Mason Bates is a young American composer known for his adroit blending of electronic resources into the traditional symphony orchestra medium. His highly acclaimed compositions for orchestra and “electronica” bear evocative titles such as Omnivorous Furniture, Rusty Air in Carolina, Desert Transport, and Music from Underground Spaces. Bates was graduated from both the Juilliard School and the University of California at Berkeley, and has served as the Composer in Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Imaginative and innovative artists in all media can draw upon the most diverse—even banal and commonplace—sources to serve as fodder for their creations. The result, and usually the intent, is an artwork that far transcends the commonality of the original inspiration. A great French chef can create masterpiece from a string bean and an eggshell---or something like that. And borrowing in musical composition seems to have been essential to the art from the beginning. Bach purportedly said that borrowing is fine, as long as you pay it back with interest! Which, of course, he manifestly did.
In Mothership, Mason Bates follows his deep interest in various aspects of electronic sound production and manipulation to the world of EDM (that’s “electronic dance music” for you folks over a “certain age.” Nightclubs, dance, and party venues the world over are filled with this throbbing, pulsing, almost hypnotic, dance music—usually at ear-splitting sound volumes. The genre first was wildly popular in Europe and American large cities; it subsequently has enjoyed wider popularity. To its aficionados there numerous subtypes and variants: techno, house, dance-pop, drum and bass, and more. To those not young, hip, or dance enthusiasts, it can all sound much the same—just an electronic throwback to the “disco” of their youths. But it doesn’t matter, basic musical elements are just that, basic, and lend themselves to an infinitude of musical styles. It would be hard to ignore EDM, anyway, with the way it has swept the popular world. Given Bates’ musical interests (he moonlights as a DJ), it’s hard to see how he could have resisted mining EDM to compose a work to challenge a symphony orchestra to “boogie down.”
The work has an interesting genesis, having been commissioned by the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, the world’s first online collaborative orchestra, established in 2008. Most of its organization was done online. Mothershipwas given its world première in a live broadcast from the Sydney, Australia Opera House.
While the piece is essentially a concert opener in the traditional manner, there is also an element of the concerto in it, as well. Mason relates that in riding the New York City subway he observed the passage of people entering and exiting the train and that it suggested the way that soloists could play alternatively and intermittently with the orchestra. So, the large orchestra would serve rather like a “mothership” to the soloists who would “dock” on and off, playing “virtuosic riffs.”
Bates gives further guidance in his own notes:
The piece follows the form of a scherzo with double trio (as found in, for example, the Schumann Symphony No. 2). Symphonic scherzos historically play with dance rhythms in a high-energy and appealing manner, with the ‘trio’ sections temporarily exploring new rhythmic areas. Mothership shares a formal connection with the symphonic scherzo but is brought to life by thrilling sounds of the 21st Century — the rhythms of modern-day techno in place of waltz rhythms, for example.
So, you’ll hear an active, thumping opening, replete with electric drum machine, followed by two traditional contrasting changes of mood. Bates takes these opportunities to feature a pair of soloists in each section. You won’t leave the concert humming any main themes, for the composer creates textures of constantly changing aphoristic ideas that weave around each other in a succession of imaginative episodes. It’s all good fun, and gives all the opportunity to hear the unique coupling of a symphony orchestra with an electronic drum machine. Now, that’s something you don’t hear everyday.
--Wm. E. Runyan
©2023 William E. Runyan