NEW HORIZONS IN BRAZILIAN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: GRUPO NOVO HORIZONTE DE SÃO PAULO, 1988–99

Brazil's foremost ensemble of the late twentieth century, Grupo Novo Horizonte de São Paulo, transformed Brazilian contemporary music by cultivating a new mixed-chamber repertory and giving sustained support to a generation of emerging composers. That this cosmopolitan group took, then outgrew, the Pierrot ensemble as its cornerstone signals the medium it forged: a localized, evolving spectacle with a richly internationalist heritage. This article offers a panoramic view of the musical, intercultural and historical contexts that underpin Grupo Novo Horizonte's practices and legacy. Analysing landmark works by Sílvio Ferraz, Harry Crowl and others allows us to draw further connections between the group, the Brazilianness of late twentieth-century compositional aesthetic, and the realities of contemporary classical music-making in Brazil.

Compositional Design Based on Stochastic Procedures

In this article, we discuss the application of stochastic music techniques in an aesthetic context different from that originally employed by Xenakis. These techniques applied in the serialism of pitch-classes were the basis for the creation of a computer program with the purpose to determine the duration and the harmonic profiles of pre-compositional materials from restrictions set by the composer. The resulting data, obtained by the exponential probability distribution, allowed us to plan and compose two works: one for pierrot ensemble and other for string quartet.

‘Remembering the Future’: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, CBSO Centre, Birmingham

‘How do you deal with endings?’, Stephen Newbould, BCMG's Artistic Director, asked a group of four composers in an interview prior to the ensemble's final concert of the season, given on 12 June. Perhaps Newbould was thinking out loud: ‘Remembering the Future’ marked his and Executive Producer Jackie Newbould's last event with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, after a tenure of nearly 30 years. The CBSO Centre was packed to the rafters for this concert that featured new commissions by Luke Bedford, Richard Baker, John Woolrich and Zoë Martlew: four composers with strong connections to the group. At the suggestion of John Woolrich, in his role as Artist-in-Association with BCMG, the works were scored not for BCMG's usual larger forces but for Schoenberg's ‘Pierrot’ ensemble, with various additions and subtractions.