L’illusion Crépusculaire is a piece written for percussion (featuring marimba, kick drum, and splash cymbal) and piano. The idea is that the piano contains most of the percussive elements of the piece and the percussion part contains most of the melodic and harmonic elements of the piece. To make the piano more percussive, I put sticky tack on the strings to make the sound more hollow and bamboo-like. Though most of the notes still retain their pitch, it changes the sound enough to make the piano sound percussive. The instruments are playing a role that is opposite their natural role. L’illusion Crépusculaire is a french phrase meaning, The Twilight Illusion. I chose this as the name of the piece because it features two themes that weave in and out of each other, between the two melodies and key centers, until they are no longer recognizable as individual themes. The melodic and harmonic qualities of both themes have a slightly dark quality, hence, “twilight” in the name. The meter of the piece is ambiguous, building rhythmic tension until the last 16 measures, where the meter stays in ⅜. This relates to time because the rhythmic illusion is dependent on timing and meter. The melody, harmony, and rhythm flow in ways the listener does not expect.

Submission: