Reflection

Earlier this year, I wrote an experimental/electronic/symphonic piece entitled "Ocean" and I used it as my music for Drum Major L Pattern Competitions. I had not known about this contest while writing "Ocean," so I was merely expressing my love for the Ocean by replicating the vast waters and the emotional experience of its deep blues. After learning about the Contest, I wanted to write a completely new piece to represent the negative impacts of climate change on the ocean. This new piece allowed me to work with nonfunctional harmonies, complex rhythms, and difficult passages that require a high level of dexterity. I began with a soft, minimalistic passage that symbolizes the "blue" and the tranquility of untouched waters. As the piece unfolds, the unsettling harmonies and awkward phrasings seep into the music like how the darkness of pollution seeps into the ocean. In the end, the piece returns back to the simplistic intro, symbolizing that as a strong community, we can all work together to fight climate change, and bring our waters back to normal. I was deeply inspired by Maurice Ravel's compositions that replicated the fluidity and clarity of water.