9th - 12th Grade Student MIDI Compositions Archive

 

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Jazz© Sam Schiavone Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
Since my favorite type of music is jazz or swing, I wanted to write a piece of this type. I had just learned how to write an sfz (and have it work) so I added a few of these. I chose my instruments by basically using the instruments in my school's band. But since I play piano and think that double bass sounds cool, I added those, too.

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Paradox© Matt Podd North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
The dance teacher at my high school asked me if I would be interested in composing a piece for the dancers for one of the advanced dance groups to be performed in the concert. I accepted this challenge and this is the result. She did not give me a lot of guidelines, but did say she wanted long developed sections because that is the best for a dance piece so the dancers can also develop these sections. The first section is in A minor, and it develops by having another voice come in every 4 or 8 bars so it also builds naturally with more voices coming in. Then I have a similar style to the first section start in measure 41. I call this the B section. It is similar to A but with a little more variety and as this section builds, it gets a little bit more aggressive as each voice comes in. In measure 63 I have an accelerando with lots of bells and other pitched percussion to lead into the next section, which is more aggressive. Then this section leads into the final section. I have a trumpet leading into this section, which joins in, on the aggressive section prior to the finale where it repeats and then plays on a descending minor scale starting on the dominant to lead into the finale.

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Tele-Tuba© Lance Downing Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score	MP3 Audio Opus 6
This is my first time taking any type of music composition class. I was interested in writing for a brass group. I have never studied brass instruments but it is interesting to me.

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The Olive Branch© Chris Whitman Hartford High School	MIDI	Web Score
I was first inspired to write this song with the death of my Grandfather earlier this fall. I wanted to create something that I thought he would have liked if he heard it.

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Peel the Dial© Angie Ciotti St. Johnsbury Academy	MIDI	Web Score
This is a piano piece I just worked on for fun in class, I just wanted to create something without specific guidelines and make something that I really enjoyed working on.

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Alarum© Philip Trembley North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
An "alarum" is an old-English (~1000 ad) term for "a call to arms". Trumpets would sound to signify a battle. After learning this I was inspired to base my brass quintet on this fact. It starts with no key signature and then modulates into G minor. The different sections each represent a different part of the story of the alarum. First we start with the battle cry, then the preparation, and then into the battle. After that there is the brief resting in-between battles (the 3/4 section). From there the fighting begins to approach and we enter the final battle!

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Cram© Katie Coleman Spaulding High School	MIDI	Web Score
I started writing this song, wanting it to have a different sound to it, but having it still be jazz. Also I wanted to separate my style of music compared to others. The song has mainly two different cultures in it, an Egyptian feel, and an American feel, like heavy metal.

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Swingin' Something Fierce© Isaac Lichtenstein Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
This is a jazz brass quartet. I thought it would be nice to add a jazzy variant to the Opus 6 production this year. Since there is no specific jazz opus concert I thought I would try to integrate jazz into this one.

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The Pugly Duckling© Bob Couture North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
My midi composition class did this as a project in which we were to depict a fairy tale or fable through music. This song is an attempt to retell the story of the Ugly Duckling. I included the boxed text that explains what's going on at what time.

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Castle Melody© Karey Mt. Abraham Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
I started my piece out as an AABA form and then expanded it. At first it was just a piano piece, but then I decided to add the flute. This piece had mostly block chords in the original version, but I arpeggiated many of them as the piece developed. This is my first composition.

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PH© Sarah Cannon Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	MP3 Audio Opus 6
I arranged this from a piano piece. In the second section, I put the bass lines in the trumpet parts and added new melodies with the French horn, trombone, and tuba. Later, I wrote the A section based on the French horn of the previous section and ended the piece with something like the beginning.

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Flames of Music© Eli Chalmer Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score
I recently joined a jazz combo with two trombones a trumpet and possibly a tenor sax. I wrote this a while ago and we are rehearing it. If this gets recorded, I'll be thinking about submitting it as a second piece for the All State Competition.

