New Complexity
Encyclopedia
In music
, the New Complexity is a term dating from the 1980s, principally applied to composers seeking a "complex, multi-layered interplay of evolutionary
processes occurring simultaneously within every dimension of the musical material" (Fox 2001).
in sound, the "New Complexity" is most readily characterized by the use of techniques which require complex musical notation
. This includes extended techniques, microtonality, odd tunings
, highly disjunct melodic contour
, innovative timbre
s, complex polyrhythms, unconventional instrumentations
, abrupt changes in loudness and intensity, and so on.
The origin of the name "New Complexity" is uncertain; amongst the candidates suggested for having coined it are the composer Nigel Osborne
, the Belgian musicologist Harry Halbreich
, and the British/Australian musicologist Richard Toop, who gave currency to the concept of a movement with his article "Four Facets of the New Complexity" (Toop 1988), an article that nevertheless emphasized the individuality of four composers (Richard Barrett
, Chris Dench, James Dillon, and Michael Finnissy
), both in terms of their working methods and the sound of their compositions, and which demonstrated they did not constitute a unified "school of thought" (Boros 1994, 92–93).
In the UK, particularly at the instigation of ensembles Suoraan and later Ensemble Exposé (the latter begun by composers Roger Redgate
and Richard Barrett), works by "New Complexity" composers were for some time frequently programmed together with then unfashionable non-UK composers including Xenakis
and Feldman
, but also such diverse figures as Clarence Barlow
, Hans-Joachim Hespos
and Heinz Holliger
.
Although the British influence, via the teaching efforts of Brian Ferneyhough
and Michael Finnissy
, was decisive in the origins of this movement, initial support came not from British institutions but rather from performers and promoters of new music in continental Europe, particularly at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse between 1982 and 1996, where Ferneyhough was in charge of the composition programme. By 1997, the composers associated with the New Complexity had become an international and geographically disjunct movement, spread across North America, Europe, and Australia, many of them with little connection to the Darmstadt courses, and with considerable divergence amongst themselves in styles and techniques (Fox 2001). This is clearly evidenced by range of nationalities of the composers interested in this aesthetic direction (for example, in the book series New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century (Mahnkopf, Cox, and Schurig 2002– ) one finds a clear international focus), the international interest of ensembles in this music, and the impact of teachers such as James Dillon, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, and Brian Ferneyhough in both Germany and the United States.
There are various performers who have become to varying degrees closely associated with the movement: these include flautist Nancy Ruffer, oboist Christopher Redgate, clarinettists Carl Rosman
and Michael Norsworthy, pianists James Clapperton
, Nicolas Hodges
, Mark Knoop
, Marilyn Nonken, Mark Gasser
, and Ian Pace
, the Arditti Quartet
, violinist Mieko Kanno, cellists Franklin Cox
, Arne Deforce and Friedrich Gauwerky, as well as Ensemble Exposé, Thallein Ensemble
, Suoraan, Ensemble 21 (USA), Surplus (Germany), Noise (USA), and ELISION Ensemble
. The work of Ferneyhough and Dillon in particular has been taken by a wider range of European ensembles, including Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Accroche-Note, the Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble SurPlus and Ensemble Contrechamps.
One example of a piece by Brian Ferneyhough may serve to demonstrate certain traits found in some of the music of New Complexity. Like many other works by Ferneyhough
and other New Complexity composers, Etudes Transcendantales
is infamously difficult to perform and is extremely complicated. Pitch-wise, the notes are freely sampled from all 12 tones and the quarter tone
s in between. Rhythmically, Ferneyhough is known for his nested irregular tuplet
s, and there is no exception here. Almost each individual note also has its own unique dynamics and articulation, including extended techniques such as multiphonic
s on the oboe, glottal stops for the voice, and key-clicking for the flute
.
Throughout the nine songs, the process of composition transitions from a Serialist
-type systematic approach in the first song to an intuitive and free approach by the last song. While Ferneyhough thought this system is important, the practical effects are not discernable to the listener, as his intuitive composition produces music like that produced by his automation methods
For example, for the oboe part in the first song, the rhythm is almost totally determined by a strict system, with five stages of complexity, each determined by another cycle of numbers:
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, the New Complexity is a term dating from the 1980s, principally applied to composers seeking a "complex, multi-layered interplay of evolutionary
Developing variation
In music composition, developing variation is a formal technique in which the concepts of development and variation are united in that variations are produced through the development of existing material....
processes occurring simultaneously within every dimension of the musical material" (Fox 2001).
