimento,” composed by Andrew

Boss. This particular piece was different from the rest because the composer actually

played it himself on the piano. From the audience’s reactions it appeared he did his own

work justice.

The ensemble closed with a piece titled, “Hamburg Concerto,” composed by

Gyorgi Ligeti. The members ranged from horn players to percussion, so the piece itself

had an incredibly rich and deep sound based on the instruments chosen. Although some

people, like Zahlit, who was working the event may not particularly, “love New Music,

but (he) truly appreciates the pushing of limits on traditional composing structure.” And

thus, “(New Music) has grown on (him).”

On the other hand, Madison Fagan, sophomore, fashion design major, had never

heard of new music. She attended the event as a requirement for her Introduction to

Western Music class, but ended up falling in love with the genre. She added that, “even

though I had never really heard new music before, I went into it with an open mind and

ended up really enjoying myself. If I had to make an analogy, I’d compare it to modern

art. You never really know what you’re getting yourself into, and I think it takes a certain

type of person to appreciate that type of art. Not everyone is going to understand or like

it, but the ones who do, really enjoy it.”

There was an obvious difference in student’s opinions on the genre, but what

about the opinions of composers? One composer, Troy Armstrong, is someone who

personally pushes the limits of basic structure, or as he put it, “makes something out of

nothing.” Armstrong, in addition to being a composer, is also a stage manager for the

Butler School of Music.

Armstrong is in the master’s program as a first year at UT. Since he is a composer

he shared the feeling composers experience when hearing their music being played.

Hearing his music being played is exciting because he sits so long in silence with a piece,

but until he hears someone play the music, it isn’t brought to life. Adding that, “you

know the piece, but you don’t truly know it until (someone) performs it,” so that’s one of

the many reasons he specifically loves new music. This genre poses the innate ability to

come to life off the page through performance.

Another appeal new music brings for Armstrong is its transformation through

practice. His favorite rehearsals are always the first one and the rehearsal right before the

performance because you see the biggest transformation, in his opinion, of any genre. It’s

basically like listening to a new song every time, is how he put it.

For Armstrong he connected with new music because he saw in it what he also

saw in his favorite instrument, the bassoon. “It’s very unique, and like an odd ball, (but

there’s also) a really rich sound and it’s so lyrical. I just kind of fell into it,” Armstrong

added in reference with how he ended up loving it and being really good at it.