IB Music

Presentation Portfolio
 Presentation Portfolio: IB Music

Programme Notes, Composition Score, Track Lists and Bibliography

Programme Notes

For this Presentation Portfolio, I selected pieces which fully represent the Four
Areas of Inquiry. This is due to the entire variety of the pieces stretching from political
references to film references, music technology and absolute music. The performances
were selected from a variety of concerts and performances I have taken part in over the
past year.

Area of Inquiry One focuses on Sociocultural and Political Expression for which I
chose to improvise a song on solo piano, reflecting on stories that my grandfather told
me about his experience in the Second World War. During his time in the army and
even after the war, he wrote many songs for the piano and the guitar which reflect his
thoughts and experiences, along with effectively transferring some of the emotions he
felt during those times. In an attempt to recreate these feelings, I improvised while
remembering his stories and his music. The song is improvised in Eb minor, and is
focused on the energy that it creates rather than the complexity of the notes.

Area of Inquiry Two focuses on Listening and Performing, for which I have
selected my composition To Be Determined. This piece is based on Ternary Form, and
takes many components from jazz rhythms and features to create a funkier, fast paced,
and groovy feel. This composition is absolute music, meaning music for the sake of
music, as it is not based on a studied subject but rather just an idea which came after
being engaged with jazz and blues piano in my most recent years of piano studies.

Area of Inquiry Three focuses on Music for Dramatic Impact, such as music used
for entertainment, concerts, films, and music used for movement. For this reason, I
selected the piece Film Noir (French for ‘black film’) by Mike Cornick, which is a piece
based on Hollywood’s emphasis on crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s. The
piece encapsulates the features of this genre, such as the “dark, menacing,
melodramatic”1 rhythmic and melodic qualities. As commented by Julian Lambert, the
piece has “An up-beat, swing feel…which evokes Hollywood crime films of the 1940s &
50s”2, which allows the film to create a cinematic mood. I picked a further two songs to
fit this category, the first of which is Let Her Go by Passenger, which is a song intended
for entertainment, which due to its powerful melodic contrasts and romantic feel, greatly
moves the audience. Similarly, Despacito by Luis Fonsi in the specific arrangement I
performed is a song intended to entertain and uplift and audience, with elements from
Latin dance and Puerto Rican music.

Area of Inquiry Four focuses on Music Technology and the utilization of modern
musical equipment and software. For this area of inquiry, I created my composition
Project1, which I created in FL Studio 20 with various VSTs and other plugins.
Regarding the software, most plugins and synthesized sounds were created by me, with
only a small handful of presets being used. Drum samples were also taken from various
drum packs, although all drum beats and loops were my creations. The hardware I
utilized to aid the process include the Novation Mk2 Launchpad and the Akai MPK Mini
Mk2 MIDI keyboard. The provided sample is an mp3 file, with a 320kbps bitrate for
maximum depth. The most challenging part of this composition was the balancing of the
drums, sound design, and mixing and mastering of the track.

Word Count: 600

(Next Page)

Score of Composition:

To Be Determined for clarinet and piano

1 Piano Exam Pieces ABRSM Grade 5 Selected from the 2019 & 2020 Syllabus (2018 The
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Oxford University press), p22
2 https://www.julianlambert.org/film-noir-cornick
Track Lists

Creating Place in Recording Length

Project 1 - Music Technology Composition 0:00 3:16
To Be Determined for Piano and Clarinet: Composition with Score 3.17 2:43

Total: 6 minutes

Performing Place in Recording Length

Beauty of War Improvisation by Candidate 6:02 3:00

Let Her Go by Passenger - Arr. Costantino Carrara 9:14 3.54
Film Noir by Mike Cornick for Solo Piano 13:13 1:26
Despacito by Luis Fonsi - Arr. Jonny May 14:45 2:54

Total: 11:34 minutes

Bibliography

“ABRSM Grade 5 Piano - C3: Julian Lambert - Online Piano Tutorials.” Julian Lambert,
https://www.julianlambert.org/film-noir-cornick.
“Despacito.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Nov. 2019,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despacito.
“Electronic Dance Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2019,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_dance_music.
“Film Noir.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2019,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir.
“Let Her Go.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Nov. 2019,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Her_Go.
“Mike Cornick - the Composer's Life and Work.” Universal Edition,
https://www.universaledition.com/mike-cornick-143.
Piano Exam Pieces ABRSM Grade 5 Selected from the 2019 & 2020 Syllabus (2018 The
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Oxford University press)