Music of the "New Complexity"
Though often atonal, highly abstract, and dissonantConsonance and dissonance
In music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable...
in sound, the "New Complexity" is most readily characterized by the use of techniques which require complex musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
. This includes extended techniques, microtonality, odd tunings
Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
, highly disjunct melodic contour
Melodic motion
Complex melodic motion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise or skipwise, respectively and involves the use of the complex number, i, in its calculation.Bruno Nettl ...
, innovative timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
s, complex polyrhythms, unconventional instrumentations
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
, abrupt changes in loudness and intensity, and so on.
The origin of the name "New Complexity" is uncertain; amongst the candidates suggested for having coined it are the composer Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne MBE, FRCM is a British composer.He serves as Reid Professor of music at the University of Edinburgh and has been teaching at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.He studied composition with Kenneth Leighton ,...
, the Belgian musicologist Harry Halbreich
Harry Halbreich
Harry Halbreich is a Belgian musicologist.He studied with Arthur Honegger and later with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire. From 1970 to 1976 he was Lecturer in Musical Analysis at the Royal Conservatory in Mons...
, and the British/Australian musicologist Richard Toop, who gave currency to the concept of a movement with his article "Four Facets of the New Complexity" (Toop 1988), an article that nevertheless emphasized the individuality of four composers (Richard Barrett
Richard Barrett (composer)
Richard Barrett is a British composer.-Biography:Barrett began to study music seriously only after graduating in genetics and microbiology at University College London in 1980 . From then until 1983 he took private lessons with Peter Wiegold...
, Chris Dench, James Dillon, and Michael Finnissy
Michael Finnissy
Michael Finnissy is an English composer and pianist. His music is characterised by the range of extremes often found in his work; opposing binary structures are found commonly, often seen as juxtaposing textures, register and tempi...
), both in terms of their working methods and the sound of their compositions, and which demonstrated they did not constitute a unified "school of thought" (Boros 1994, 92–93).
In the UK, particularly at the instigation of ensembles Suoraan and later Ensemble Exposé (the latter begun by composers Roger Redgate
Roger Redgate
Roger Redgate is a British musician.He was born in Bolton, Lancashire. He graduated at the Royal College of Music, where he won prizes for composition, violin performance, harmony and counterpoint. A DAAD scholarship enabled him to study with Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber in Freiburg...
and Richard Barrett), works by "New Complexity" composers were for some time frequently programmed together with then unfashionable non-UK composers including Xenakis
Xenakis
-People:* Constantin Xenakis , Greek artist* Francoise Xenakis , French novelist* Iannis Xenakis , Greek composer and architect* Thomas Xenakis , Greek gymnast- Other uses :...
and Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, but also such diverse figures as Clarence Barlow
Clarence Barlow
Clarence Barlow is a composer of classical and electroacoustic works.-Biography:Barlow was born in Calcutta, a member of the anglophone minority, of British and Portuguese descent...
, Hans-Joachim Hespos
Hans-Joachim Hespos
Hans-Joachim Hespos is a German composer of avant-garde music.Since für Cello solo , he has composed in all genres, including many pieces for unaccompanied solo instruments and theatre works...
and Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
.
Although the British influence, via the teaching efforts of Brian Ferneyhough
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough is an English composer. His music is characterized by the extensive use of complex rhythmic tuplet notation which features in all his works...
and Michael Finnissy
Michael Finnissy
Michael Finnissy is an English composer and pianist. His music is characterised by the range of extremes often found in his work; opposing binary structures are found commonly, often seen as juxtaposing textures, register and tempi...
, was decisive in the origins of this movement, initial support came not from British institutions but rather from performers and promoters of new music in continental Europe, particularly at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse between 1982 and 1996, where Ferneyhough was in charge of the composition programme. By 1997, the composers associated with the New Complexity had become an international and geographically disjunct movement, spread across North America, Europe, and Australia, many of them with little connection to the Darmstadt courses, and with considerable divergence amongst themselves in styles and techniques (Fox 2001). This is clearly evidenced by range of nationalities of the composers interested in this aesthetic direction (for example, in the book series New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century (Mahnkopf, Cox, and Schurig 2002– ) one finds a clear international focus), the international interest of ensembles in this music, and the impact of teachers such as James Dillon, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, and Brian Ferneyhough in both Germany and the United States.
