AMBER MATTICE
Special to The Leader
On Sept. 18, student-run Ethos New Music Society presented the Stockhausen Response Project, a commissioning project compiled and performed by Brianna Matzke on piano. This project is particularly interesting because it combined two very different styles of music into one coherent and beautiful stream of sound and thought.
New music, by nature, is something most audiences aren’t familiar with. Because of this, reaction and response are two things that are left up in the air. It is universally-agreed, however, that the emerging new styles of music are becoming increasingly influential as generations make their way into this new era of change and expression.
When asked what students got out of attending these recitals on campus, President of Ethos Jared Yackiw stated, “a lot of this new music isn’t something that musicians really grow up on … and it’s the world that they are going into. As for the entire community, this is a big part of what culture is if we’re looking at art, and it’s being made right now. It can change your mind.”
This is certainly true, and it is a truth that was further revealed after seeing the performance. When she first made an appearance on stage, Matzke told the audience that she compiled this particular project when she asked herself “what’s next?” in terms of the music world. She described music as a “living art form” which was heavily portrayed as she played each piece with intensity and emotion.
The entire performance was a spiraling contradiction of starkness and harshness versus softness and gentleness. Each electroacoustic sound from the keys on the piano, and from the other technologies influencing the sound of the piano, was extremely prominent. The audience was forced to pay attention to everything, including the movements and mannerisms of Matzke herself.
She was completely immersed in the piece she was playing at any given moment, which further helped to pull the listeners into the songs as the varying sounds danced around Rosch Recital Hall.
“She had very grand gestures and I thought that really brought what the composers were trying to tell the audience to the stage,” said freshman music education major Breanna Bryce, “and I think it brought the whole performance to the audience as well.”
There were several moments of force, where the pianist would play the keys with a deafening intensity and then seconds later, the room would be full of silence.
“None of the pieces ever stood still for long,” said freshman music composition major Noah Turner, “and they were all very dynamic.”
Each piece varied heavily from the last but also transitioned beautifully as the high pitched tones and continuous echoes remained a theme in every piece. Overall, it was an extremely diverse performance.
Yackiw said that he was not sure what to expect when it came to the audience’s reactions to the project. But he had hopes.
“[I hoped] people would be happy about what they were hearing,” said Yackiw “[and that] they would be frustrated and challenged by what they were hearing, but that they would want to know more.”
Everyone witnessing the performance take place was intrigued and contemplative, unnerved and thoughtful, and perhaps most importantly, inspired. The Stockhausen Response Project really explored the depths of the mind through music and allowed the audience to reflect on themselves and the society around them.