Advanced Higher Music

Candidate name:
Candidate number: Centre number:
Title of source material(s) for arrangement: Be Still for the Presence of the Lord

Review of the creative process

You must refer to the compositional methods you used and include:

 the main decisions you made

 details of your creative input (arrangement only)
 the ways that you explored and developed your musical ideas
 the strengths and/or areas for improvement you identified

I decided to arrange “Be Still” after hearing my teacher’s arrangements for the school’s
Feast Day Services.

The Main Decisions I made

 Used instruments we had in school: woodwind, trumpet, cello, piano and soprano
and alto
 Did not want too many instruments as I felt I would not write good harmony if I
had too many
 Wanted to drop instruments in and out as I had seen my teacher do
 Stuck with the original key of D major. Modulated up a semitone in verse 3 as per
my original
 Mostly used the original chords but changed some. Added notes e.g. seconds
and 7ths to make more interesting harmonies
 Decided to add an intro., links between verses and outro. Outro uses hardly any
instruments to reflect the message of the song – “Be Still”.

How I developed my ideas

 Used the second part of the original melody for my intro.; changed it by adding
harmony and countermelody. The arrangement now did not start on the D major
chord but on chord IV. This “kick started” the piece and was more effective than
starting on chord I
 Wrote a group of semiquavers as an upbeat. First used this in bar 4, then
experimented with it in the piano (bar 9) and elsewhere. Gradually added more
semiquavers each time so that by the time it came bar 55 the semiquavers filled
the bar. I liked the effect the semiquaver lead-in gave to the beginning of each
section as it propelled the music forward
 Added an inverted pedal in the voices and cello in bars 29-32 and experimented
with adding imitation between instruments. Originally added in imitation in the
voice parts but it made it too fussy so I deleted it

What worked well and what I could have improved

 The choice and use of instruments worked well and the voices could be clearly
heard
 Would have liked to have given my cello more to do. The pizzicatos worked well
and gave a contrast to the rest of the piece but when I added more notes to the
semibreve passages they didn’t always work with the harmony

Please note: candidates must use this template to review the creative process for their assignment composition or arrangement
and to review each of their portfolio pieces (if applicable). They must complete a separate review for each piece.

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