Gwendolyn Przyjazna

It's been too long! I thought I would share this piece written for my theory and composition class at Berklee. We were asked to work with a couple of "exotic scales" from a selection including the whole-tone scale, the octatonic scale, and modes other than those derived from the major scale. I felt drawn to the Lydian Augmented and Spanish Phrygian modes. I ended up with a contrapuntal rock instrumental in rough ABCA' form. The A section is in B♭ Lydian Augmented, the B section is in G Spanish Phrygian, and the C section an unbroken transition into D Spanish Phrygian. Finally, I modulate with the common tones D and A back to B♭ Lydian Augmented, for the A' recapitulation. The title (Iridescence) was inspired by my understanding of modes as a concept. With many modes sharing the same collection of notes, the tonic note that each mode centers on is what makes it unique -- gives it a unique color. And, iridescence is when something appears in different colors depending on the angle of viewing. I see that as a fitting metaphor. The artwork is my own, made with ProCreate. I didn't paint it for this track, but as a birthday present for my mother, inspired by Kate Bush's song "Kite". She is a massive fan of Kate's and introduced me to her when I was a little girl. I rediscovered her recently and I've been spending a lot of time with her early work. My current favorite album is Never for Ever...whose influence I thought was bleeding into this track. So, in the end there is some relation. 🙂 I hope you enjoy! Any feedback on both the mix and composition is more than welcome. ~ GP P.S. I was required to include a detailed score for the assignment. It might be too precise for a rock track in general, but if enough people are interested I will upload that, too.

Thank you so much, Henry! 🙂 I trust your judgement on the notation. I will be making my final draft in a week and will post it here.

Thought I would share a draft of my final project for a composition course, covering the common practice period and ending with the Impressionist and Expressionist movements. I make use of chord extensions, non-traditional cadences, and modalities such as Dorian and Lydian as well as moments of E Major and E Augmented. Ballade-like accompaniment prevails, and 2:3 or 4:3 polyrhythms are often present. The form consists of a 4-bar introduction, a repeated A section, a repeated contrasting B section, and then a final nod to the intro and the first phrase of the A section. I'm not sure what that form is called. The music came to me before the conceptual title I have attached to it. In retrospect I noticed how the harmony seemed to constantly alternate between dark and bright, which reminded me of clouds passing over the sun. The piece has a quiet, moody opening and closing and lighter, even magical moments in the middle. Any constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks, Gwendolyn

Hello @barko -- thank you for listening and for the encouraging words! At 1:24 I know I definitely intended a G7 chord, but the F sharp from the previous chord is still present and clashing with the F because I'm using such long delays. I will experiment with voicing the chord change differently and avoiding that half-step rub. Thank you for pointing it out. 🙂 ~ Gwen

Hello! I'm interested in submitting a fugue. I should have it finished over the next few days.

Hello Rich! Thank you for taking the time to listen. I think a countermelody would be a great idea. I have the cellos on the bottom part (there are no basses) so I would probably add a viola line. It would give the piece more of a dramatic arc, maybe. Thanks again for your kind and helpful comment! ~ Gwen

Hello Elias! Congratulations on making it into the Estampas de España selections! I like the pensive mood you created in this piece. It feels both modern and timeless somehow, like it could fit in a variety of settings, but the open voicings definitely evoke for me the way the paintings show the essential elements without excessive detail. I also hear the twisting of the animal figures in the changing harmony. I hope you keep up the good work. It's a pleasure to hear this musical vignette in full. 🙂 ~ Gwen

I thought I would share my final project for my theory and composition course, intended for a contemplative short film with no dialogue. Instruments used: Alaska Sweeps, Mellow Grand Piano, Sad Strings, Drawbar Flutes, all from HALion Sonic. Around 1 minute I made use of retrograde, but otherwise the melody is free of elaborate development techniques. Please let me know if there is any way I could improve this track in a strictly compositional sense. 🙂

Hello! Thank you for the kind words, and sorry for the delay -- I just finished the Spring semester of school today. I just posted an alternate version of this piece on my SoundCloud with a synth pad I thought was interesting. It's a bit "thicker". I would love to hear any thoughts if you feel moved to listen. https://soundcloud.com/gwendolyn_przyjazna/the-solitude-of-summer-alternate-version

New version with synth ("Wave Turn Around" from HALion Sonic): https://soundcloud.com/gwendolyn_przyjazna/the-solitude-of-summer-alternate-version

Thank you so much for your recommendations! I already have the BBCSO Spitfire Symphony Orchestra. I will be sure to check out their other offerings. 🙂 Good luck with your revisions!

Hello there! This piece really stopped me in my tracks, my goodness. Your style feels very unique and personal. I thought the metric changes did well to bookend the first and last lines of the poem. Even though it captures indeterminacy I hear a mastery of form. My favorite section in the piece is your repetition of "paradise"; the chord changes really embody that word for me while being inescapably melancholy, maybe because you never overindulge in emotion. I wonder, what were your thoughts behind having dotted eighth notes and sixteenth rests in bar 51? As a cellist I am used to seeing "detaché" written out or a tenuto mark over a staccato mark, which each give slightly different feelings, but I am curious what the psychology was behind your choice. 🙂 What instruments do you play? One other thing I thought I would mention is that there is clipping at bars 46 and 47. Do you know how to address this with a DAW? I thought you would appreciate knowing especially since that moment is so climactic. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this truly beautiful and poignant piece, and also for introducing me to a poet I didn't know. ~ Gwen

Hi Layne, This is really rich and wonderful. I like how the extended phrase of your theme just sort of floats. The harmonic colors and mood change gradually, which is really nice; it makes me think of leaving one's hometown behind and and journeying into a vast plain, further and further from the center of civilization. The stratospheric sustained notes in the violins are very cool. I think by 3:00 I am ready to hear something change in the repetition of the main theme. Perhaps you could add a countermelody under the melody with notes moving in the opposite direction. I agree with Henry that you could definitely afford to expand on the contrasting sections without losing your foundation. Also, I'm very envious of your sound libraries. 😉 Keep up the good work, and I hope you're feeling better these days! ~ Gwen

Hello Peter! Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback! I will consider recording the rhythm part on electric piano. I tried it out really quickly in Cubase. I came up with every chord at the guitar but my skill level is elementary and I agree that an electric piano might be an improvement -- especially a softer timbre. I'm glad this tune evoked a clear atmosphere for you; while writing it my mind went to taking walks around my California neighborhood in the morning with the sun being very strong. It kinds of melts any thoughts away and maybe that's why if the music sounds circular. I'm happy if the conclusion sounds solid; I struggle with endings in general lately. :S The assignment was: "Compose a short piece of about 32 bars in length in AABA song form that modulates to a distantly related key and then returns to the original key." Other than that it was really open-ended. 🙂 Thank you for listening! ☀️ ~ Gwendolyn