The Last Leaf: A Composition for SATB Choir, Vocal Soloists, and Keyboard Percussion Quartet

Abstract

The primary aim of this dissertation is to create a new piece of art music, specifically, an ensemble work consisting of SATB choir, soprano soloist, alto soloist, tenor soloist, and a keyboard percussion quartet, including four marimbas, crotales, and chimes. The piece, entitled The Last Leaf, is modeled on a work by the composer David Lang, entitled The Little Match Girl Passion. Lang’s piece utilizes a small chorus and four solo singers, who also play simple percussion parts, which act as an ornamental supplement to the vocal parts. My work, The Last Leaf, incorporates a quartet of keyboard percussionists that are equal contributors to the overall fabric of the piece. In addition to providing the full score for The Last Leaf, this document elucidates the means by which my piece was constructed. I also detail the specific ways in which Lang’s work, The Little Match Girl Passion, was used a model, and as an aesthetic influence on The Last Leaf. This document also explains the architectural and orchestrational components of my work, specifically its symmetrical designs. Furthermore, I will articulate how my libretto, which uses the text of a short story by O. Henry, also titled The Last Leaf, was paraphrased, broken up into constituent movements, and set to music.