New York Does it Small

by Michelle Phillips-Schork | March 2006

New York Miniaturist Ensemble

If you took away cadenzas, sequences, development, variations and passing notes, what would remain of a composition? Perhaps you would be left with your initial themes. Maybe you'd be left with a meandering harmonies which become meaningless, removed from the relationships which define structural composition, such as modulation, tension, dissonance and resonance. Now, imagine creating a work of a mere 100 notes.

Founded by Erik Carlson, the New York Miniaturist Ensemble (NYME) exclusively perform compositions of 100 notes or less. The ensemble consists of percussionist Michael Caterisano, flautist Sarah Frisof, clarinetist Joshua Rubin, violist Miranda Sielaff and violinist Erik Carlson, with occasional guests, depending upon performance requirements. Together, they have performed works by numerous international composers, including Karlheinz Stockhausen and Adrian Pertout.

“There is a concentration and purity of idea [in short compositions], similar to the Haiku poetic form. Distilling music down to such a small amount of material can be a window into what is the essence of music,” says Erik Carlson. “The New York Miniaturist ensemble is blessed with a set of amazing instrumentalists. Each uses their rich experience and insight to bring to light each work.”

But with restrictions on the number of notes permitted, composers are driven to ask, what is a note? Do rules relate to pitch, sound, frequency, time and harmony? Does a chordal harmony count as five notes, or only four because two musicians play the same note? What if this harmony is repeated further into the composition? Is it counted again? The NYME initially drafted a two-page list of rules on the definition of a note and its use for the ensemble, however Carlson says, “we gave up on the idea of making our own rules, because it became apparent that [the note] is a unique concept to each piece. We leave it up to composers, who have found varied and interesting ways of using the concept in their world. One composer even considered only the rests because they were the pivotal events in the work.”

Almost all of the members of the New York Minimalist Ensemble are graduates of the Julliard School. The idea for the ensemble came to Carlson at the end of his studies. During his years at university, he had found it difficult to find work of living composers outside New York. “I wanted to connect with composers from around the world, and the Miniaturist idea has been wonderful for that.”

The New York Miniaturist Ensemble have an ongoing call for works.