Composing from Scratch (5): Expanding my ideas, Modulating and experimenting with canon.

Today I expanded on my introduction by adding a chord progression in semibreves in the 2^nd Violin and Viola and quaver accompaniment in the double bass. I have started to realise that the introductory ideas I am writing are too long winded for the time frame I have (2-3 minutes) and that I should try and get straight into the first idea however this is becoming more difficult than I first though.

In this example, I have augmented the first fragment of the original motif in the 1^st Violin and increased the prevalence of the rhythmic expansion in the Viola. In addition to this I guess you could say I transferred an extended augmentation of the idea in the Viola into the Cello but that wasn’t necessarily the intention, I just wanted to create a part that I could build upon and use to gain momentum as the section developed.

Here comes the fun stuff. I am a composer who loves to shift entries in a similar way to Philip Glass. What I have done in this section is shift the 7/8 motif in the 2^nd Violin and introduced it 2 bars after the 1^st Violin however I’ve done so with a twist. I have introduced the idea down a third with the idea starting in hypothetically the second bar of the phrase however being introduced in the third bar of the sequence.

In this example, I decided to experiment with modulation of shifting the piece from A Dorian to Ab Lydian. To do this I slowly introduced the accidentals of the new key. My plan is to cadence into the new key and reintroduce the original ideas with a new tonality.