During the COVID-19 isolation, my composition teacher, Adam Schoenberg, gave me a whole new palette of sound and patiently took me through the step-by-step process of writing for Orchestra. I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed anything more in my life. However, the piece remained incomplete. At the encouragement of my current music theory & composition teacher, Esther Megargel, I pulled it out and finished it off. This is the result.
Composition Notes: This piece begins in Lydian Church Mode and explores quintal harmonies extensively (stacking a fifth on a fifth: A – E – B) much as Aaron Copland did in the opening of Appalachian Spring. I studied that piece as I began this composition. The piece remains entirely tonal throughout. For anyone interested in the nerdy, music theory behind this piece or what makes it unusual, see the notes at the bottom of this page.
Synthesized MP3 File:
Music Theory Notes on Se Brota la Flor (2025) [for any nerds who are interested]
– Se Brota la Flor is an exploration of contrasts between sharply defined sounds vs. washes of sound
– The piece both begins and ends with a Solo suspended 18” cymbal, in both cases starting with sharply defined clicks on the dome and ending with a wash of sound at the cymbal’s edge.
– The English Horn Melody in m.107-138 is arranged with fairly strict counterpoint, and so is the French Horn / Trumpet melody starting at rehearsal letter L. This gives a sharply defined sound.
– This contrasts with the transition section (m. 242 – 300) where I have not attempted to follow the rules at all. This creates a wash of sound with no distinct harmonic function — just lovely arpeggios above nearly block chords. There are even places with parallel 2nd motion (see. m. 248 piccolo vs flute) and lots of parallel 5ths. I bring in a Trumpet melody at m.271 which hopefully sounds like the walk of a drunken man or a boat tossed upon the sea.
– All of these are attempts to contrast nicely defined music against a wash of beautiful but disorganized sound.
– The piece’s A-section is written in Lydian Church mode. When the A-section returns it is essentially identical for all players which makes it easier for practice purposes. The main exception is added density, mostly in the brass.
– A 9th chord constructed with a perfect 5th above the dominant and missing the 7th is a beautiful sound. I was curious to see if someone hears this dissonant chord construction frequently enough, could it eventually begin to sound consonant? You can see this clearly in measures 13-15 (F – C – G – A) and in the harp in measures 85-96 (A – E – B – C). However, that chord structure permeates the entire piece, present in about half of the measures.
– Building a chord with a perfect 5th above the dominant 5th creates some interesting accidentals. For example, the B-section is in the key of A minor but the ii chord is played as a Bmin9: B – F# (up P5)- C# (up P5) – D (while usually the diminished ii° chord is made more consonant by dropping the root a half step [Bb]).
– I am still toying with whether the last harp chord in m.365 should be built with this stacked 5th structure, or not. You will see I have removed the C from the final chord to finally give the listener the satisfaction of hearing a perfectly consonant non-9th Bb minor chord.
– I believe the music is not technically difficult and could be played by many community orchestras. I do ask the flute, piccolo and French Horn players to play in a high, professional range, and there are 8 measures in 7/8 time signature.
Composer: WT Stephenson
Created: Jul 2025
Duration: 9:40
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