“New Music,” says Pete Jarvis, “is, by definition, anything that is new and is music.” This simple response to the simple question “what is New Music?” is deceptively trenchant—it points to the difficulty of labeling a contemporary phenomenon, an art movement that has not happened but is happening.
Jarvis is professionally involved in the New Music world, where he has been variously composing, performing and directing since the ’70s. Twelve years ago he came to Conn, where he “immediately” founded the New Music ensemble and combined it with the percussion ensemble.
What is New Music? Jarvis’ first response doesn’t cover it. New Music deals with contemporary music, yes, but you won’t find house music or electronic covers of Taylor Swift at a New Music performance. What is called “New Music” has been around for decades. It is populated by serious musicians who look to take risks and experiment with the art form. Jarvis tells me that it might be called “contemporary art music, or contemporary chamber music,” but these titles are as provisional as “New Music,” and that’s the point: you can’t put a solid label on something that is constantly evolving. The norms are nascent. The musicians are interested in creating, not labeling. “There is no title that really fits it,” says Jarvis, so we call it New, and get back to the Music.
So what does the New Music ensemble do? What do they look like? What do they sound like?
I spoke with some students who have performed with New Music, and they had some provocative things to say. James O’Connor ’15 described to me a piece for thirteen percussionists called “Ionization” by Edgard Varèse. This piece is one of the first concert pieces for percussion alone. In this piece, O’Connor played the bass drum, the cowbell, the marimba, the gong and the cymbal. Also featured were two other gongs, a piano, a glockenspiel, a whip, a duet of sirens and something called a lion’s roar.
This latter sentiment was confirmed by Jesse Guterman ’16, who said that the most characteristic pieces of the New Music ensemble are those featuring a large group and open instrumentation. Open instrumentations means that a piece can support any variety and any number of instruments (depending on the size of the performance space), and there is often some form of improvisation. Guterman described a piece called “Coming Together” by Frederic Rzewski in which a soloist and an open group of instruments accompany a reading of a poem about the 1971 Attica prison riots, At the close of this piece, Guterman recalled, they filled Evans Performance Hall with smoke and colored lights. “I don’t think they’ve ever done that in Evans,” he said, laughing, “and I don’t think they will again for a long time.”
Not every piece performed by the ensemble is as provocative as “Coming Together” or “Ionization,” but these pieces represent the elements of risk taking, improvisation and innovation that are central to the New Music literature. There are as yet few standards in the New Music world, and there are no guarantees—there are no Beethoven’s 9ths that come prepackaged with universal interest and applause.
For director Jarvis, every choice of repertoire constitutes a risk. Recognizing and choosing quality literature, he says, is central to the success of a New Music ensemble. This is more the case in the professional world than in a collegiate setting, where the possible consequences of risk-taking are less. This leaves more room for “artistic freedom” in the college’s ensemble and allows Jarvis, as an educator, to expose students to a diverse selection of music. In view of this, he has been able to create a give-and-take sort of relationship with his students in rehearsal and in choice of music. This facet of the ensemble was valued by each performer I spoke to.
The importance of quality literature does not limit the ensemble to what has already been done. New Music often plays brand new music. They have premiered pieces written by students, by Jarvis and by names in the industry. “When you don’t have anything else available,” said Jarvis, “you can compose or commission a piece.” He has written four pieces for student performers, including a piece for two kick-drums for an athlete-musician who was unable to perform a senior percussion recital after an arm injury.
This experimentation, this risk-taking, is inherent to a New Music ensemble—it is integral to discovering the good literature. By taking the risk of what is new, the college’s ensemble helps to shape the future of art music.
To this effect, Jarvis made the important observation that all music was once new music, that every masterpiece of the past was once a contemporary risk. And now that we have an established body of literature, Jarvis finds that there is less willingness on the part of musicians to take the essential, history-creating risk of performing new music. Many musicians fall back on what is established. He himself continues to take the risk of New Music in his professional life. He brings his experience to the college where he encourages student musicians to take the same risks.
In this environment, trust and cooperation are “of paramount importance for the development of the literature.” As both composer and performer, Jarvis says that it is essential for each role to “establish relationships and trust with its counterpart. When composers trust performers and vice versa, they become willing to collaborate. The result can lead to the creation of a great deal of music.”
To listeners, junior Music major Anna Westbrook ’16 has this to say: “You will react to this music,” she says with a laugh, “New Music produces some mind-blowing sounds, and whether you love or hate the music, it will create discussions. These musicians are choosing to create new rules.” •
