Clarinet and High Degree of Musical Independence

This virtuosic musical piece includes a huge variety of instruments, including flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, violins, and cello. The sound is simple and elegant, but functional, and the rich serenade is full of beautiful melodies and warm harmonies. Although this piece is mostly homophonic, the phrases overlap each other at some instances creating a complex, symbolic texture. Principally, this piece has been performed successfully by several high schools with musical integrity.

Since this delightful piece was instrument-based, the majority of this piece produced an acoustic instrument sound. This beautiful arrangement included harmonic seconds to create a colorful resonance. Furthermore, this piece required standard wind band instrumentation and percussion instruments, and these instruments would either leave or die away over the course of the piece.

The full, fluid, and loud sounds, especially considering this piece was full of long notes, was definitely continuous as the instruments, mainly clarinets, trumpets, french horns, and flutes played with a rich tone. The use of percussion instruments, mostly wind chimes throughout the piece, was a predominant musical technique that brought full energy and peaceful spirits, and moreover laid a foundation for the rest of the instruments to join in, primarily at the beginning. The subtle musicality from the instruments intertwined with the chimes in the beginning and end enhanced the quality of the sound and moreover, brought a profound meaning to the piece.

I believe the clarinet solo and chimes was paramount through this piece, and therefore the sound repeated itself a couple of times. The subtle musicality from the clarinet in the beginning, middle, and end intertwined with the chimes, enhanced the quality of the sound, and therefore, tended to repeat itself. Ultimately, the clarinet solo led into the return of the oboe solo, creating a high climax in the piece to a great degree, particularly after all the instruments joined along and the woodwinds having to carry the melody. This not only brought pauses to the music, but led the way for a new feature, bringing it to new extremes.

The unique sound in the middle created a sense of stillness and serenity and added to the musical color. The dramatic progressiveness of the pitch of sound increased as more instruments played with dynamics and created a climax. This part of the piece was remarkable, and was a key point of the piece, since it was heard only a couple of times. Above that, this piece was depicted with a general upward and later downward shape the instruments created inclusively.

The name of the piece is October, composed by Eric Whitacre. Eric Whitacre is one of the most-performed and notable composers of his generation, and October is a well-known classical piece performed by numerous schools, whether it would be for concerts or competitions. Whitarce decided to compose this piece because October was his favorite month and the crisp autumn air and the subtle change in light was sentimental and calming for him. In 1998, the contract was signed for this seven-minute, grade three or four piece that would be completed by January of 2000 and was premiered on May 14th, 2000. October was performed by the North Texas Wind Symphony and definitely showcases a vast amount of musicianship.

This classical piece, October, definitely requires a high degree of musical independence in each part, and works key signatures and accidentals very intensely. In my opinion, this is exceptionally a satisfying piece to rehearse and perform, especially since I have performed this previously. The use of dynamics throughout this piece is incredible, and the sound is phenomenal, especially in the middle of the piece where all the instruments come together to create a huge climax. Overall, the intense skill and strong musicality of this piece inspires me tremendously.