Valse pour Emilie My intention in composing 'Valse Pour Emilie' was to create an instrumental piece with a range of different

timbres. I chose to use a piano, a viola, a cello, a doublebass, a harp and a glockenspiel. I though that this would be an interesting combination of instrument that would compliment the style I was trying to create. I wanted my piece to sound very dolce, so decided to make it a French style waltz, with influences from the music of Yann Tiersen. I decided to make my piece in binary form with a coda. I made two contrasting themes, the first in Eb major, and the second modulating to Ab major. I repeated a section of my first theme in Ab major at the end of the piece to form the coda. Within my themes, different parts are imitated by different instruments, and the main melody interchanges within different members of the ensemble throughout. I tried to capture the idea of a French sounding waltz with the use of augmented chords and pizzicato, and attempted to create a very dolce feel to the piece by including a glockenspiel and writing the melodies in the piano in octaves. I originally wanted to write my piece with an accordion, but I was unable to find a convincing midi sample to put in my recording. I was also aware of the fact that it was difficult to write idiomatically for this instrument. However, I'm glad that I chose to not use this instrument and used the ones that I have done, as I think I've created the effect that I wanted by using these, even though it is an unusual combination of instruments.

Once by the Pacific - poem by Robert Frost I wanted to compose a choral piece describing the sea which expressed the words of the poem 'Once by the Pacific' by Robert Frost. I chose this poem because I liked the symbolism and varying moods of the sea described. There were also religious undertones within the poem which I thought would suit the choice of using a choir. I used a S A1 A2 T B choir to create the fullest sound I could. I used musical influences from modern choral composers such as Eric Whitacre. I composed in 3/4 to create the image of the rising and the falling of the waves, and enhanced this effect by using lots of crescendos and diminuendos. To portray the crashing of the waves against the shore, I decided to use lots of semi tone and whole tone dissonance. To show the change of mood in the poem, I used a lower tessitura within the voices to portray the darker words - "night of dark intent". The poem was non strophic so I decided to reflect this within my music and make it through composed, which some recurring melodic fragments. I am happy with my composition, as I think I created an effect sound to portray the literal sounds of the sea and it's varying moods. As I wrote for voices, I decided to get my music school's youth choir to sing it for my recording. However, this didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped as the dissonance was too difficult for the choir and therefore made some of the piece out of tune. I also had some technical difficulties as the microphone was placed too close to the soprano singers.

Before the Battle I intended to write a film style piece of music that portrayed a scene on screen. using a full orchestra with a large percussion section and some electronic sounds. My music describes first the sun rising over a battle camp, and then the soldiers preparing and going to war. I have included aspects such as someone getting injured, where I change the mood of the piece. I have used musical influences from film composers such as Harry Gregson-Williams and Hans Zimmer. I chose to use different instruments to display different moods throughout my piece. For example, I chose to use a solo harp at the beginning of the piece to create an air of mystery. I chose to use a synthesiser called 'Bondi Breath' to create a threatening undertone throughout the piece. I gradually introduced instruments to build the tension, which would lead to a majestic main theme. I chose to use brass instruments in this theme to mimic battle horn calls. As a film scene would be ever changing I decided to reflect this in the music and make my piece through composed. I am happy with the outcome of my piece, as I feel that it would be suitable to display alongside a film scene. I like my use of percussion as I feel like they create sounds of violence and can be taken away and added to different sections to create a feel of a completely different mood. I tended to stick to very simple chords, with a modulation at the end, and would like to do more experimentation with different chords next time I compose a piece of film style music.