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April Snowstorm© Matt Podd North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
This piece is written for a string quartet and woodwind quintet. It is much different than all other pieces that I have written in the past. I experiment with tritones a bit and it is more "intense" than my other pieces. I start off with a C major section which eventually leads into the "tritone" section. In the first section there is a gap between the string players notes. This gap should be filled with a glissando. It is not audible in Sibelius, but there should be a glissando going up an octave between the notes. I slowly build after the major section until it is at double forte dynamics and is pretty intense. It then instantly gets quiet. The flute has the same theme with grace notes added into the melody. In the flute melody I introduce a new bassoon bass line. (I also tend to experiment a bit with pizzicato in this piece.) The bassoon bass line is then dramatically drawn out at the end. The bass line is played twice as slow in the lower instruments, as the upper wood wind and strings play the same thing faster. This continues until the finish of the piece.

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Shut Up and Row!© Eli Chalmer Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
I originally made this piece for baritone singer and small pit orchestra. I was to use lyrics my brother had written based on the play about Don Juan. I never finished it, but I decided to take what I had and make it into a woodwind quintet/string quartette/auxiliary drummer. I put the singing solo in the horn. In the play, this was supposed to be a frantic scene in which Sanjerelle (or however you spell it) is yelling at Don Juan and asking why he has to row the boat they are in. (I probably have this all wrong, but that's what I got out of it).

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Sinfonia© Isaac Lichtenstein Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
This is a piece for woodwind quintet. There are several different phases which it goes through. One with the oboe and flute where they are "fighting". This occurs several times throughout the piece. The piece could maybe be compared to a walk through a city park. Peacefully walking through the grass and trees and you see a duck waddle into the water. Then the duck has a little "fight" with a bird in the water. You continue your walk, past a carousel with music and lights. Then you continue your walk remembering all the sights you saw.

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Make a Joyful Noise© E. A. Vigne Mount Abraham Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 4
This is my first composition. I play violin and have wanted to try composition for a while. This is for 2 trumpets and a tuba. My revisions included adding articulation, making my transitions at measures 17 and 23 more effective, and adding breath marks.

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Paix© Megan Milton Jr.-Sr. High School	MIDI
I've been playing piano for about 9 years now, and I decided to sit down and actually write a piece. I didn't really have any intentions on what I wanted the piece to be like, such as ABA form. I named it "Paix" because when I play it, I am relaxed. Paix is the French word for "peace."

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Night Riding© Nate Pearson St. Johnsbury Academy	MIDI	Web Score
This is a quick piece with a heavy swing feel. The MIDI interpretation of it has 16th notes whereas none actually appear in the piece. Hopefully this does not cause problems in the MIDI playback. When I hear it, I think of riding in a car with its top down, on a bridge entering a city. What do you see?

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The Ditch is Hollow and Dark© Phil Trembley North Country Union High School	MIDI
I am an advocator of odd meters, and I thought I would share my latest composition. I call this piece "The Ditch is Hollow and Dark". Although I mixed the sounds well, a lot of the sounds are from a Yamaha PSR-530 keyboard, so the crotales and the didgeridoo may not sound quite right on a soundcard or a different keyboard.

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Alissa's Adieu© Anna Light Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
I started this melody while in the car, taking my sister back to college. I was going for a Celtic ballad style. This piece was revised four times before completion.

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Suppressed Genius© Rachelle Murphy Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score
This is a piece I have been working on for awhile. I got my inspiration from going to Disney world during last year's spring break. I went to Epcot and went to Japan and China. From listening to the music of these cultures, and from some new age artists, I combined the two ideas together, and I got this. I tried different instrumentations over the summer, and I finally reached a turning point in this piece. I like the instrumentation and I think it fits this piece.

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Glencoe© Allie L. Thompson Mount Abraham Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
This piece is written for string quartet. It is an expansion of my first composition, with additional parts and a layered structure. I named the piece after a glen in Scotland; the scene of several dramas in Scottish history. The instrumental layering conveys a sense of the ebb and flow of events, while the melody evokes the imperturbability and changelessness of the glen itself.

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Der Sonnenaufgang© Katelyn & Alexandra St. Johnsbury Academy	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 4
Our assignment was to write a brass quintet. We named it Der Sonnenaufgang because it portrays the feeling of watching a beautiful sunrise on a warm summer morning. The instruments used are Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2, French Horn, Trombone and Tuba. The rising pitches of the notes resemble the rising sun. Beginning at measure 5 are a series of high pitched 16th and 8th notes representing the early chirping of the birds.

