I attended the Oral Composition Ensemble on April 1, which kicked off the start of World Music Week at UBC. This was a very interesting concert for me as I was unfamiliar with all of the instruments that were used in the concert. The instruments all kind of looked like metal food plate covers, but made out of drum symbol material(?). From the introduction to the performance, the audience learned that this was the term-end performance for the class MUSC 530C and the pieces to be performed were all student-composed and were taught orally without any musical notation. I thought that was a very interesting concept as it required students to really understand the music, how rhythms interrelate, and the intent of the composer as they had to match the rhythm and pace of the work as a class. I thought this was similar to how our class is, as we also learn about how to appreciate music and the intent of the original composer. Especially in this class, some of the songs involved improv so it was very necessary for all the players to understand the motives of the composer in order to relay the same meanings.
The songs were composed by Andrea Ciona, Gina Choi, Putu Gede Sukaryana, Roan Shankaruk, Jon Bogert, Johnathan Chan, Ramsey Sadaka, Ivan Salazar Gonzalez, Emily Leung, and Taylor Hall. Most of the songs were untitled so I feel it’s better to list the composers instead of the song titles. The songs involved rhythm techniques from world traditions, such as the basics of solkattu and mora, as well as interlocking, interweaving, and phasing. I noticed that, because the songs were all learned, memorized, and practiced without notation, there was usage of comfortable grooves and rhythm processes that likely aided their memorization of the piece.
The first piece performed was composed by Andrea Ciona, and it explored a metric modulation using 4:30 polyrhythms. The song “Pass the Farm Fresh Butter” was appropriately titled as it reflected the vernacular catchphrase used to internalize the 4:3 polyrhythm. The song showcased a lot of repetition and return to the main idea, most likely to aid in memorization. This allowed for the piece to become familiar after the first few repeats, and set a good start to the performance as it familiarized the audience with how the class may have been run. We all were able to follow along after a few repeats which means it was successful in using appropriate rhythm calculation processes that aid memorization. It was also a fun twist to have Roan Shankaruk, a soprano, sing a solo mid-song as it added another flavour to the song. However, my favourite piece was likely Ulangin Ulangun composed by Putu Gede Sukaryana. The song showcased a texture resembling imitative polyphony, and also had sections in which the melodies would separate and there would be a main melody and one to accompany the main. The main melody in this song’s case was more along the lines of chord progression. There were also interesting moments in which it seemed the bpm had changed so it was a very fun song that kept my feet on their toes.
Overall, I recommend seeing this concert, or any of the other World Music Week concerts, as they tend to be much more casual and audience/casual-onlooker friendly.
P.s. Fun facts: Roan Shankaruk was also in the Student Composers’ Concert and Gina Choi was the professor/conductor for the Korean Traditional Drums concert.