Task #4 - Classical Composition
For this assignment, I will be composing a classical piece using a provided motif, developing the motif throughout using compositional devices covered in class. I will be composing a piece for a string quartet consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, and bass clarinet.
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The assignment consists of three parts: the electronic composition, graphic outline, and the portfolio here on my website.
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The three compositional devices I will be
using are retrograde, ornamentation,
and imitation.
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Below is my final score and the mp3.
Progress Portfolio
Term 2 Week 9 - 10
In week 9 and 10 of term 2, I chose a woodwind quartet to be my ensemble. Initially, I planned to include parts for a clarinet, flute, oboe, and bassoon, but later I replaced the bassoon part with a bass clarinet part because of its more warm and soothing tone colour.
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I notated the first 16 bars of my composition fully, complete with techniques of motivic development including imitation, repetition, fragmentation, displacement, and rhythmic diminution.
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The piece starts off by playing the motif in unison at a moderate volume. The next phrase sees the clarinet still playing the motif, but the bass clarinet using fragmentation and the flute playing a high rhythmic accompaniment, all rather quietly. In the third phrase, the oboe takes the melody, playing the motif, and the clarinet playing an example of varied repetition as a harmony (the motif but at different pitches with varying intervals). In the last phrase I notated this week, the bass clarinet plays a rhythmically modulated form of the motif while the other 3 parts use fragmentation and displacement of the bass clarinet's melody. The volume finally increases, shown in the bass clarinet part.
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Overall, I am happy with my work in these first 2 weeks. Next, I would like to adjust the dynamics to be less quiet in this first part so that I can contrast against it with a quieter part to follow, slowly building up in volume for a grand ending.
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I have attached an mp3 of the current score as well as a photo of the completed first page of my graphic plan:





Holidays
Over the holidays, I completed the second page of my graphic plan, notated bars 17-24, and made some very minor changes to the first 16 bars of my composition.
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The main alteration I made to the first part of my score was the dynamics in bars 1-8. In bars 1-4, I changed the mezzo forte in the oboe, flute, and clarinet parts to forte. In bars 5-8, I changed the pianississimo in the clarinet part to mezzo forte. I made these changes because I wanted the piece to start off louder in order to contrast with a quiet section to come.
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In bars 17-20, the piece quickly juxtaposes its previous phrase, consisting of all four instruments and many short note values in quick succession to one another, by reducing itself to a simple flute melody of tenuto crotchets and stacatto semiquavers. The melody falls from mezzo forte to pianississimo.
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In bars 21-24, the same flute melody is repeated, and the only addition is a pianississimo bass clarinet melody, taken from an earlier development of the motif seen in bars 13-16. My goal with this was to start slowly building up this quiet section.
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I like where my composition is headed. The restrictions of 24-32 bars and only 4 instruments are proving challenging to me, as I am used to working in a format in which I can add however many parts I like, and I can develop my ideas over more time. Because of this, I decided not to modulate key, as I would find it difficult to do so in such a small space without disorientating the listener.
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Next, I'd like to continue to build up this quiet part and then burst into a big, proud ending.
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Below is the mp3 of the score so far and photos of my graphic plan:








Term 3 Week 1
This week, I finalised my composition and graphic plan.
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In bars 25-28, the same material from bars 21-24 is repeated, but this time the oboe is harmonising with the flute part in pianissimo by playing different notes in the same rhythm, and the clarinet plays the original motif, slightly louder in piano. In this phrase, the piece builds up slightly, remaining soft and cautious.
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The next phrase, bars 29-32, sees the ensemble burst back loudly into a polyphonic ending. The oboe plays the melody, the motif, at fortissimo. The flute plays the same arrangement of staccato semiquavers as in bars 5-8 with only a few notes changed. The clarinet harmonises with the oboe part, similar to how the oboe harmonised with the flute in the previous phrase. Then, the bass clarinet plays bass accented notes for emphasis on the downbeats of the bars.
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Then in the final phrase, bars 33-35, the ensemble plays the major tonic chord except the bass clarinet is playing the second note of the scale, creating dissonance. The flute also plays a trill on the first note of the scale. Then, this dissonance is resolved when the bass clarinet and flute both play the first note, with the oboe and clarinet on the third and fifth. Then they all play one more chord before resolving in the tonic chord.
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After playing my composition for Miss, I also added slurs to a lot of sets of four semiquavers throughout the piece to add some interesting articulation and reduced the amount of staccato notes slightly.
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In summary, I'm pretty happy with my composition. Composing on Flat posed a few challenges, but I overcame them with some help and persistence. I particularly like the ending and bars 25-28. I enjoyed developing the motif we were given and building an entire score around it with its own characteristics and countermelodies and smaller motifs. If I did this again, I'd use more bars and instruments so that I could have more time and different ways to develop the motif and the rest of the piece even more.
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I have attached images of my final graphic plan, the pdf of my completed score, and the mp3 of the finished composition.


