Evaluative Commentary

Following the requirements of the module a solo piece had to be written and performed. My solo piece was based on a novel, Jane Eyre, and was recorded with a backing track I made myself using notation software.

My aim for this piece was to create a storyline that brought the themes presented in the novel into the modern times. Jane Eyre is set between 1760 and 1820, but the issue of gender equality that the character of Jane feels particularly troubled by, is still prevalent in modern times. I chose this issue rather than the more predominant issue presented in the novel, which is whether to marry for love or wealth is it is not very relevant nowadays. . In October 2014, George Arnett said “It will take 81 years for the worldwide gender gap to close if progress continues at the current rate” which got me thinking about how terrible it is that such a gap still exists around 200 years later. I am happy with the way my storyline developed yet still linked to the novel.

It was new for me to write an entire score, but I wanted to challenge myself and I believed I could do it. I wrote parts for the piano, flute, drums, electric bass and a violin section. I used echos within the flute and piano line, so that they played similar notes to what I have just sung. I originally wrote the song with just vocals and piano, but felt that the emotional storyline would benefit from a bigger piece being written. Something I could have improved on here is to have live or recorded instruments rather than a synthesized sound from my computer, as the artificial sounds may have taken away from the emotional meaning of the song.

An extremely famous song based on a novel is ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush. She used several quotations from the novel in her lyrics, which was something I drew influence from. I prefer to write with a stimulus so it was very easy to fit the quotes into my song. I originally wrote the song with different lyrics, and then transferred the quotes in and around the storyline I created. I wrote in a minor key to represent the sadness of the story, and the part of the story I based my piece upon, which is toward the beginning where Jane feels tortured and bullied by her family. Blogger Tricialo said about ‘Wuthering Heights’: “Intense, romantic, passionate, it’s a brilliant attempt to distill the essence of the Bronte novel into four and a half minutes of music.” That was what I wanted to do, capture the spirit of Jane Eyre in my song. I am confident that I did this, whilst still making it relevant and relatable.

To really signify the main issue within the novel, I firstly decided to use feminism as a character reference for my storyline. I used the words “I’ll be there for my sisters” as a way to show that females have stuck together to fight gender inequality. I changed the lyrics for the last chorus, singing “I’ll be there for you, my sister” to add a personal touch for the audience and listeners. I believe that helped the song to connect with the audience.



Bibliography

George Arnett (2014). Gender equalirt report: not one country has fully closed the gap yet. The Guardian, 28 October 2014.

Mumford, M (2010). Interview with Skip Matheny. 21 December. Tennessee.

Tricialo (2012). The Best Debut SIngle Ever - Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. 13 Hune 2012. Tricialo [online]. [Accessed 13/01/2016]. Available from: <https://tricialo.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-best-debut-single-ever-wuthering-heights-by-kate-bush/>.