Yesterday morning I had a little bit of free time and a little bit of staff paper, so I jotted out a little chorale. I decided to write one in the bass clef, which I don’t usually do, and while I followed some of my own “rules” for these chorales, I also took quite a few liberties with them.

I imported the WAV of the finished product into Audacity, where I applied a “Medium Room” reverb filter; a “Wide Synth Pad” chorus effect (one of my favorites); and a “Firm Bass” master effect. The result is this enigmatic, low-end-heavy chorale.

“Deep Chorale” is a flowing chorale in C major for two cellos and double bass. It focuses on dynamic contrast and the interplay of harmonies between the instruments, requiring close listening and coordination.

Here’s a black-and-white scan of the original score:

And here’s a glorious PDF of the full score with individual parts:

What did you think of this “Deep Chorale”? Did the bass stir up feelings deep inside of you? Did you hold your speakers to the nape of your neck to feel the low-end vibrations? Or is it another self-indulgent experiment in composing from a self-important composer?

Let me know in the comments!

Happy Tuesday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP