New Original Church Composition - "Holy"

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Hello everyone! Last week I shared the original composition which I had made for the offertory at the church service. This week, the sermon topic was serving "a God who is Holy." So, I have a new composition to share (as well as a bit of a story). This week's piece was a bit of a stretch for me because it was my first time attempting to write a piece largely based on the pentatonic scale. I will explain more about that later, but first here is the piece.

Story

So, I planned to play this as the offertory all week, including during the first 10 minutes of the service. But at a certain point, I decided that I did not like it very much, and I became terrified of what people may think of it if I played it in public (since I am not the best at playing it yet). So, I made a decision to just improvise the offertory rather than play this piece. The congregation really seemed to like what I played (so that is a good thing), but I am disappointed that I put myself into that position instead of just doing what I had prepared. In hindsight, it probably would have been fine. I was not going to publish this composition anywhere, but after reevaluating, I think all work is worth publishing (here at least) because it allows me to receive feedback on what I am doing. Besides, all work is still work. Even if it doesn't compare to some work that I have done in the past, this piece was still an attempt at something new, and it is worth including in my compositional journey here on Steem. I will now talk about some of the stuff going on in the piece.

Composition

Form

This piece is in rounded binary form.

Pentatonic Scale

You may wonder why I utilized the pentatonic scale for this week's piece. I utilized it to create the image of Holiness. Whenever I have heard it used, specifically by composers such as Debussy, I feel at peace, and I do think that it creates a nice image of holiness as a result.

Why is it that the Pentatonic scale creates this image? I theorize that it is because it does not include tendency pitches like the leading tone, or the seventh of a dominant seventh. It allows for a certain freedom in regards to voice leading because one's ear does not hear a tone and expect it to function a certain way.

At the same time, I did wind up using pitches that are not a part of the pentatonic scale at certain points (for instance the B flat in measure 3). In this case, I used the B flat as a passing tone to the A, and I was trying to (in a way) foreshadow that the B section would be in F major. Notice that the trajectory of the Bass is pointing towards that low F, but it does not hit the low F until the B section. I was trying to force the Ear to long for F major. In hindsight, I should have changed the B flat to a different pitch in the return of the A theme (since the B section already happened). Perhaps it would be worthwhile to change it to a C, and then just leap to the A.

Previous Compositions

• I [1/26] With God All Things are Possible
• II [2/9] God of Faith
• III [2/16] Holy

Conclusion

Thanks for reading/listening to this! I hope you enjoyed this composition! I will admit that I am not too fond of it, but work is work. Please remember that feedback is always very much appreciated! I hope you have a lovely time until we meet again! See you then!

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