8/18/2019 A Symphonic Poem Commentary

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A Symphonic PoemDescriptionI wrote this piece over the spring of 2015. At that time I knew I had the opportunity to have one ofmy compositions performed and I would conduct it, so I decided to set out and write this piece.

This piece is not a typical symphonic poem, but rather what I would see as a culmination of myHigh School composition career. As such, I took ideas from many different sources and differentsignificant pieces that I have encountered throughout my musical life so far.

The piece starts with a horn solo, of which I borrowed the idea from Schubert’s 9th symphony, oneof my favourite symphonies. Then I went into a woodwind and brass melodic section where I had agreat deal of imitation between the instruments, this is a very common device I use in mycompositions. Underneath that texture, I place a layer of string 16th notes to create a seeminglywave like atmosphere. I also make use of the high register of the cello, as that is in my opinion,one of the most intense melodic ranges of any string instrument. After this section, I have a subitopiano, this is another of my characteristics, I use very dramatic changes in dynamics to create

tension in my music. As I continue my development, I use a simpler version of the melody, atruncated one. After this it can also be seen that I use a minor triad followed by the same triad butmajor (i.e. moving the third up a semitone), this is a technique I also use a lot to draw out the musicand give it space to breathe. I follow this up with one of my favourite rhythms in 4/4 time: The  q. q. q

beat pattern. I find that this pattern creates a lot of drive in the music. Exploring these non-standardrhythms is one of the inspirations the Grammy-award winning composer Christopher Tin let me todiscover when he visited our school. Following this, the next significant thing of note is the solosections, this acts as it is a string quartet, and this idea stems from Gershwin’s An American inParis, where he used the same technique. Following, I created a complete change in tone with mymarch theme, one of my dreams when I started composing was to compose something grand andexpansive, to this, I think this march along with the proceeding brass and woodwind choirs sectionhave completely achieved this. It is also here where the piano makes its first appearance, thepiano plays nothing more than arpeggios, but this is all that’s needed. This idea comes from Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony, where the piano is also used similarly. The piano then returns in aseemingly cadenza section of arpeggios and chromaticism, I find this to be the weakest link in mypiece, but I deem it necessary as it transitions from my last section cleanly into my next. In thefollowing section, I have a very familiar orchestral sequence of 4 notes, then followed by thetimpani, this is to lead back into what may be considered a restatement of the first idea. This time,though, I am preparing for my fugue. The fugue is what I consider the crowning jewel in my work.This fugue is heavily inspired by the Cum Sancto Spiritu in Mozart’s Great Mass, however, I doinclude my own inventions of stretto, and the various voicing of my instruments. In this piece, Iwould dare say that I spent over 80% of the time on the fugue alone. As the fugue comes to anend, I enter into my final theme, the idea here is to recreate some kind of dance from eastern

europe, maybe hungarian or polish. But mostly to push the music up to the finale. The next thing ofnote is again the subito piano section, this section is entire made up of divisive rhythms (again athing I learnt from An American in Paris), but also the instruments slowly enter. Penultimately, thefirst theme is restated with more embellishments around it. And finally, the Oboe plays the role ofthe horn and plays similar material, except here, I do something I have never done before and issomething special: I end my piece on the secondary dominant (V of V) to create a feeling ofmystical hope.

As this piece is for my school orchestra, the instrumentation cannot be a full orchestra and must bea reduced one, I felt somewhat limited by this, but I tried my best to implement my ideas within thelimitation as well. Of course, the abilities of my players must also be taken into account, this Isometimes stretched in this, and as I have found as I am conducting it now, these issues are quitedifficult to solve. This piece is to be premiered at my school’s spring concert in early March thisyear.