5/15/20

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Mark Applebaum (1967- )

I was exposed to the works of American composer Mark Applebaum after I watched his TED talk from 2012. The lecture showcases a number of works by Applebaum as he explains his own approaches to writing music - if you have not seen it, I would highly recommend checking it out here. Today’s piece, Catfish (which was written in 1997), is actually one of his more tame pieces, with many of his works featuring theatrical elements, electronics, and/or external media, with many falling into the category of performance art. Perhaps one of my favorite works by him (which comes up in his TED talk and showcases his strange and experimental aesthetic) is Echolalia, which calls for several Dadaist rituals. Mark Applebaum currently teaches composition at Stanford University, and has studied under under several composers including Brian Ferneyhough (whose composition Mnemosyne was the topic of one of my previous posts).

Catfish is composed for three percussionists, who each use a few instruments. As seen in the score, the groupings are based on the material that defines the percussion instruments’ sounds: “Metal,” “Wood,” and “Skin.” From there, each group has three different pitch levels, as seen by the three-line staves for each part. As you might expect from a piece written for unpitched percussion, the piece captivates audiences with rhythmic patterns rather than any sort of melody or harmony. Mark Applebaum takes this one step further, however, by introducing several tempo changes that correspond to metric modulations. To see this, it is helpful to start at the beginning at the piece where Applebaum establishes a steady tempo (60 quarter notes per minute) and introduces a few patterns in each percussion part. Here, everything is pretty straightforward and you could even tap your foot to the beat. This gets complicated at around 30 seconds in, when a triplet pattern is introduced in the “Skin” part which conflicts with the duple-based rhythms in the other two parts. A few measures later, we see the first metric modulation when the tempo changes to follow the triplet pulse - after that shift, the other two parts now follow this new rhythmic pulse and seem much more in-phase with the “Skin” part. From there, we don’t see another another shift like that until around a minute and half into the piece where the tempo is halved and then the “Wood” part introduces a 5 (quintuplet) over 4 pattern to redefine the pulse again.

Following that shift we see bracketed measures, which involve patterns outside of the established pulse. While that particular element may seem slightly chaotic, I believe it allows the listener’s ears to ‘reset’ and then quickly grab onto the pulse when all three percussionists come together on a unison. From here, the second half of the piece is much like the first half, although the metric modulations happen in closer succession and, in a couple of instances, without any warning. Some of these shifts are particularly brutal for the performers: the tempo shift at around three and a half minutes in calls for them to define the new pulse by grouping together seven notes (septuplets) that are the same speed as the previous grouping of five notes (quintuplets). With the pulse redefined, Applebaum also gives the performers little time to get comfortable before introducing complex polyrhythms. Then, after four rapid metric modulations in a row, the piece jams out and drives forward to one final moment of chaos and then a quiet ending with all three parts in complete unison.

Perhaps what I find so brilliant about this piece is how well it is conceived for its performers. Percussionist are incredibly skilled at precise executions of rhythms, and this piece plays into that through and through. While difficult, Mark Applebaum provides the performers with frames of reference in real time in order to move through shifts seamlessly. So while it may be difficult for any given listener to follow all of the pivots, there is logic behind it all. It may be a challenge, but I encourage you to listen to the piece enough times that you can get into the mind of the percussionists and feel each tempo change before it happens. Writing music for percussion can be a real challenge, and I believe that Applebaum truly does it justice without any pitched material. As I mentioned above, it was Mark Applebaum’s TED talk that led me into his music, and so I cannot recommend enough that you check that out. He speaks a lot to how many contemporary composers approach the field, and how fun and rewarding it can be to create something completely new and fresh (even if it might be incredibly strange like the works he discusses towards the end). Whether or not this particular composer’s works appeal to you, there is an almost unlimited amount of new music out there for you to discover (and hopefully enjoy as well). For now, however, sit back and give Catfish a listen - you’ll probably find yourself tapping your foot right up until Applebaum pulls the rug out from underneath you.