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About the Music
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a fellow musician Nick Bramald set an exercise where we would both produce an original composition based on the picture shown here.
I wanted to evoke a feeling of danger and tension, so the majority of my piece is in the time signature of 7/8. To further highlight the themes, I started with a repeating two bar rhythm. The timing doesn't show a clear structure to the listener until after 4 bars, where the kick is added on the beat. It takes eight bars before any harmony enters, and the first harmony we hear is a dissonant added chord in the piano. This starts a phrase of descending harmony, which leads straight into the first melodic section.
This next section juxtaposes a more pleasant, conjunct melody against a harsh background of extended harmony, octaves in the bass, and loud drums. At the end of the first phrase, a string quartet joins, adding more depth to the harmony and texture.
After an abrupt ending to the last section, the music takes a short pause. The music shifts to 4/4, with a much softer overall dynamic of piano and a lonely string quartet playing a melodic feature. This is closely followed by a solo piano which plays a loud pedal and a later addition of the kick drum on each beat. This ends with a repeating one bar bassline and drum rhythm, which later drops the last quaver to metrically modulate back to 7/8. This shifts to a quick, less harsh phrase with chords in the high register of the piano and drums using just the ride cymbal.
The next section is a descending phrase in the string quartet. It is played pizzicato and at a dynamic of piano. Straight after this, the first melodic section is repeated, this time with the string quartet throughout. After a short two-bar drum break, there is a climactic moment. Every instrument plays at it's loudest and there is a strong feeling of tension being released in the music.
By contrast, immediately after this, the piece comes to an end. I intentionally mirrored the start of the piece here because I wanted the music to seem like it has a cyclical nature. The opening two bar rhythm returns, fading into emptiness with a subtle diminuendo...
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