High

For Orchestra

High is an orchestra piece composed by Christopher Mesa. When I first started this piece, I wanted it to have a bouncy feel. I decided to write the piece in 12/8, 9/8, and 6/8 time signatures because it gives that bouncy triplet texture. There are two main themes for this piece. The first occurs in the beginning after the oboe and violin soli. The second theme comes after an accelerando and can first be heard in the horns. After repeating the second theme, the piece hits a dynamic climax which starts to introduce 16th runs throughout the instruments. This composition also utilizes short 2-bar motives from the two themes in the second half of the piece. The use of rhythmic unisons are important because it helps create a stable and firm feel.

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