Writing for the Competition an analysis of my piece,

Take Flight for Orchestra

In looking at the guidelines from a number of composition competitions I have noticed a rising

trend of musical establishments demanding very rigid and inflexible requirements in order for the

pieces being written for these competitions to be considered successful. As there are very few

opportunities available for emerging composers, competitions such as these are an unfortunate

solution in trying to receive opportunities of working with an ensemble and developing a career as

an artist. By analysing the requirements for one of these competitions and then evaluating the piece

I had written for said competition, I wish to understand the environment of competitions within the

creative arts and whether the limitations set forth by these organisations allow for the creation of a

piece of music that is both musically interesting and suitable for its brief.

In March of 2017, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland offered its Bachelor of Music

students the opportunity to win the chance for their music be used at the TOTAL BWF Badminton

Championships' medal ceremony. As part of the competition, the BWF Badminton organisation set

forth a number of restrictions:

3 minutes and 30 seconds of music the option to loop the music if required a Scottish

flavour, be uplifting and accessible to audiences .. not feature pipes and drums three-hour

rehearsal and recording time.1

Here we can see a very clear idea as to the work's duration, mood, and limitations required

for it to be considered suitable for the competition. The most difficult components in looking at the

brief are the requirements for the music to be able to be repeated, to be able to be performed in

under three hours, and its removal of pipes and drums from the orchestration. The issue of the piece

needing to be repeated suggests that the music's structure must have a cyclical quality, meaning the

structure will have to work perfectly in order to ensure there is a sense of completion if performed

once while ensuring it could naturally continue if performed more than once. The limitations in

1 Hunter, K. TOTAL BWF Badminton Competition Guidelines accessed 4th August, 2017
rehearsal time mean that the music must be able to be sight read in order to suit the time given for

recording/rehearsal, severely limiting the technical possibilities for the work. And finally, the

removal of pipes and drums from the orchestration mean that the composer would have to rely on

other factors pertinent to Scottish music (such as the Scotch Snap and the application of a

pentatonic scale) aside from its orchestration to express the Scottish element required.

The competition description also provided examples of music used for a similar kind of

occasion, comprising of a number of pipe bands and Viva La Vida by Coldplay. In providing

such examples, the competition brief brings up a major issue with competitions within the arts not

wanting new art but simply a carbon copy of something already existing that will not require paying

a license fee. Even though this may be but a minor issue, it still gives a message to artists that their

individuality is not appreciated and that if they can copy someone else who is proven to be a

success then they have a better chance of succeeding. All of these factors imply that the successful

composition for this competition will be an arrangement of a traditional Scottish dance (be it a jig or

a strathspey) that isn't too memorable but pleasant to listen to.

In looking at my entry for this competition, Take Flight, we can see the requirements of

the music being uplifting and of a Scottish flair from its opening bars:

2 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 3, accessed 6th August, 2017
Here we can see the timpani performing a roll on low Eb while the strings, beginning with the harp

and proceeding down from the 1st violin towards 3rd viola perform a gradually building textural

semiquaver motif while the 'cellos and double bass reiterate the bass note Eb. From here on this

motif will be referred to as the shimmering motif. The harmony operates as an F major over Eb

major 7 which provides a lavish and rich quality to the sound but at the same time doesn't quite

come across as Scottish due to it not being more in line with Jazz harmony than traditional Scottish

harmony. There is also the issue of the strings being separated into individual parts which increases

the difficulty in rehearsing and performing the piece which could have lead to a lower quality of

performance in the piece. I believe this factor of complexity in the part writing is but one of the

reason why my piece was not selected. Moving on, the woodwind and brass begin to play a lilting

melody at bar 4:

At this point, we can see the woodwind performing a swelling melodic figure in a clustered F major

which the brass then responds to by playing in a D minor cluster, again as a swelling melodic
3 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 3, accessed 6th August, 2017
figure. I decided to include the grace notes in the brass in order to emphasise the Scottish element of

the work without being too blatantly obvious within this introduction. The introduction then

continues on to use the dynamic swells (usually lead by the timpani) with the strings continuing

their shimmering motif while the woodwind and brass play their melodic fragments until we reach a

drop in the dynamic at bar 12:

Here, the brass assume the responsibility of leading towards the closing of the introduction by

having the melody cadence towards an A diminished triad at bar 16 which is emphasised by the

shimmering string idea being compressed rhythmically, the vibraphone and lower strings playing

repeated Eb and A semiquavers, and the orchestra performing a larger and quicker crescendo from

pianissimo to fortissimo. I believe that even though this harmonic idea makes sense musically (in

4 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 4, accessed 6th August, 2017
that it emphasises the closure of the introduction) its dissonance can be seen as disconcerting to an

audience listening to this piece while a medal ceremony is taking place and so fails in regard to the

brief for the competition's requirement for the music being accessible. This may be an

oversimplification of the audience's taste in music but in evaluating the piece within its intended

environment, I believe this assessment is correct.

Going on into the main body of the piece, we begin with the double bass playing a

syncopated pizzicato bass line around Bb major at bar 17, which is then doubled up by the bass

trombone and timpani in bar 19 while a cabasa plays an offbeat rhythm:

I believe the mood and genre of this backing material removes the possibility of this piece being

considered successful in regards to the competition guidelines. The use of the cabasa and the

syncopated rhythms implies an entirely different genre of music from that of Scottish traditional

music and so, even though it is an interesting idea, removes the possibility of the piece being

suitable. Continuing on from this idea, we have the shimmering string motif return but rhythmically

shortened at bar 20 before having the violas and 'cellos playing a chordal motif at bar 22:

5 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 5, accessed 6th August, 2017
 6

The use of the shortened shimmering string motif is to transform the initial idea from the

introduction into more of an accompanying figure for the melody. The use of the acciaccaturas and

the swells within the violas and 'cellos is also for this purpose as well as continuing to create this

Scottish inspired piece of music.