There are various performers who have become to varying degrees closely associated with the movement: these include flautist Nancy Ruffer, oboist Christopher Redgate, clarinettists Carl Rosman
Carl Rosman
Carl Rosman is an Australian clarinettist.Rosman studied with Phillip Miechel in Melbourne, then with Peter Jenkin at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music...
and Michael Norsworthy, pianists James Clapperton
James Clapperton
James Clapperton is a Scottish composer and pianist.-Biography:James Clapperton was born in Aberdeen in 1968. In 1984 he performed an arrangement of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' made by himself and David Horne for piano duet at the Dartington Summer School. Witold Lutoslawski, Michael Tippett and...
, Nicolas Hodges
Nicolas Hodges
Nicolas Hodges is a British pianist and composer. He specializes in avant garde music. He was educated at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford, Winchester College, and the University of Cambridge....
, Mark Knoop
Mark Knoop
Mark Knoop is an Australian pianist.Knoop was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He studied piano at the Victorian College of the Arts and later in Europe with Stephen McIntyre, Herbert Henck, James Avery and Peter Feuchtwanger, as well as conducting with Robert Rosen...
, Marilyn Nonken, Mark Gasser
Mark Gasser
-Career:Gasser is a fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. He studied with John Humphreys at the Birmingham Conservatoire, and with Frank Wibaut at the Royal Academy of Music...
, and Ian Pace
Ian Pace
Ian Pace is a British pianist.Pace studied at Chetham's School of Music, The Queen's College, Oxford and the Juilliard School in New York. His main teacher was the Hungarian pianist György Sándor....
, the Arditti Quartet
Arditti Quartet
The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974. The quartet is associated particularly with contemporary music.-Early history:The quartet was founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti together with John Senter, Levine Andrade and Lenox Mackenzie...
, violinist Mieko Kanno, cellists Franklin Cox
Franklin Cox
Franklin Cox is an American composer and cellist. He composes music in the school of New Complexity and his performances range from new music to classical chamber works.-Life:...
, Arne Deforce and Friedrich Gauwerky, as well as Ensemble Exposé, Thallein Ensemble
Thallein Ensemble
Thallein Ensemble is a new music student group set up in the early 1990s with graduates from the Birmingham Conservatoire. Principal founders were Alistair Zaldua , Mark Gasser , John Webb and John Meadows...
, Suoraan, Ensemble 21 (USA), Surplus (Germany), Noise (USA), and ELISION Ensemble
ELISION Ensemble
The ELISION Ensemble is a chamber ensemble specialising in contemporary classical music,concentrating on the creation and presentation of new works....
. The work of Ferneyhough and Dillon in particular has been taken by a wider range of European ensembles, including Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Accroche-Note, the Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble SurPlus and Ensemble Contrechamps.
One example of a piece by Brian Ferneyhough may serve to demonstrate certain traits found in some of the music of New Complexity. Like many other works by Ferneyhough
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough is an English composer. His music is characterized by the extensive use of complex rhythmic tuplet notation which features in all his works...
and other New Complexity composers, Etudes Transcendantales
Etudes Transcendantales
Etudes Transcendantales is a song cycle in 9 movements for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble composed by Brian Ferneyhough between 1982 and 1985.-Background:...
is infamously difficult to perform and is extremely complicated. Pitch-wise, the notes are freely sampled from all 12 tones and the quarter tone
Quarter tone
A quarter tone , is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale, an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which is half a whole tone....
s in between. Rhythmically, Ferneyhough is known for his nested irregular tuplet
Tuplet
In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the...
s, and there is no exception here. Almost each individual note also has its own unique dynamics and articulation, including extended techniques such as multiphonic
Multiphonic
Multiphonics is an extended technique in instrumental music in which a monophonic instrument is made to produce several notes at once....
s on the oboe, glottal stops for the voice, and key-clicking for the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
.
Throughout the nine songs, the process of composition transitions from a Serialist
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
-type systematic approach in the first song to an intuitive and free approach by the last song. While Ferneyhough thought this system is important, the practical effects are not discernable to the listener, as his intuitive composition produces music like that produced by his automation methods
- dividing each measure into a number of notes
- subdividing chunks of those notes into another layer
- adding dots so that 4 notes fit where 3 did previously
- tie some notes with each other and replace others with rests
- replace two consecutive notes with a triplet in which one beat is a rest
Other notable composers
- Marc André (France)
- Aaron CassidyAaron CassidyAaron Cassidy is an American composer.-Education:Aaron Cassidy was born in Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Music degree, with distinction, from Northwestern University's School of Music in Evanston, Illinois, where his main instructors in composition were Jay Alan Yim, Alan Stout, and Michael...
(USA) - James ClarkeJames Clarke (composer)James Clarke is an English composer sometimes associated with the New Complexity school.-Education:According to fellow English composer and music scholar Christopher Fox, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "After studying at Southampton University and City University, London,...
