Senior Recital Recap

My senior recital was held on May 1 of this year (my, what a late blog post, I hope whoever is running this website gets on the ball) and served as the culminating event of my years at Eastern University, and was the final requirement to fulfill in obtaining my BA in Music Composition, a day I thought would never come. I recently saw a video of myself at my grandparents' house at the age of 3, banging away on their piano absolute nonsense that would have made Arnold Schoenberg and Aaron Copland proud. I never would have thought that love of music would lead to obtaining a degree. Nor did a millennial, more interested in writing moody folk songs expect to obtain a degree in CLASSICAL composition, and like it! My time at Eastern was formative, and while the recital served as the culmination at that time, I prefer to think of it as the introduction to something better.

The full recital can be found at the following Youtube page: (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMWmSXUP9s0VA0pos2rjqFjpaDnFCZrgY)

The program and pictures are below:

Metropolis……………………………………………………………………………………………Recorded

The Impossible Astronaut…………………………………………………………………….Recorded

The Impossible Astronaut (v. 2)……………………………………………………………Recorded

Now Let Thy Servant Depart in Peace………………………………………..……Turning Point

Omnia Sol Temperat……………………Rebecca Lehman, soprano,Sarah Austen, flute,

Scott Carr, Jr. piano

Electric Sonata…………………………………………………………………………………….Recorded

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Act 1……………………………………………….…….……Recorded

Starry Night Over the Rhone…………………………….………………………….………Recorded

Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major………………………………………….….Hyoeun Eunice Jeon

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Moderato

Scott Carr, Jr. is a student of John Greenland and David Bryant.

This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition at Eastern University.

The Carr family invites you to join in a small reception in the McInnis lobby following the performance.

Program Notes

In 1927, German director Fritz Lang released his silent science fiction masterpiece, Metropolis. The film follows Freder, the young son of Joh Fredersen, master of Metropolis, who finds his way down to the workers in the depths of the city and takes pity on their plight. He works to become the mediator between his tyrannical father and Maria, a prominent leader of the worker class, who is also his love interest. I first discovered “Metropolis” through an assignment given to me by John Greenland. Having finished my first attempt at writing film music (a clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,”) John wanted me to work on another dramatic scene as an opportunity to step out of my reserved compositional style. While looking through the computers in the Electronic Music Studio, I discovered the present scene from “Metropolis.” In it, Maria has been captured by Rotwang, a scientist employed by Fredersen, in order to create a robot replica of her, which in turn, would be used to incite the workers to riot, creating an excuse for Fredersen to discipline them. Writing the score for this clip proved to be an ideal situation, one every composer wishes to experience at least once in a career. Happily, all of my first ideas worked, and the musical nature of the film, with its well-paced editing, made it relatively easy to score. I was heavily influenced by the string harmonies of Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” and Stravinsky’s use of short melodic fragments throughout “The Firebird.”

The Impossible Astronaut comes from the opening episode of “Doctor Who”’s sixth series. The clip plays a significant role in the complex narrative of the season, but on its own, appears straightforward. I scored this particular scene with traditional orchestration and a focus on melody. As is typical in film music, the score is meant to accompany the film, not to stand on its own.

The Impossible Astronaut v. 2 serves as an alternate scoring of the same scene. In this version I used only electronic sounds, in keeping with classic “Doctor Who" scores, and used the sounds to create atmospheres and textures rather than my usual emphasis on melodic motifs.

Now Let Thy Servant Depart In Peace depicts the prayer of Simeon in Luke 2:29-32, delivered just after he has seen the baby Jesus for the first time. In setting sacred texts, I endeavor to show utmost respect for the words. The music’s slow tempo allows the listener to reflect upon the text. In harmonizing the piece, I have prioritized open harmonies to create a sense of space. Restrained dynamics and swells assist in creating an intimacy between the performers and the listener. To keep the listener engaged and to provide a sense of structure, I have provided an aural anchor, revisiting the opening motif three times throughout the piece.

Omnia Sol Temperat came out of an assignment from David Bryant to create mood music, also called “photoplay music”, a common genre of film music during the silent era. When the accompaniment for films was performed live, the performers used books of stock music conveying various emotions, any of which could be selected to fit the scene. The studio provided the performers with a cue sheet for the film, describing each scene along with suggestions for what music would accompany it best. Omnia Sol Temperat is intended to accompany a romantic scene, not a young innocent love, but a relationship that has faced numerous struggles and has “grown-up”. The text is in Latin, and originates from the “Carmina Burana” manuscripts. It can be translated:

Love me faithfully,

Taking heed of my loyalty,

With all your heart,

With all your mind.

I am closest to you

When I am far away;

Whoever loves like this

Rides on the wheel (of Fortune).

When composing Electric Sonata, I attempted to produce an electronic piece that did not rely on a drone or strong repetition, as the majority of modern electronic music does. As indicated by the title, I composed the piece in the classical sonata form, which provides a clear structure for the listener to follow while affording the composer substantial freedom to develop the initial ideas. While I did not intend a specific narrative, in retrospect it sets up a contrast between the two main themes, the former resembling a commercial jingle, and the latter reminiscent of a heroic theme from a blockbuster film.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has been credited as the first horror film. Produced in Germany in 1920 under the direction of Robert Wiene, it has become one of the most iconic films ever made, thanks to its unique visual design and twist ending. The story follows a young man named Francis, his best friend, Alan, and Jane, his love interest. Their small town is upset during carnival season when the mysterious Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist, Cesare, set up their exhibit at the fair, followed by a series of mysterious murders. One summer, I decided to score an entire film, since I knew it would be a different challenge from the short clips I had written previously. I was inspired by my earlier experience with German silent cinema (“Metropolis”) and decided to remain in that genre. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari stood out, not only for its merits as a film, but also its shorter length (71 minutes opposed to “Metropolis”’s two and a half hours). The St. Davids Orchestra Society performed the first act of the film as part of an in-house concert, and the remainder of the film has been screened in serialized form over the past few months as part of the Music Guild Public Showcase.

