Parameters
Key: A Minor
BPM: 110
Mood: Intense, Complex, Dramatic
Difficulty: Intermediate (Grades 4-6)
Duration: 0:59
External Links
About “Engaged Intellect”
Engaged Intellect is a piece inspired by the drama that unfolds in a court room between 2 lawyers. I wanted to depict the intensity that arises when one is put on the stand to testify or to defend.
The piece is written in 4/4 time but the motif utilises arpeggios and triplets to convey movement and drama. We are introduced with eighth notes in triplets up until bar 9. From bars 10-18, the rhythm becomes almost stately, with blocked chords, octave movements in the left and right hand, and quarter notes in triplets. We soon return the initial motif of the piece from bars 19 to the end.
The piece is built on the A harmonic minor scale. From bars 1-4, has a step-wise descent to F major, at which point, the piece returns to A minor. It then continues in the same fashion from bars 5-9, except this time, rather than stopping at F major, we continue to E major, the fifth. The piece uses the same cycle of chords except it finishes on the fifth, rather than resolving to A minor. This was done deliberately to leave things suspended and up in the air.