Journey Through The Enchanted Forest

Composer(s) / Arranger(s): Jon B. Brill

Performance Time: 3:33  |  Grade: 2  |  Style: Contemporary

Journey Through the Enchanted Forest is the first piece that I have composed for Orchestra. The piece presents a story of a princess, traveling through an enchanted forest, encountering the many delights and pleasures placing her under a magical spell. The piece is in 3/4 time and opens with a powerful introduction followed by a flurry of eighth notes that crescendo into a short transitional section, setting up a sweet melody found in the first violin section. The second violins answer the melodic substance setting up a harmonized reoccurrence of the first statement. The piece then presents a call and response between the first violin and cello sections leading into a melodic statement shard by the two sections. The piece moves on with a flurry of eighth notes, beginning with the violins, moving into the viola section followed by the cellos and basses, creating tension within the piece, and then transitioning into a reoccurrence of the opening them followed by a powerful unison statement by the orchestra. After a brief grand pause, the violas and violins share a sequential melodic phrase, taken over by the cello section. The piece then works through the same melodic material found in the first violin section answered once again by the second violins and followed once again by the violins shard the melogy, and setting up a reoccurrence of the call and response between the first violin and cello sections. The piece then works its way back to the powerful unison section to conclude the piece. “Journey Through the Enchanted Forest” was composed and dedicated to my Eagle Valley Middle School Orchestra students of 2015, to provide a new avenue and promoting a higher level of musicianship.