At bar 27 we have the introduction of the main melody on the flute, clarinet and 1st violin:

Again, I use acciaccaturas in the melody writing in order to emphasise the Scottish quality

of the piece. I do find that the harmonic language of this melody fails somewhat in representing the

Scottish element of the piece due to it being constructed from an octatonic scale rather than a

pentatonic scale. I do feel that there is an upbeat quality to the writing but as the Scottish quality of

the piece needs to be the main priority I don't feel this melody helps in portraying the Scottish

inspiration required for the competition. This melody then continues to be developed by being

doubled up in the strings and woodwind while the shimmering string motif develops into a slowed-

down trill in the oboe and bassoon at bar 37 (and in the R.H harp, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th violins at bar

39) while the chordal motif in the violas and 'cellos develops into a syncopated rhythm at bar 40.

We then have the brass melody from the introduction (beginning at bar 5) enter at bar 43 on

the clarinet, bassoon and brass while the flute, oboe and vibraphone play a countermelody:

6 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 5, accessed 6th August, 2017
7 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 6, accessed 6th August, 2017
 8

Which then develops into a virtuosic swell in the strings and woodwind into the beginning of the

second melody. The main reason behind developing the brass melody from the introduction into a

flourishing transitional passage was in order to ensure the music came across as being uplifting to

suit the requirements of the brief.

Going into the second section (beginning with an upbeat at bar 48) we enter into 6/8 time

with a crisp melody in the flute, clarinet, vibraphone, and R.H harp while the violins emphasise the

harmony in a textural canon:

Here the melody and harmony operate within F major, again I had not made the conscious

decision to write in a pentatonic scale when constructing the melody lines so the Scottish feeling
8 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 7, accessed 7th August, 2017
9 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 8, accessed 7th August, 2017
from the melody is somewhat subdued. I decided to have the accompanying figure in the violins act

as a further development from the shimmering idea by having the violins play in canon with each

other, four on arco and four on pizzicato. I believe this works quite well in providing a contrast to

the dense writing from before, but again the question of whether this musical decision works when

evaluating the intention of this piece to accompany an award ceremony is quite clear: the music

would most likely be drowned out by the announcer and the difficulty in getting this right in

performance would need more time than three hours.

From here I decided to quote sections from the flourishing transitional passage (bars 43 to

48) in order to provide variety within the second melody:

10

This idea, even though it is effective, does limit the possibilities for the music and I feel that

this section could have been a lot longer, however, with the duration of the piece already being at 2

minutes at bar 48 I decided to keep the piece concise in order to suit the requirements of the

commission. If I were to write the piece again I would take more time in developing the second

10 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 9, accessed 7th August, 2017
melody and find a better way of tying together the earlier motifs into the music in order to create a

more prominent middle section. Moving on, I then proceed to use the shimmering motif again in

order to lead into the first melody but making it grander by embellishing the orchestration and

counterpoint of the melody:

11

12

The melody is now being played on all the woodwind, trumpet and violins 1- 4 while the

remaining brass plays a countermelody that is a reference to the brass melody in the introduction

11 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 10, accessed 7th August, 2017
12 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 10, accessed 7th August, 2017
and the remaining instruments provide the harmony and the bass line. I feel this section works

really well and its harmonic writing is effective, however, when assessing its suitability for a medal

ceremony (in which there might be announcements going on) I feel the music might overpower the

situation and be more of a disturbance rather than a soundtrack. I continue to increase the dramatic

nature of the music by using gestural dynamic swells in the ensemble and glissandi in the harp

(such as at bar 80) in order to embellish the music to provide the uplifting quality required by the

competition before ending by having the majority of the ensemble play the melody (from bar 86). In

looking at the ending, I believe I manage to achieve a flexible ending that could then return to the

start of the piece, thus providing the cyclical quality required for the competition:

13

Here we have the strings provide the final cadence to the piece which then thins down so

that the Bb in the timpani can be heard. This Bb in the timpani operates as the pivot between the

13 Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, pg 12, accessed 7th August, 2017
music ending and beginning again in that it works as the destination for the final cadence and as an

imagined starting point leading into the Eb roll on the timpani at the start, creating a perfect cadence

to end the piece as well as an imperfect cadence when going back into the piece's introduction. I

feel this element works extremely well in providing the cyclical quality needed for the competition,

but in re-examining the structure and duration of each section within the piece I do feel that certain

elements (such as the second melody beginning at bar 48) could have been expanded if not for the

time restrains of the competition.

Having analysed my piece, I can understand that even though it is an uplifting piece for

orchestra it was not suitable for the requirements of this competition. The complexities in the

writing, the barely present Scottish element and issues of creative decisions being decided based on

the music rather than the music's intended function makes it clear why the piece did not win the

competition.

I do feel that competitions are a necessary evil within the arts. They provide opportunities

for emerging composers to work with established organisations and also help to promote the other

work of the artist in question, but I do feel that there needs to be a change in the way organisations

apply what can be unrealistic expectations for their competitions as it can result in the creation of a

piece of music that is more of a tick box exercise rather than be an actual piece of inspired music.

Word Count: 2316

 Bibliography

Hunter, K. TOTAL BWF Badminton Competition Guidelines accessed

4th August, 2017

Teplitzky, A. Take Flight for Orchestra, Full Score, accessed 6th

August, 2017