Although these pieces are all very different they do have a number of similarities. Freeway and Le Onde are written in major keys (Freeway- C Major, and Le Onde- D Major). Both Danse Orientale and Le Onde are played slowly and expressively, played with a huge variety of dynamics. All three pieces have a huge diversity of dynamics, but this is most prominently shown in Le Onde which has piano to forte, with crescendos and diminuendos in between. These dynamics and the constant use of a legato style and pedalling plus the conversational style (where the tune is passed from hand to hand in the first line which helps build emotion and atmosphere. Le Onde has to be played fluidly so that lots of the feeling can be expressed. Danse Orientale has the same style but it has quite a different feel. There is no pedalling in Danse Orientale and it feels as if the notes are constantly expanding and contracting. I believe that this is due to the quavers broken up by the grace notes and leading to minims. These make the piece sound more choppy. Freeway has a different feel being written in a jazz style and, like Le Onde was written in the modern era, it’s very up beat and bubbly. The pulse in this piece is strongly projected where as in my other pieces it is not really heard at all. The dynamics are the least varied and it is the least expressive piece (partly because of the consistently fast tempo and the lack of variation in dynamics). This piece is fun where as Le Onde and Danse Orientale are emotional.
Freeway’s composer Alan Haughton is a head teacher and he was born in 1950 and is still alive today and is English composer. The composer of Le Onde (Ludovico Einaudi) was also born in the fifties (1955) and is still alive today. However
I think that the biggest similarity is that all pieces are in turnery form meaning that it has an ABA pattern. This is the idea that I will use to compose my piece.
My Composition So Far:
I have decided that I will compose my piece in ternary form and in D Minor which will create a quite sad mood.
Currently my composition is unfinished. I have composed an idea that will be repeated at the end of the piece, which is a reoccurring note. I have lots of single ideas which at the moment I am working on putting together.
My introduction idea is very simple and is based solely around the use of the note D. It has no accompanying chords but it sets a mood which I believe is quite eerie. This gives my composition more scope to develop. This is the chord sequence that I have designed:
I have decided to use a tango (Argentine) style I will play the chords in a simple crotchet style in the bass clef. Although I have used a less traditional treble clef part a tune with more movement.
Performance Appraisal
Today I did my performance, I played Le Onde by Ludovico Einaudi on the electronic piano. I think that it went quite well and I didn’t make any mistakes. I concentrated very fully on dynamics and tried to make all crescendos and diminuendos very pronounced. Also the legato and pedalling was smooth and continuous throughout, I believe this helped convey the conversational style of the piece. Lastly I think that I clearly conveyed the rallentando at the end of the repeat of line one and at the end of the piece. To improve, next time I will try not to get so nervous and tense also I will play a more complex piece with more variety in dynamics.
How My Composition Turned Out:
I kept the idea that my piece would be in turnery form. However I completely changed my piece from what I had originally planned. I decided to adapt my style from the Argentine style to a more dreamy style (influenced by Einaudi’s Le Onde). Also I changed the key from D Minor which gave it a sad feeling to B Major which is more cheerful and helped convey a dreamy tone. The time signature starts in four four but half way through it moves to three four and that to convey the turnery idea at the end it returns to four four. The bass line is very repetitive which I hope conveys a hypnotic feeling. I think that the piece turned out quite effectively.