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Medieval Koony© Dan Milton Jr.-Sr. High School	MIDI
My assignment was to write a four part harmony for my music class. I wanted the song to sound cool, as I made this. I named it Medieval Koony because it sounded like it was from Medieval times. My nickname is Koony, so I also named it after myself.

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Woodoo© Spencer Horchler Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO Opus 5
This is my first attempt at a woodwind piece. I wanted something a little dark and tense. I had been hearing this melody in a single instrument, so it was a challenge to find ways to weave it nicely throughout the four instruments.

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Slide Elephant© Sarah Cannon Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
My song has a swing rhythm. The instruments used are clarinet, piano and drums. I wrote the melody last. In my revisions, I put some of the clarinet up an octave, added to the part where piano and clarinet play in unison, added another section similar to the beginning, and added a ritard at the end.

 

STINGS© Eli Chalmer Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score
I started out this song with long tremolo chords, but I then realized that it was almost turning into a song similar to Carolyn Keck's "Ice Storm". Wanting this piece to be original, (though I challenge you to find the quote from Bach's Fugue in G Minor in the viola) I tried faster and shorter phrases. I really like what I've come out with especially the section where all the strings are pizzicato. It sounds sort of sneaky. I then added a sort of mellow and pretty section after the pizzicato section which will immediately go into the pizzicato part again.  I expanded and developed a new section. I also gave the viola a little glory in the new pizzicato section. The loud startling dissonant hits remind me of a Yo-Yo Ma song. I added a lot of new material including combining the first melody with the viola solo. It then goes into a rather crazy section because of the amount of modulations I do, each time reducing the length of the phrase.

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BOY WHO CRIED WOLF© Matt Podd North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO
Our assignment was to write a piece that tells a fairy tale or fable. I chose "The Boy who Cried Wolf." The beginning is a cheerful melody when the boy is watching over his sheep happily. Then it changes to minor and I have 4 clashing notes symbolizing him crying for help. Then I added a little clip from the William Tell Overture. After that, I have my own version of part of the Overture. This symbolizes the villagers coming to help him. Then the boy teases them with a small melody. Then I have an angry melody for the people getting mad at him for playing the joke. Then I have the overture again starting off loud and getting softer to show that they are going away. The boy cries for help again, no one comes, and the wolf keeps coming. Then the boy cries again, no one comes, the wolf keeps coming, and the boy gets eaten. At the end I've added a part where all the town people and the wolf laugh at the boy because he got eaten. At the end I added the funeral march after the glissando when the boy dies. The audio version of this piece is a recording of Boy Who Cried Wolf, which was performed live by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra woodwind quintet and a Dartmouth College area string quartet at the Opus III concert on March 24, 2001.

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NIGHT© Sarah Cannon Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
The base of this piece is the guitar and it is built on by the strings. After the mood of the piece is established, the oboe comes in. The piece gets quieter and the oboe drops out at the end.

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AIRSHIP© Nick Stout Milton Jr.-Sr. High School	MIDI
This piece is written in 4/4 time in the key of F minor for piano and synthesizer.

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FALLING FASTER© Brad Ploof Mount Abraham Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO
This just sort of came out of my head. I didn't really have to think about what I did until I drew a blank in my head on what to put in. I go from E Minor and jump by chords to its major 3rd. I then go into a round for the two violins, and I added viola and violoncello part to the round to make it sound more complete. After the round it returns to the beginning material. The audio version of this piece is a recording of Falling Faster, which was performed live by a Dartmouth College area string quartet at the Opus III concert on March 24, 2001.

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MY SONG© Alex Leinoff Cabot School	AUDIO
This is My Song and it is called My Song. I think that it is sort of like a rag. What do you think?

 

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WINTET© Eric Phillips Canaan Memorial High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO
My piece is a woodwind quintet, consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon. The key is various and the tempo is 150, changes to 120 at measure 105, and ritards to 80 at the end. It's written in 3/4 time. The audio version of this piece is a recording of Wintet, which was performed live by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra woodwind quintet at the Opus III concert on March 24, 2001.

