A senior composition recital : a composer's lesson in music as a language : an honor thesis (MUSTH 495-HONRS 499)

Abstract

Music has always been a very important part of my life. There are many times I can recall in which music has "moved" me or I have watched it "move" others. Music has the power to affect people in many different ways. It has been said that music can soothe the savage beast and Henry W. Longfellow once wrote: "Music is the universal language of mankind." Based on these ideas, I decided I would try to write programmatic pieces for my recital to see if I could tell a story and express emotions through notes rather than words. Four of the five pieces on my recital are based on some sort of story or poem.