Symphony: An Original Composition with Analysis

Symphony is an orchestral composition that explores the large-scale forms and soundscapes of the traditional symphonic medium while intermingling a range of musical ideas from the ancient to the modern. On the whole, the work—divided into four movements—utilizes chromatic counterpoint to create chord progressions of both standard and non-standard functional pathways. Using counterpoint of this kind, it was necessary to develop a system of flowing into and out of keys quickly and smoothly so as to maximize correspondence in non-chord tones to the sounding chord. The significance of such a system comes into play when trying to explain Romantic era harmonies (for example, Wagner, &c) to students.