My Compositional Work
I'm just getting started with compositional work. As a part of my academic curriculum, one of the sections of my Music paper is composition. I'm an absolute beginner, a novice.
Celestial Dream
Floating into Eternal Brotherhood
This is a dream. A dream beyond the confines of our universe. It starts out in a state of complete calmness mimicking the pattern of breathing in deep sleep. The flute then “calls” me and invites me to go beyond our universe. As I then drift and float into the depths of creation as the English Horn and Clarinet introduces the melody. As I continue to drift through the universe, I am awe struck by its vast infinite dimensions and beauty. The strings then present infinite worlds in front of me, and suddenly, I feel one with the whole universe as the piece then reaches the climax when I see the universes beyond our own. This fills me with the feeling that we are all united through music and everyone is just one. The dreamy, high melody of the horn’s solo brings me back, letting me soak in the oneness and brotherhood that the universe offers, taking in the sights one last time. The minor 4th brings me back from the eternal realm to reality before ending how the dream started – a rhythmic and peaceful breathing in a state of deep sleep.
Do grab your headphones to listen to this.
Click on the sheet music animated image to download the score.
Christmas Dance
Memories of a New Christmas
I was inspired by my favourite time of the year: Christmas. It started of as a simple melody on the piccolos, inspired by Edvard Grieg’s Arabian Dance movement from the Peer Gynt suite 2. I wanted to convey the feeling of the preparation for Christmas when the violins 1 play the melody for the first time with a counter melody played by oboes and violins 2. For the middle section I wanted to go for something different: a heavier section. I recently visited New York during Christmas and the festive hustle and bustle of the city was quite a sight to behold and was etched in my memory. I wanted to incorporate the grandeur of New York Christmas in the grand middle section. I was imagining children breaking into a dance as this piece was being played with elves arriving and joining in joyous celebration. The piece closes with the trumpets playing the theme to ring in the festivities of Christmas. This composition is the representation of the feelings I cherish during Christmas.
Do grab your headphones to listen to this.
Click on the sheet music animated image to download the score.
The Last Leaf
This was an orchestral composition that I had submitted as a part of my IGCSE (10th Grade) music exam requirements for the Cambridge Boards. This song is based on O Henry's short story bearing the same name. I’ve incorporated a full orchestral score to bring out the various moods of this story, trying to capture the emotional roller-coaster that O. Henry masterfully weaves into the story. The story concerns a poor girl who was struck by pneumonia and was seriously ill. Having given up all hope, she looks out of the window watching the leaves of a dying ivy vine fall like her failing health during the ensuing storm. She was waiting for the last leaf to fall since she believed that she would also die with the last leaf. A masterful artist living next door has his first masterwork as he tricks her by painting the last leaf making her realize her folly and saves her. But in this process, the artist loses his life!
I’ve tried to incorporate a romantic style with a bit of influence from Beethoven’s 5th (Oboe solo). The song uses long flowy melodies with fiery passages which convey the poor girls sickness (both mind and body), the storm, and the death of the master artist. I’ve tried to keep it simple but at the same time have a luscious orchestration for the opening building up to a con-fuoco section transitioning to an adagio section.
I suggest you grab your headphones to listen to this piece.
Click on the sheet music animated image to download the score.
A Ditty For Mozart
This was the 2nd piece that I had submitted for my IGCSE (10th Grade) music exam for my Cambridge Boards. I composed this as a tribute for Mozart. I tried to use a light and joyful touch to the piano. The song is characterized by a lot of Alberti bass with a short main melody motif. I also tried to follow a ternary structure with the middle section incorporating the same theme in a darker minor key which modulates to different keys finally arrives to the theme in the home key.
Click on the sheet music animated image to download the score.
Invention 1 - The Won Battle
This is my first attempt at composing something. Honestly, this was not an inspired composition - I was just trying to apply some compositional techniques I had noticed some of the great composers use.
I used this for my 9th grade first semester exam.
You may ask - then why the name? I felt the feel of the song somehow brings a jubilant victorious texture. Hence I gave it this name.
Click on the sheet music animated image to download the score.