My Junior "Promposal" Piece - Ich Denke Dein (Original Composition)

Hello everyone! Prom season is here, and, as a result, I have a large story to tell.

Why?

Several weeks ago, during musical season, one of my friends texted me and asked if I'd be interested in going to prom with a mutual friend from musical. I texted back that I would be interested if she was, but that I had to wait until I auditioned for the state choir festival states (as PMEA state choir was the same day as prom) to decide if I was going or not. As a result, I said that she should find someone else. This mutual friend is an exchange student from Germany who speaks three languages (Vietnamese, German, and English) fluently. She alerted me that she would wait for the results from my audition. Unfortunately as well as fortunately, I did not make it to the State choir; and, as a result, we were set up to go to prom as friends.

However, after thinking on it, I decided that the way we got set up wasn't memorable enough for her "big trip to the United States." I decided to (as the kids say) "prompose to her" in a meaningful and memorable way. So, last week, I began work on this song to give her (in order to make it a unique and memorable experience). I looked through some Goethe poems, and decided on this one because it expresses ideas which I greatly relate to in a non-romantic way. I then made a poster and "promposed" to her today. Here's a picture we got after the fact with the poster:

The Poem

The Composition

First of all, here is the composition. After it, I will discuss the inner components. (I apologize for singing der Sterne instead of die Sterne).

Interesting Ideas?

So, there is largely nothing of interest going on within this piece. However, there are several instances where semi-interesting things occur. I will discuss those concepts here.

The first interesting thing is within measures 2 and 3. In the bass, I kind of outline the A, but avoid going to it until measure 4. I wouldn't say that this is innovative, or evil for "breaking the rules," I just think it is an interesting concept.

Another interesting concept within this piece, due to the poem, is the phrasing. As you can see, the poem is weighted more towards the first and 3rd lines of each stanza. As a result, breathing is difficult in the A section. I am glad I decided against making this piece slower. Though, I will make the point that there are places within the lines where breaths can be taken without interrupting the thought (I hope at least) as proven by the B section.

The other interesting thing which I would highlight is the scalar idea which occurs in the B section. When I showed my theory teacher, he called it "canon-like" referring to how the voices mimic each other. He recommended I add more of it (which I did). Originally, this idea started at measure 35, and was (and is) pretty much two sequences alternating in the voices. When he said this, I went back to measure 32 and added the downward scale which expanded on this idea.

Other than that, I would say that this piece is pretty straight forward.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this! I hope you enjoyed my piece as well as the accompanying story. I am designating 20 percent of this post's rewards to the account which I gave TT. If you are interested in following her, the account is @ttdeutsch, though I don't think she's figured out how to post yet. I will probably post another post summarizing my prom experience on Saturday. Hopefully, I will see you there!

Also remember to check for: My weekly 7 post, As well as my composer birthday posts (Note) In order to encourage meaningful feedback on the platform, I will check comment trails of users who leave superficial comments (ie "Awesome post," or "Upvoted.") and will mute any users who exhibit a pattern of leaving "spammy" comments.