Contemplating Today's Musical Styles

Contemplating Today’s Musical Styles:

An Observation from IRC 2007

July, 2007

Founded in 1954 by the International Music Council with the financial assistance of the UNESCO and participating broadcasting networks, International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) has been an annual conference of exchange and promotion of contemporary music for half of a century. IRC 2007 took place at Radio France, Paris in early June. The author was a delegate representing Hong Kong to attend IRC this year. Sixty-four recent compositions from thirty-one nations and regions were presented at IRC 2007. The submitted compositions contain a wide variety of genres and styles. Among the sixty-four pieces, twenty-six are orchestral, twenty-eight are for vocal, instrumental or mixed ensembles, two are for piano solo, seven involve electronics, and one is computer music. Followings are some of the distinct styles presented:

Post-Ligeti: Most of the orchestral works clearly present a post-Ligeti 1960’s sound world in which static qualities and textures dominate. Bulgarian composer Martin Georgief’s Heavenly Reflections, an orchestral work dedicated to Ligeti, is the best example. Other examples include Hungarian composer Gyula Bánkövi’s Les fleurs du vent (The Flowers of the Wind), and two Estonian composers’ works. While most of the avant-garde compositions presented are slow-moving, a few works are just the opposite. German composer Andreas Dohmen’s rapid-moving chamber work Kulmannkommentar is the best example. Some other avant-garde pieces tend to feature extreme register, timbre and dynamics, for example, German composer Beat Furrer’s Lotòfagos for soprano and double bass.
Electronic vs. acoustic sounds: IRCAM has long been the centre of contemporary musical development, particularly on electronic and computer music. The spectral school emphasizes the creation of new harmonic and tone colors based on the harmonic overtone series. Fused-ensemble timbre closes the gap between acoustic and electronic sounds. None of the electronic works presented are purely electronic. The trend tends to be electronic manipulation of voice or live instruments, or interaction between electronics and acoustic instruments. South Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s Double bind? for violin and live electronics, Portuguese composer Carlos Caires’ Quattro for four percussion players and electronics, and Italian composer Riccardo Nova’s Thirteen. 13X8@terror generating deity (the ultimate reality) for ensemble, techno band, live electronics and orchestra are good examples. On the other hand, some orchestral works sound like electronic music. Examples are Czech composer Ondřej Adámek’s Sinuous Words for chamber orchestra and American-born Austrian composer Erin Gee’s Mouthpiece IX for voice and orchestra. Both works are related to human vocal production. Mouthpiece IX received the highest vote in IRC 2007.
Eclecticism: Collage and quotation of different musical styles, a distinctive trend since the 1960s, is still prominent in a few pieces presented in IRC this year. Not surprisingly, the two Netherlands compositions, Appalachia by Giel Vleggaar and 365 by Joey Roukens, are in this style. The former one is a homage to American folk music from the Appalachian mountain regions; the latter one is a collage of various musical segments from daily life. The other two compositions that belong to this style are The End by French-Argentinean composer Oscar Strasnoy, and Kirjo (Spectrum) by Finnish composer Sampo Haapämaki. In The End, Beethoven’s cadence becomes the beginning of a contemporary atonal sounding music, and the two styles alternate with each other throughout the piece. In Kirjo for bass clarinet and ensemble, avant-garde spectral ideas and jazz improvisation blend together logically by sharing a common idea, a low Bb pedal tone.
Neo-Romanticism: Some works are strikingly beautiful in terms of melody, harmony, tone color and mood. Obviously, a number of composers today are bold enough to go against the mainstream avant-garde style and write “pretty” music for easy listening. Examples include Czech composer Hanuš Bartoň’s orchestral work After the Sunset, Danish composer Jesper Koch’s orchestral work Thi roserne yokse i dale (For the Roses Grow in the Valley), and both Polish composers’ works for voice and orchestra.
Minimalism: Whether treated as a style, an idea or a compositional technique, minimalism can be found in a few compositions. Repetitions of simple ideas are used in British composer Laurence Crane’s Ulrich 1 and 2 for piano solo, Slovenian composer Corrado Rojac’s Concavo e convesso for chamber ensemble, and Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė’s Completely Embraced by the Beauty of Emptiness for ensemble. Reich’s phase shifting technique is used in Italian composer Luca Antignani’s Il Giuoco delle perle di vetro for piccolo ensemble and orchestra.
Ethnic sounds: Some compositions use ethnic instruments and new techniques on these instruments to create a distinct and refreshing sound world. Music for Chinese instruments includes works by Hong Kong composers Law Wing-Fai and Mui Kwong-Chiu, and Taiwanese young composer Lin Yin-Yin. American steel-string acoustic guitar is used in Giel Vleggaar’s collage work, Appalachia (mentioned in point #3).
More traditional styles: There are compositions written in more traditional 20th century styles. Examples include Bulgarian composer Emil Mirchev’s solo piano piece Reminiscence III, Australian composer Michael Smetanin’s piano concerto, and Swiss composer Eric Gaudibert’s Quatuor No.2. Excellent orchestration can be found in a number of orchestral works including Spanish composer Agustin Charles’s Seven Looks, and Taiwanese composer Ko Fan-Long’s Crying Mermaid.

