Monsterology (2004) Chamber orchestra and electronics
16:11
**a Program Notes--by Jerry Cain, Monsterology: New Music From Iowa CD, Albany Records TROY900 . Monsterology, for chamber orchestra and computer-realized sound, is a musical exploration of the structure of the Fischer-Griess Monster Group, one of the largest and most enigmatic objects in mathematics. The Monster Group, so called because of the enormous number of elements involved, comprises a vast network of operational relations in which the relativity of all elements is synchronously comprehensible. For Fritts, the algebraic symmetries of this multidimensional abstraction serve not only as an intriguing spatial metaphor for musical relationships, they have proven a rich compositional resource.
On one level, Monsterology is a clearly sectionalized composition, a succession of self-contained sonic tableaux reminiscent of the formal juxtapositions of Messaien's large-scale works. Fritts's sensitive manipulation of the media, however, permits a subtle integration of the taped sounds into the overall structure of the work, purposefully eschewing the timbral disjuncture typical of many electro-acoustic compositions. Indeed, without the aid of the detailed musical score that the composer has prepared, listeners will often be challenged to distinguish the electronic contribution from the acoustic: for example, in the long passage for pizzicato strings and percussion just before the work's midpoint. In other sections of the work, the superhuman dexterity and expansion of timbral dimensions clearly segregate the taped sounds from the ensemble at large. The recurrence and thematic evolution of such idiosyncratic timbres are formative in the work's unfolding.
The rhythmic and melodic interaction of the electronic and acoustic instruments reveals a careful attention to the lucid articulation of musical ideas, structures, and form. The terraced crescendo of the ametrical introductory passage is followed by a rhythmic woodwind quartet in parallel motion and then a brass chorale, under which the electronic depths resonate. The enigmatic and remarkable static fourth section (aptly described as "Alternating" in the score) is followed by a demented ragtime of close chromatic dissonance that gradually transforms into a lyrically evocative counterpoint. A moto perpetuo woodblock pattern follows, against which pizzicato strings, then brass, sound pointillistic attacks. At the precise temporal center of the piece the hi-hat and cymbals reverberate against complex taped configurations and staccato strings.
The work's second half begins with the melodic chiming of bells against which a windblown landscape of semitonal apparitions, perhaps the composition's most strikingly synthetic and otherwordly vista. Tubual bells--an important character in this surreal drama--are featured melodically at several points in the work, ringing subtly similar chantlike tunes. At the textural climax of the work, a sound mass of registral extremes grows to painful intensity over subterranean rumblings, forming a stochastic tapestry in which brief melodic threads surface and subside. This sound mass recedes upward to the highest winds and strings, to reveal a swirling timbral play of the tape that culminates in a series of dramatic and piercingly dissonant tutti chords. Following this denouement, reminiscences of earlier material are integrated and transformed until the tubular bells' final incantation.
Monsterology is dedicated to Robert L. Griess, Jr., who constructed the Monster Group at Princeton University in 1982 and with whom Fritts corresponded during composition. **a Recording: Performed by the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra, William LaRue Jones, conductor. From the New Music from Iowa CD, Monsterology, on Albany Records, TROY 900.
