"Sinking Gargoyle on a Halloween Night"
—Melody composed by Ms. Reynolds' 2nd grade class
—Clear Creek Elementary School, October 2022
—Chamber work based on 2nd grade melody composed by Isaac Smith
—Performed by:
Frances Shelly, flute; Esteban Hernandez Parra, violin;
Debbi Ponella, cello; and Victoria Ponella, Harp
—School assembly 10/27/22
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Composed as part of a Kids Compose month-long residency
"Sinking Gargoyle on a Halloween Night"
Original melody by Ms. Reynolds 2nd grade class
Composition for flute, violin, cello, and harp by Isaac Smith, based on Ms. Reynolds class' melody
Follow the composition process of the 2nd graders below
The students began by drawing creating a story:
Since it was October, Halloween was on their mind, so they made it a spooky story
They set the mood by creating a spooky environment with sounds of swirling wind
set in a minor key
The protagonist is a gargoyle—a frozen statue on top of a tall building
Gargoyle is represented by two quarter notes in
the rhythm "gar-goyle"
Because the gargoyle is a statue, it is followed by
a rest—silence
Suspense is created by a loud chord
Then, all of a sudden, the gargoyle comes to life and jumps off the top of the building, diving through the air and landing in a swimming pool
There was an energetic discussion about the fact that the gargoyle was made of stone so
sank to the bottom and whether it would ever get out
The students decided it would wave its arms, which would gradually let it swim through the water, then fly through the air, arriving back at the top of the building where it would once again freeze in place as a statue— "gargoyle"
The students experimented on Orff instruments to transform their story into a melody
"Sinking Gargoyle on a Halloween Night" was then given to doctoral music composition student Isaac Smith who used it to compose a piece for flute, violin, cello, and harp
Before the premiere of the piece at a school assembly, Isaac shared with the students how he transformed their original melody into a work for quartet
(see top of page for performances of the original melody and quartet)