Music

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Having met real musicans, I would not degrade them by calling myself one. At the same time I have had an ongoing relationship with music. I'm told I learned to sing at approximately the same time as I learned to speak. Growing up there was years of chorus, musical theater, six years of trumpet playing, two years of french horn. In college I became President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus. All of these things however are relatively amature in light of the student musicans I've met along the way.

When I was sixteen and seventeen I involved in a brief period of musical composition. Looking back now I'm impressed by what I composed, but also realize that much of it is trash. The same motive appears in have the songs, and often I fail to maintain any sort of thematic thread throughout the longer pieces. Still they're written and done, and perhaps someday I'll have an opportuntity to see what the older wise me could compose. Someday.

The Autistic Child
This piano piece is quite representative of much of my mid-teens musical style and ability. There are some insanely difficult momments in this piece (none of which I could possibly play) and occasional strokes of something moderatley good. But the piece changes in character wildly and abruptly. Why? Simply beause I didn't know at the time how to carry a theme or motive properly for six minutes. The name of the piece "The Autistic Child", suggestive of wild changes and mood swings thus provides a mask for my inability to maintain a single character. See also "Mad Horse"

Mad Horse
Mad Horse is the first piece I composed during this youth period of composition (using a simple to understand program called Encore for the Mac). Like "The Autisic Child," "Mad Horse" is a piano solo with some semblance of a narrative thread, but with wild fluctuations and several moments of shear dichord.

The Slide Duet
This duet for piano and violin actually cannot be played as a duet for piano and violin. I have written several four note chords for the single violin, which at the time I did not understand were impossible to be played. The piece might perhaps be rearranged for violins, viola, and piano, but at this point who knows. The piece is short but the three key motives of the piece became the basis for the longer piece "Slide". Although I'm not sure, I believe the name Slide was given due to a crazy slide up and down the keyboard in this piece.

Slide (Full Version)
This is the extended version of the duet above, written for eight intruments rather than two, though I'm not sure what they are. I think it involves the original piano and violin lines with clarinet, french horn, bass, electric guitar, flute and maybe one other.

The Ascension of Mount Kilamajaro
Written for first and second violins, viola, cello, and bass, "Kilamanaro" is the first of my two pieces for string quintet with bass.

Rhapsody of the Stars
Also originally written for five piece strings, this particular midi file plays in the arrangment of a full string orchestra. It is probably the best of my pieces, but nothing stellar.