Above is a summary of various musical styles presented in the IRC 2007. From the above information, it seems that Ligeti and IRCAM have the strongest influences on today’s composers in Europe and Asia. Atonal avant-garde remains the mainstream in Western art music. Neo-Romantic, collage and quotation, minimalism and ethnic styles, on the other hand, remain alternative styles.

From the voting results, it is obvious that most delegates prefer mainstream avant-garde sounding music to other styles of music. Here, the author must also point out that the European delegates are mostly radio broadcasters. Their selections tend to be based on the sounding effects rather than the structure and aesthetic quality of the music. From a composer’s perspective, some of the pieces which received fewer votes are actually better compositions than those that received more votes. Therefore, composers should not be discouraged if their compositions were not selected among the top ten in IRC. It is not the quality, but the style being judged.

Here comes the question: Should the IRC be a contest or just a forum of presentation of new compositions? This question was discussed in one of the workshops. The answer: IRC is a contest in which new compositions are judged by mainly radio broadcasters and a few composers through listening to recordings of the compositions. The radio broadcasters select new repertoire they like for promotion through broadcasting. It is different from a composition contest in which music scores are usually read by a panel of the composer-judges, with or without listening to recordings. The judging criteria are different between radio broadcasters and composers: the former one tends to focus on sounding effect, and the latter one tends to focus more on structure, techniques, innovation, and perhaps aesthetic quality.

For a young composer, having a new composition performed and professionally recorded is not easy; achieving international recognition is much more difficult. Usually, a new piece has to win a contest or to be selected into the final round of a contest before it could be played by professional musicians and recorded professionally. If the recording is good, then it might have a chance to be selected to represent a region at the IRC. Then it is judged again by radio broadcasters based on their musical tastes. If the music does not suit the radio broadcasters’ tastes, then it will not receive high votes, and will not be promoted.

Here comes a bigger question: If a composer tries to write music according to the broadcasters’ taste, would the composition still be original? Certain sounds and compositional styles can be imitated by a composer with solid techniques. A sincere composer would write from the heart; a pragmatic composer might write for different purposes. If a composer wants to receive international recognition today, besides producing music of high quality, he or she should also belong to the “club,” the European mainstream avant-garde “club.” This is what the IRC selection outcome reveals. Do all the composers want to write in the same style? The answer is obvious: No. Composition is such a personal artistic pursuit. Particularly in today’s multi-cultural environment in which diversity is celebrated, young composers are encouraged to search for their unique voices. Composer chooses or even creates the style, not the other way round. The author is pleased to hear new compositions of such a great diversity presented in the IRC, and hope that composers would continue to produce qualitative works in the styles they prefer.

From the list of IRC selected and recommended works 1955-2006, we can find early works by 20th century masters: Berio, Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Ligeti, Carter, Takemitsu etc. This indicates that IRC, to a certain extent, can predict or justify the international status of outstanding composers in music history. However, the majority of the composers on the list are still not well-known to the musical world, and many fine composers have not even made it to the list. It means that IRC is only one medium to promote certain types of new music; compositions not belonging to the mainstream European style need to find other promotional outlets.

Looking back to the second half of the 20th century, avant-garde music has risen from the underground to the mainstream. Its significance in music history was to totally break away from the tonal tradition of Western art music. For half a century, atonal avant-garde music has become the new tradition of Western art music. The pursuit of complexity of all the musical elements, timbre and texture in particular, has already reached a mature stage. The discovery of any more new sounds would not be as significant as the trend in its early stage. The author sees little room for further break-through in the styles itself, unless aesthetic quality plays a more important role in new compositions.

Rich musical heritage from non-European cultures has opened up new rooms for cross-cultural musical development. Take contemporary Chinese music as an example, the assimilation of East and West can be achieved by applying western compositional techniques to Chinese instrumental compositions, applying Chinese aesthetic ideas to compositions for Western instruments or mixed ensemble of Chinese and Western instruments, synthesis of various Western and Chinese musical styles, and mixed media production etc. How about mixed ethnic instrumental ensemble with multi-lingual vocal singing, and all the hybrid musical styles that exist in today’s world? These are all possibilities of musical creation by composers with diverse cultural backgrounds who would feel difficult to be confined to any mainstream style of musical expression. There is plenty of room for cross-cultural music to further develop and mature into a profound art form which celebrates humanity at its sublime level.

Judging music based mainly on style is highly subjective, unfair, and to a certain extent, culturally biased. In order to honestly reflect the new global musical trends, a more objective and open-minded approach should be adopted in future international composition forums whereby compositions are evaluated based on craftsmanship, innovation and aesthetic quality in addition to their styles. Inviting renowned composers and music scholars to the discussion and evaluation of contemporary music in future IRC would be more meaningful.