Composition Project 1 - Week 7 (Final)

It was a bit of a whirlwind week. With so much other stuff going on in school and life at the moment, this week managed to be almost completely revolved around the premiering of my piece of music. 

I finished my final movement Monday this week, and it was performed on Thursday. That's a bit crazy, huh? It's unfortunate that we did not have more time to practice. As Andrew had said to me after the performance, he learned from both sides (the composer, and performer) that getting parts out as soon as possible to players will most definitely result in a more polished performance. That is what I learned from this experience too. That is not to say that Andrew and Jenny did not do a good job; I felt it was a good performance. It really only lacked in tempo, which would have come with another week of performance. The response has been pretty much all positive. I am glad that the support of my peers has been high, it makes me feel good about everything. 

As my first real composition project, I feel proud for what I have accomplished. I wrote an actual piece, that actually got performed. I wrote for an instrument that I was almost completely unfamiliar with, and had many nuances to learn. I wrote for two instruments that produced several notes at once, and although the composition was atonal, this provided a challenge to create sounds in the way I heard them. I produced a polished score. I wrote in styles that I was unfamiliar with, and went outside my comfort zone to learn new things. Not every thing was a success, but everything was a learning experience. 

I was struck at the complexity of my friends' compositions. There were wonderful moments in every piece. I loved the colours produced by Andrew's use of extended techniques in the vibes and cello. Vanessa's piece managed to produce a very positive vibe despite its seed as an atonal composition. It was also very catchy- I still love the first movement. Evan's composition had the rhythmic upbeat-ness that only a percussionist could craft (I was also impressed by his piano playing - I never knew!). Brad's piece was well crafted. I love the contrast between the mechanical second movement and the expressive and colourful third. Jenny's piece had extremely catchy rhythms, and the addition of the horn was well received and produced a great contrast between the complexity of the piano's rhythms and mellow-ness of the horn. I thought Mitchell's "3 Vignettes" stayed very true to its titles. They each told a little story according to their titles that was very satisfying to listen through. So kudos to everyone!

Until next week...!