Starry Night Over the Rhone draws inspiration from Vincent Van Gough’s painting of the same name and expresses my admiration for Van Gough's artistry, particularly his ability to create expressions of beauty despite his intense struggles with depression. I attempted something similar by writing a piano sonata to process my own struggles with sleeplessness and anxiety and found Van Gough to be an excellent companion during that difficult time. I composed the piece as an “electronic concertina” with a small electronic ensemble accompanying a cello and horn, both of which have signal processing effects added to them. Various synthesizer sounds and themes represent different aspects of the painting, including the water, the stars, and the stars’ reflection in the water. The middle section of the piece focuses on the ship. First, it sounds as if it passes across the speakers, which is followed by a brief stormy section, hinting at an interpretation of the painting which suggests the ship is sinking, but the piece does not linger there long. It quickly returns to the more pervasive peaceful mood, which continues on until the end. I also employed several Impressionist composers (Debussy, Faure, Ravel)’s techniques of quartal and quintal harmonies and pentatonic melodies to better illustrate Van Gough’s own visual Impressionism.

I composed Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major during a particularly difficult time in my life. As mentioned before, I have struggled with insomnia and chronic fatigue for a number of years, but it became more pronounced as I went through college, climaxing during my junior year. While waiting for narcolepsy test results, I began to consider composing a piece to help me to deal with the many emotions I was experiencing. At the time, our Connections II class was studying Enlightenment forms, and I was particularly struck by the Piano Sonata, which seemed the ideal medium to express my frustration and weariness.

1. Allegro-The first movement represents a day in my life. As per standard Sonata-Allegro form, the exposition introduces all of the melodic material. The development section follows the ebb and flow of energy I experience throughout the day. Sometimes there is energy, sometimes it must be forced, while at other times there is none at all. The use of offbeat accents throughout the movement gives the impression that the music is pushing itself forward, forcing itself to be energetic.

2. Andante-I composed the second movement a year earlier originally in a slightly different form as an aid for my insomnia entitling it 'Sleep like Glass," subsequently modifying it to fit with rest of the sonata. The movement is in F major, the subdominant of C major, although the tonal center is not strongly felt. The movement is a picture of sleep. The beginning of the movement illustrates the process of falling asleep, as illustrated by the music’s tension and subsequent release. After that comes a moody theme, of rolling major and minor seconds in the lower register. A short, descending melody is played several times over the rolling seconds. This theme represents the state of being asleep and appears three times throughout the movement. The second statement of the theme separates two dreamscapes. During both dream sequences, the lower register is very repetitive, almost hypnotic. Portions of the first dream bleed into the second dream, as happens when we try to remember real dreams. The movement concludes with a restatement of the sleep theme. Since sleep never feels resolved or completed, the final cadence ends on an inverted I chord, providing a clear ending, but still containing an unresolved tension.

3. Moderato-The third and final movement is in Rondo form (ABACABA-Coda). This portion of the piece begins in A minor, the relative minor of the overarching C major. It represents my difficulty waking up in the morning, due to sleep paralysis. In the A section, the lower register is playing a Baroque gigue rhythm, indicating what should be happening in the morning, i.e. getting up and moving. The upper register refuses to comply and defies the rhythm set down in the lower register. It is frustrated, restless, and groggy. The B section contains an alarm going off. The lower register represents a person jumping out of bed to turn off the alarm while the alarm is played in the upper register. The two hands overlap and the alarm is silenced while the lower register runs back down to bed. The C section represents my roommate in the morning, who is portrayed as much happier than I am. There are moments where he is quiet and helpful, others where he is loudly pacing and accidentally making loud noises before catching himself. In the end, the piece resolves back to C major. The two hands begin an ascending line, indicating that I have gotten out of bed. There is then a brief celebration before the piece ends with the same notes in each hand that began the first movement of the piece, indicating the cyclical nature of the condition.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the following people:

David Bryant and John Greenland for your excellent instruction and the ways you challenged me to be better than I thought I could be, both as a musician and as a Christian.

The Music Faculty at Eastern-you have all touched and shaped me in your own way, both musically and personally in ways you do not realize.

Virginia Coffin, Evelyn Larter, Marilyn Dilkes, Stacy Thomas, Dan Glaudel, and Charles Caldwell for preparing me for my time at Eastern with your musical instruction.

Eunice Jeon, Turning Point, Greg Silverman, Becca Lehman, Sarah Austen, and Lauren Cruzan for all the hard work you put in to help me bring this recital to life. I could not have done any of this without you.

Cortize Hicks, for your invaluable work in the sound booth.

Mike Schuelke for your assistance in creating the posters for this recital, and also for photographing and recording the recital.

My parents for your help organizing the reception and the many ways you’ve challenged me to be a better musician and person. Mom, thanks for all of the lessons we took together, and Dad, thanks for all the lessons you gave me. I wouldn’t be here without you.

My sisters, Alisha and Melody, for listening to every outrageous idea I had, and encouraging me to think I just might be able to pull them all off.