Beauty for Ashes

Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback - this is the final piece!

Program Notes:

"Beauty for Ashes" draws inspiration from Isaiah 61:3:

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,

that He might be glorified."

This piece reflects the contrast between sadness and joy, crafted through Louis's signature blend of traditional and modern harmony; inspired by jazz harmony and film scores. 

The main motif, a 5-measure phrase, ascends with leaps and scalar motion, symbolizing the climb towards joy and redemption. Secondary material navigates unexpected harmonic terrain, briefly shifting to evoke turmoil before returning to the main theme, restored and renewed.

Louis uses modern harmony, secondary dominants, and modal mixture, creating a nuanced emotional landscape in which sorrow's depth and hope's radiance intertwine.

The piece culminates in a triumphant, cinematic chorale finale, symbolizing hope and victory. Sweeping dynamics converge with moving harmony lines, resolving to a radiant major 7th chord, evoking flourishing "trees of righteousness" – roots deepened by sorrow, branches stretching toward light.

Duration: 5:22

Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Bb Clarinet, 2 Violins,1 Viola, 1 Cello

Hi @GospelPiano12!

I'm glad you finally decided to finish and submit this piece to the competition!  I think it's important to move on in music sometimes.  You might not even be aware of the things you've learned from this composition until you try your hand at your next big project.  But if you had stayed in revision mode with this piece you'd never be able to leave this piece behind you and go on to something new and better.

I love how you start the piece right away with your self-professed favorite chord - the Gmaj7add6 over A, creating that suspended dominant sonority you like so much.  There's perhaps no particular problem with that choice, except that usually composers choose particular harmonies for their effect in relation to the theme or guided by the melodic necessity.  If you don't guide yourself by your themes/motives then your piece might just be a collection of favorite harmonies without any semblance of logic.  But the themes/motives can be the guideposts for your harmonies and rationalize them.  Because otherwise the possibilities of the different extensions and alterations of the sonorities are so great that one can have a hard time picking them.  Thanks for sharing and keep going!  I'm stoked to hear your next piece!

On 10/24/2024 at 11:14 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I'm glad you finally decided to finish and submit this piece to the competition! 

Me too! Thanks for your encouragement!

On 10/24/2024 at 11:14 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

But if you had stayed in revision mode with this piece you'd never be able to leave this piece behind you and go on to something new and better.

Exactly. I had to move on to bigger and better things. I'm already brainstorming some ideas for my next piece. I would love to keep exploring "lush" harmony and chamber ensembles. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed writing for this ensemble. 

On 10/24/2024 at 11:14 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I love how you start the piece right away with your self-professed favorite chord - the Gmaj7add6 over A, creating that suspended dominant sonority you like so much.  There's perhaps no particular problem with that choice, except that usually composers choose particular harmonies for their effect in relation to the theme or guided by the melodic necessity. 

Umm b/c it's the BEST lol. I was originally going to start with just the tonic maj7 chord, but I felt like the dominant-suspended harmony just set the tone better for the rest of the piece. 

I'm open to receiving any feedback that anyone has - I want to keep improving my orchestration, harmony writing, form, etc. basically everything