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HARMONIC MINOR LEADS© Jeremy  Poultney High School	MIDI
I play in the school's Jazz Ensemble. This piece is centered around the A natural minor and A harmonic minor scales. The note, "A" is present in the first three chords in the continuing progression, then drops down a half step to "G-sharp" to enter the harmonic minor scale. The progression employs root notes descending along the last four notes of an octave of the A natural minor scale, making it necessary to switch between different scales. This piece was mainly written on the computer, rather than on the guitar and bass guitar themselves. I had a few technical problems: The sound you will hear for the guitar part will be played on the computer by the piano because I couldn't get the computer's guitar to play all of the notes that I wanted.

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ODE TO FRAPPIER - REMIX© Nick Wildman & David Miller Peoples Academy	MIDI
We wanted to write something in A minor, using the harmonic minor G# as way to make it sound a little comical or sinister. This is a 16 measure piece with no repeat. We tried to have interplay between the melody and bass line, especially toward the end. We both have very little composition experience.

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SHORT, SWEET AND FIFTIES© Ben Stein Hazen Union High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO
This is a 50's style love ballad. I think its pretty sweet.

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INDIAN PARTY© Lindsey Wheeler Green Mountain Union High School	MIDI
This piece all began with the top melody that I had in my head. I added a flowing bass line, with an annoying little koto. My teacher then thought it would be cool to add a drum kit at odd moments for jumpy (yet odd) sound(s). It sounds like a bit of a silly party to me, so I thought you would enjoy listening to my musically crazy (yet sane) song.

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HAPPY SKIPS© Jenny Belisle Rochester School	MIDI	Web Score
I had to write a song in ABA form that started and ended on G. It was supposed to move mostly by steps, but I used a lot of skips, and I like the way it sounds. Then I added a second part by writing half notes a third below the melody. Then I filled in some of the skips by adding quarter notes. I used a melodic sequence in the B section, from measures 9-11. I think that it came out okay.

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LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD© Colin Matthews North Country Union High School	MIDI	Web Score
Our assignment was to write a piece of music to tell a fairy tale. I chose Little Red Riding Hood. I have used the flute for Riding Hood, the finger bass for the wolf, and the French horn for the hunter. This is the plot summary for my piece: There was a girl named Little Red Riding Hood. She baked her grandmother cookies and was on her way to her house. She was told not to take the short cut because it was very dangerous. She decided to take the short cut and when she did, she chased a butterfly and got lost. The big bad wolf saw her coming and decided to go and eat the grandmother and dress in her clothes to fool Little Red Riding Hood. When Little Red Riding Hood got to the house and saw grandmother, she said, "My grandmother, what big eyes you have!". The wolf said, "all the better to see you with my dear". Then Little Red Riding Hood said, "What big ears you have!". The wolf said, " All the better to hear you with my dear!". Then Little Red Riding Hood said, "What big teeth you have!".  Then the wolf said, "All the better to eat you with my dear!". Then the wolf chased Little Red Riding Hood until the hunter came and shot the wolf's head off.

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FIRE JUICE© Kyle Himmelsbach Montpelier High School	MIDI	Web Score	AUDIO
This is woodwind quartet which features a flute, bassoon, oboe, and clarinet. The piece begins in 6/4 time. I went in a different direction in measure 13 and gave the song a different vibe switching to 4/4 time, then later returning to the original 6/4.  The audio version of this piece is a recording of Fire Juice, which was performed live by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra woodwind quintet at the Opus III concert on March 24, 2001.

 

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PORTUGUESE WEDDING© Ryan Unser Hazen Union High School	AUDIO
This piece started out as a drum loop that I sampled from James Brown's "Funky Drummer," which I later learned is probably one of the most sampled breaks of all time. I used the program Deck for this piece, instead of Performer, which I had been using. Deck only does audio, no MIDI, but it seems to have a wider variety of more robust effects. I played a bass line over the drum loop, then compressed and EQ'd it till it sounded pretty good. Then I soloed on my saxophone for awhile. I left the sound fairly intact to make this song sound a little more organic than some of my other stuff. I decided to put in some congas since it seems like every band I've seen recently has at least one conga player and it really seems to add a lot. I'd never really played the congas before though, so I wasn't able to make it as cool as I would have liked. The entire song is one chord, so it felt a little boring. I used an organ sound on the keyboard to give it a little bit of movement. The title doesn't really have anything to do with the song, it's just a sort of homage to Steely Dan.

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