(UK) - Joël-François DurandJoël-François DurandJoël-François Durand is a French composer.-Biography:Born in Orléans, Durand studied mathematics, music education and piano in Paris, then composition with Brian Ferneyhough in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany , and at Stony Brook University, New York, with Arel and Semegen...
(France) - Jason EckardtJason EckardtJason Eckardt is an American composer. He began his musical life playing guitar in heavy metal and jazz bands and abruptly moved to composing after discovering the music of Anton Webern.-Compositions:...
(USA) - James ErberJames ErberJames Erber is a British composer of the New ComplexityBorn in London, Erber studied music at the universities of Sussex and Nottingham, and worked in music publishing from 1976 to 1979. His first work, Seguente for oboe and piano, appeared in 1976...
(UK) - René WohlhauserRené WohlhauserRené Wohlhauser is a Swiss composer, pianist, singer, improviser, conductor and music teacher.- Life :From 1975 to 1979 Wohlhauser studied counterpoint, harmony, music analysis, score reading, orchestration and composition with Thomas Kessler, Robert Suter, Jacques Wildberger and Jürg Wyttenbach...
(Switzerland)
See also
- 20th century classical music20th century classical music20th century classical music was without a dominant style and highly diverse.-Introduction:At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style. Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing...
- Contemporary classical musicContemporary classical musicContemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
- Modernism (music)Modernism (music)Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice.- Defining musical modernism :...
- Experimental musicExperimental musicExperimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
- Avant garde
Further reading
A collection of articles on most of the British members of the movement can be found in the issue "Aspects of Complexity in Recent British Music", edited Tom Morgan, Contemporary Music Review 13, no. 1 (1995). The journal Perspectives of New Music also published a two-part "Complexity Forum," edited by James Boros, in volumes 31, no. 1 (Winter 1993): 6–85, and 32, no.1 (Winter 1994): 90–227 which included some contributions by and about composers associated with the New Complexity.- Cox, Frank. 2002. "Notes toward a Performance Practice for Complex Music" and "'Virtual' Polyphony: Clairvoyance, for solo violin". In Polyphony and Complexity, edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and William Schurig, 70–132; 162-179. New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century 1. Hofheim: Wolke-Verlag. ISBN 3936000107.
- Cox, Frank. 2008 "Recoil, for Solo Cello: Background and Analysis". In "Facets of the Second Modernity." edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and William Schurig, 57-98. New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century 6. Hofheim: Wolke-Verlag. ISBN 9783936000177.
- Friedl, Reinhold. 2002. "Some Sadomasochistic Aspects of Musical Pleasure". Leonardo Musical Journal 12:29-30.
- Mahnkopf, Claus-Steffen. 2002. "Theory of Polyphony," "Complex Music: Attempt at a Definition," "Theses Concerning Harmony Today," and "Medusa: Concerning Conception, Poetics, and Technique". In Polyphony and Complexity, edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and William Schurig, 38-53; 54-64; 65-69; and 245-265. Hofheim: Wolke-Verlag. ISBN 3936000107.
- Mahnkopf, Claus-Steffen. 2008. "Second Modernity—An Attempted Assessment". In Facets of the Second Modernity, edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and William Schurig, 9-16. New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century 6. Hofheim: Wolke-Verlag. ISBN 9783936000177.
- Marsh, Roger. 1994. "Heroic Motives. Roger Marsh Considers the Relation between Sign and Sound in 'Complex' Music". The Musical Times 135, no. 1812 (February), pp. 83-86.
- Redgate, Christopher. 2007. "A Discussion of Practices Used in Learning Complex Music with Specific Reference to Roger Redgate's Ausgangspunkte". Contemporary Music Review 26, no. 2 (April) 141–49.
- Schurig, Wolfram. 2008. "Formal Strategies in the Works hot powdery snow..., Ultima Thule, and blick: verzaubert." In Facets of the Second Modernity, edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and William Schurig, 205–16. Hofheim: Wolke-Verlag. New Music and Aesthetics in the 21st Century 6. ISBN 9783936000177.
- Toop, Richard. 1993. "On Complexity". Perspectives of New Music 31, no. 1 (Winter): 42-57.
- Truax, Barry. 1994. "The Inner and Outer Complexity of Music". Perspectives of New Music 32, no. 1 (Winter): 176-193.
- Ulman, Erik. 1994. "Some Thoughts on the New Complexity". Perspectives of New Music 32, no. 1 (Winter): 202-206.