'Light for the First Time' - Bree van Reyk

Composition.

Where to begin?

Many students are given a composition task and are stuck on where to begin. I will be providing a resource and bringing you on my journey of creating this resource to guide you in creating your own unique composition!

The inspiration for you composition and process of composing is Bree van Reyk's 'Light for the First Time.' Have a quick listen here before I discuss the first step in your composition.

Whilst watching and listening to this video, I want you to answer 2 simple questions.

1. What are three compositional processes or ideas you find interesting/different?

2. What story or theme comes to mind when you listen to this piece?

The answers are endless but personally, I enjoy the differing uses of rhythm, contrasts in tone colour and the idea of aleatoric music (i.e. composition left to chance). When listening to this piece, growth and contrast spring into my mind.

Fortunately enough for us, we were able to have Ensemble Offspring and Bree van Reyk come in and record this beautiful piece for us as well as interview Bree with some questions of our own. (To know more about this, I have written it in one of my past posts!)

Bree's inspiration for this piece is written in her Program Note:

Light for the First Time imagines the experience of opening one's eyes for the first time. The unfolding of the piece reflects a desire to be able to relive that moment endlessly, in slow motion, as if bathed in the brand-new memory of light. It is dedicated to my daughter, Claude van Gold.

Taking this idea on, the first step for my 'baby steps' is colour. To write a composition based inspired by a single colour and its contrast. To guide this step, I have created a very simple worksheet; a colour wheel. In this worksheet, students are to name a mood and instrument that reflect each colour. For example: Orange - Warm - Violin.

Students will provide their own answers as each student will have their OWN interpretation of what each colour may represent for them.

Colour Wheel Worksheet

This then leads to the next step which is instrumentation. Contrast is depicted in the composition of Light for the First Time. So using the colour wheel and the choices students have provided, they are to choice two colours which contrast each other. They are then to choose a third colour which matches both those contrasting colours.

For example: My two contrasting colours are purple and yellow. The third colour I choose can be blue which matches both those contrasting colours.

The instruments that match up to those colours are the ones that students will compose for. The colours that the students choose will also be the inspiration and essentially, beginning point for the students. The mood/emotion written can be used as a guide as to what the students want to portray in the composition.

I will compose as this process goes using the resources that I have created. So the three colours that I have chosen (with their respective instruments are)

Blue - Cello

Yellow - Flute

Orange - Violin

Happy choosing!