Composition Brief and Appraisal

Composition 1 - Mazurka - BRIEF

I am going to write a piece of music in the style of a Mazurka, a Mazurka could be commonly found at Ballroom dances, it originated in Poland. I will be writing my piece of music to be played on the flute. My Composition will be based on aspects and features of three pieces of music, that are in my chosen style. My main piece that I have taken features from is called Anitra’s Dance - it is taken from Peer Gynt. This piece is also my Performance 1. Some of the typical features that I have taken from this piece include trills. Trills are ornaments - they are performed by going to the next note up and to the original repeatedly at a very quick speed. Anitra’s Dance is in the key of E Minor, which is the key that I will be using in my Composition 1, which I have decided to call *****’s Mazurka. I will also take the structure from Anitra’s Dance, for example - Anitra’s Dance does not have large sections, just small numbers of bars - so I will try and incorporate this into my piece. The other pieces in the style of a Mazurka that I have chosen are The Wedding March (Mazurka Op 20a) and Mazurka Fantaisie by Marcel Dupont, they also contain these features that I need - but they are not just specifically made to just be played on the flute.

Password

Confirm Password

I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy

Composition 1 - Mazurka - APPRAISAL

For my composition 1, I had to write a piece of music that was in the style of my performance 1, and two other pieces - a Mazurka. My composition contains features that are commonly found in Mazurka’s - such as, a very lively and upbeat tempo, so that it will fit in with the correct style.

I feel that my composition was quite successful because towards the start of it I wasn’t very confident about what I had to do. And was unsure about what style to base it ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Composition 1 - Mazurka - APPRAISAL

I feel that my composition was quite successful because towards the start of it I wasn’t very confident about what I had to do. And was unsure about what style to base it on. But in the end I was able to pick up the techniques and what the completed dance sound would sound like. And also what fits into my composition and what sounds right and wrong.

Some of the techniques that I used in my piece included trills - which I also stated in my brief that I would use. I feel that not only is it important to the style, but it creates a smooth feeling to the piece and adds the necessary feel to the piece. Also the structure of my piece is similar to that of Anitra’s Dance by Grieg - in the way that it doesn’t repeat in large sections much, but small numbers of bars. The piece mainly relates to Anitra’s Dance as a whole, as this was the main basis for my piece, and mainly the similarities come from it. But my other two pieces, The Wedding March (Mazurka 20a) and Mazurka Fantaisie contain the typical features of Mazurka’s.

For example Mazurka’s are normally in triple time, or ¾ and my piece is in keeping with that. I feel that by using all these features that are typical to Mazurka’s - mainly the trills and the feel that it gives the piece and the tempo used and following the brief that I stated I would follow I feel that my composition was successful and I created it to the best of my abilities. But I could never create it to be perfect, and fit in with the style of a Mazurka perfectly - as I did not have enough time to go into an in depth study as I would have liked to. I also feel that I could have added some more ornaments into the piece - such as a Acciaccatura, where you add a smaller note in front of the original, you play it as fast as possible.