The Spiral

Piece I composed for solo piano. I'll post an actual recording of it in the not so distant future once I can get around to learning/perfecting it.

This piece for solo piano, "Under Custody of the Insane" represents, to me, new territory. It seeks to capture the feeling that one feels when they are under the power of either someone or something that is out of control. After a good amount of time is spent under the custody of this power, the prisoner him or herself has the potential to also one day fall gradually away from his or her own sanity.
The constantly shifting time signatures and polyrhythms represent both instability and uncertainty. More than once during the piece, a descending whole tone scale made up of sixteenth notes appears. This motif emulates the deranged cackle of the inmates echoing through the halls of the asylum. Much dissonance is employed within the composition. In fact, there is one particular segment in which two different key signatures are placed against one another, symbolizing once again instability, as well as inner conflict.
As the themes continue to develop and tension builds, the protagonist's sense of identity slowly morphs. The climactic section is made up of big, loud, and rapid power chords in 15/16, answered by the descending "cackling" scales. This represents the point at which the protagonist has finally snapped.
After this section, the piece gets slower and slower, and the texture gets gradually thinner until only one voice remains. The transformed prisoner now lies down in his chamber of solitary confinement, his mind now one with The Insane.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• under
• custody
• of
• the
• insane
• solo
• piano
• 21st
• century
• sibelius
• garageband
• composition
• piece
• song
• music