Music isn’t usually written in a day, but the students of the Composition Club decided to challenge the notion by doing just that.
Held at 6 p.m. in the Music Building, the Hasty Measures concert gave composers 24 hours to write their songs on Friday, while the performer or performers of said piece had 24 hours to practice on Saturday. It appeared to be a daunting task, but six composers took up the challenge and decided to write music for the concert Sunday night.
The audience attending Hasty Measures was not massive, but a sizable group nonetheless arrived with each interested in what the club was performing. There was no head conductor of the concert, rather each student had to take conducting into their own hands.
The range of instruments included a French horn, piano, cello, drum set, violin, a marimba, steel drums, a clarinet and a tuba.
No one piece in the concert was the same. There were four solos in the seven pieces and a diversity in music styles. The piece “Metallic Heart” felt like an entrance of a horror movie antagonist, one where machinery replaces humanity as the steel drums act as a heartbeat.
“Between Contrast” dealt with the struggle of liberty fighting against stability. The trumpet went from sounding slow and collected to fast and energetic. The two styles dueled against each other before stability ended the song.
“Hello, February” was unusual but entertaining as it took inspiration from Pokémon. It had a jazzy sound which slowed down a little. It gave a feeling of listening to a new level in a video game.
Kayla Bivin, a graduate student music major, elaborated on why she chose Pokémon as an inspiration for her piece.
“There was a song I liked to play a lot from the area, ‘Canalave City’,” Bivin said. “I used the same chords from it to write the piece as well as adding a new melody and drums.”
Emily Kmetz, a first-year music education and music performance major, shared her thoughts on how the concert went. She was entertained by the final piece’s unorthodox style of removing fourteen parts from a French horn and still making music.
“I thought the last piece was really funny, seeing a French horn come apart,” said Kmetz. “I thought it was really unique.”
Even in a time constraint of 24 hours, music can be written and performed excellently.