For large ensemble
A musical pattern that is at once familiar and endlessly surprising.
In gRound, Renske Vrolijk performs a clinical dissection of temporal structures, bridging seven centuries of musical architecture. The work functions as a collision between the rigid mathematical determinism of the medieval era and the kinetic, high-voltage friction of a modern large ensemble. By retooling the concept of the “ground,” Vrolijk examines the tension between historical structuralism and contemporary psychological lightness.
for performers and concert programmers
About the composition
The title gRound is a linguistic and structural portmanteau, merging the medieval rondeau—a fixed poetic and musical form—with the ground bass (or passacaglia), a repetitive foundational device. While the historical “ground” serves as a tectonic anchor in the bass, Vrolijk subverts this social construct of musical hierarchy. Here, the repeating melodic line “floats” in the upper registers, assigned to the violin and marimba, creating a transparent, weightless texture that defies traditional gravitational expectations in composition. This reclamation of the French Ars Nova intellectual tradition allows the work to speak directly to the European avant-garde’s obsession with structural purity and its subsequent deconstruction.
The Narrative
The work is a non-textual documentary of a technique: isorhythm.¹ Vrolijk utilizes the method pioneered by Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377), employing a fixed rhythmic pattern (talea) and a melodic sequence (color) of unequal lengths. As these cycles overlap and phase, the work generates a narrative of constant transformation within a closed system. The dramatic arc is defined by this mathematical inevitability; the listener observes the machinery of the 14th century as it is forced through the filter of 21st-century amplification.
‘Vibrantly energetic, Renske Vrolijk’s ‘gRound’ is a fine homage to Machaut. Particularly successful in this playfully titled piece is the seamless integration of a deliciously distorted, biting electric guitar within the overall ensemble sound.’
– Erik Voermans, Het PAROOL
Musical Iconography
Vrolijk utilizes specific instrumental “hard evidence” to illustrate the friction between the ancient and the modern:
- Isorhythmic Overlap: Represents the Social Construct of the “System”—a rigid, inescapable framework that dictates movement.
- Floating Ground (Violin/Marimba): The Psychological Truth—a subversion of traditional foundations, representing an ethereal, modern detachment from history.
- Distorted Electric Guitar: Acts as the secular disruptor, providing a biting, industrial timbre that punctures the transparency of the acoustic ensemble.
- Saxophone Trio (Alto, Tenor, Baritone): Represents a modern mechanical choir, replacing the vocal polyphony of Machaut with brass-adjacent reed textures and jazzy licks.
Commission and premiere of gRound for large ensemble
gRound was commissioned by the ensemble Combustion Chamber. They performed the premiere under the direction of conductor Rutger van Leyden.
For performers
Year:
2003
Duration:
8′
Instruments:
asax, tsax, barsax;
hn, tpt, tbn;
perc, drum-kit,
mba;
egtr, bgtr;
pf; (e)vn
Premiere:
24 dec 2003
Paradox
Tilburg
Combustion
Chamber
Commission:
Combustion
Chamber
Category:
6-18 musicians
Language:
—
Lyricist:
—
Are you interested in performing this work? Please contact my publisher.
Renske’s sheet music
is published by Deuss Music.
Listen to gRound for large ensemble
¹ Footnote – isorhythm for beginners
Isorhythm explained simply: Imagine you want to decorate a long wall using a stencil and a few pots of paint.
First, picture a rhythm-stencil (the talea) with a pattern like: short-short-long. This simple pattern is repeated continuously along the wall’s entire length. Alongside this, you have a fixed sequence of colors (the color), for instance: red-blue-yellow-green. This color sequence is also applied on a continuous loop.
Isorhythm is what happens when you combine these two systems, but they aren’t the same length. You simply start painting your color sequence over your rhythm-stencil:
Isorhythm is what happens when you combine these two systems, but they aren’t the same length. You simply start painting your color sequence over your rhythm-stencil:
- The first “short-short-long” is painted in red-blue-yellow.
- For the next “short-short-long,” you continue with your colors: green-red-blue.
- The third “short-short-long” then becomes yellow-green-red.
So, you keep hearing the same rhythmic pattern (short-short-long), but the melody (the colors) changes each time. Because the color sequence is longer than the rhythm-stencil, it takes a while before the original combination of rhythm and color lines up perfectly again. In simple terms, isorhythm is a clever, almost mathematical trick used by composers in the 14th and 15th centuries to build a complex and surprising piece of music from a repeating rhythm and a repeating melody that shift against each other.