AMADEUS MUSIC
During Grade 11 and Grade 12, IB DP and IB CP students engage in an in-depth study of music in which they learn how to examine different repertoires and enrich their performative and compositional skills.
This page offers a closer look at the brilliant musical work of our students.
The upper section features some performative videos whereas the lower half showcases an assortment of compositions created by our IB Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme Music students. The compositions are either written in Musescore, a notation music software, or recorded with various digital audio workstation such as Logic Pro X, Ableton and FL Studio.
Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31 by KENTO YU
Kite Flying by ADA ERGIN
Sherzo by VIACHESLAV BUTIKOV
Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31 by KENTO YU
Kite Flying by ADA ERGIN
Sherzo by VIACHESLAV BUTIKOV
Nacht und Träume by SOFIA SANTAMARIA & KENTO YU
Carol of the Bells by THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Supergroove by THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Nacht und Träume by SOFIA SANTAMARIA & KENTO YU
Carol of the Bells by THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Supergroove by THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Ludwig van Beethoven (Sonata No 7. 1st Movement) by LI RONG ZHONG
Forward by The Silk Road Ensemble
Ludwig van Beethoven (Sonata No 7. 1st Movement) by LI RONG ZHONG
Forward by The Silk Road Ensemble
AMADEUS Music Education
We are proud to be among the first IB schools in Europe to offer the IB Career-related Programme with a focus on Music. AMADEUS Vienna is where students get to pursue
their musical career whilst receiving a top international academic education.
KENTO YU
In Doburoku I have experimented with elements of EDM, ambient music and traditional Japanese music. The influence of EDM can be found in the use of four-on-the-floor drum machine beats and in the synth sounds that I have used for the bass, the chords and the melody. The elements of traditional Japanese music can be heard in the intro where I used the koto and taiko drums as well as in the atmospheric interlude (1’22 – 2’23”). In this section, I created a relaxed and transcendental atmosphere which is typical of some ambient music. With this work I wanted to provide the listener with a clear image of Japan (Doburoku is a type of Japanese sake) and because of that I implemented the ‘In-sen’ scale in the parts performed by traditional Japanese instruments such as the Koto and the Shakuhachi. I was also inspired by artists such as Toby and Pikasonic.
Kibou (Japanese: 希望 / English: Hope). This is an electronic piece which was created from several ideas on the piano. In electronic dance music, piano isn’t a very common instrument that artists use, rather they use keyboard instruments such as synthesizers. I mainly focused on trying to sustain the style of dance music, whilst using piano as my main melodic sound source. In the bridge, the genre shifts to R&B, specifically contemporary R&B. The mood of R&B comes mainly from the chords used and the snaps in the background. In the final chorus, I transposed the section from B major to F major. This modulation is meant to suggest a sense of hope and positive energy.
VIACHESLAV BUTIKOV
The structure of this piece consists of the following sections: Intro, section A, section B, section A, section C, section A and section B. As for the instrumentation, I have used drums, bass, organ, horns, strings, guitar, acoustic and electric pianos, vibraphone, koto and oboe. In Rain I have experimented with elements of disco, such as a typical four-on-the-floor drum beat, and progressive rock, such as the orchestral arrangements. The two main melodic themes alternate throughout the compositions several times, showing how everything in nature is based on repetition; seasons, days, breathing, heartbeat, life and death.
In this short piano piece, I wanted to invoke a feeling of nostalgia. When working on it, I kept imagining a scene in which people look back at their younger days, remember their first love and relate to a time that is now gone. Once completed, this piece made me think of an autumn landscape and reminded me of how the time flows and moments fade. Throughout its 37 bars, Nostalgic uses some extended chords and modulations, and incorporates elements of both jazz and minimalism.
YOANNA BOYANOVA
I was inspired to write Sunflower after spending an autumn afternoon in a sunflower field behind my house in Bulgaria. The melancholy and the sense of longing I felt on that day is something that I tried to recreate in my work. This piece was initially supposed to be a pop song featuring lyrics, synthesizer and maybe drums but halfway through composing I opted for a piano trio instrumentation (piano, violin and cello).
Ascending was created using the digital audio workstation, Logic Pro X. The inspiration for composing this piece comes from the Netflix series’ soundtrack, Stranger Things and also some from some 80s electronic music. I am very satisfied with the result and I have enjoyed working on this track a lot during the few weeks I spent creating it. I have learnt how to program drum-machine beats, use arpeggiating synths and work with different audio effects like delay and reverb.
ARSENII ARZHANOVICH
The inspiration for this track comes Travis Scott’s music and particularly a song called The Ends. Switch is written in F# minor and its structure consist of four sections which all end with a sound effect imitating a vinyl disc being stopped. This work was created in FL Studio, where I used a variety of different virtual instruments to play all the synthesizer parts and program the drum beats. Additionally, I experimented quite a bit with various effects (reverb, flanger and pitch shifter). The piece displays a mysterious mood which runs throughout its entire length of 2 minutes and 52 seconds.
Night on the Mountains was composed in just a few days after a couple of improv sessions on the piano. This piece is based around a simple chord progression consisting of the following chords: F minor, Ab major, G major and C7. With this composition I tried to express my love for mountain landscapes and snowboarding. The fast arpeggios are representing the speed, which one would experience while riding a snowboard, and some of the calmer parts with diminuendos are meant to symbolize the aspects of cruising.
EKAFURI AKITO NAGASHIMA
Dancing Coffee is a piece in the style of bossa nova, a music genre that emerged in Brazil in the late 1950s and combined elements of samba with jazz. One of its most famous songs to this day is The Girl from Ipanema, composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Because of its calm atmosphere, bossa nova it is sometimes associated to elevator music. One day I was in the elevator in Japan and decided to make something of this genre because I thought it could provide me with the possibility to experiment with both groove and melody. I was inspired by the chord progression of Spain by Latin jazz pioneer Chick Corea, and YouTube Café Jazz BGM videos.
The Flower of Chronos is an electronic piece inspired by American minimalism and the music of Hans Zimmer, particularly his soundtracks for the movies Interstellar (2014) and Dunkirk (2017), directed by Christopher Nolan. Just like Zimmer, I sampled a watch and used it as percussion instrument in my track (snare and hi-hat). The tempo is 60bpm, which imitates the passing of time, hence the reference to Chronos, the god of time in ancient Greece. I also used vocal samples recorded by one of my classmates and incorporated a series of fast piano arpeggios which are not physically possible to play by human hands because they would require more than ten fingers. These arpeggios were imputed in Logix Pro X via MIDI and the shape they formed on the piano roll grid reminded me the one of a flower.
LAURENZ HEINDL
The Abyss is a psychedelic electronic dance track. The piece features techno, moombahton, and trance elements. The first drop is dominated by an ‘acid’ rolling bassline. It uses techno ESC cymbals and kicks to create an industrial atmosphere and the typical snare sound usually found in moombahton.
Towards the second half of the first drop, a gated synth is introduced to produce a psychedelic effect. The second drop is preceded by a build consisting of a snare roll and white noise that creates tension. This section is announced by a phrase spoken by a classmate and it combines part of the first drop and the chords and melody presented in the break.
The whole piece is composed in one key and holds no harmonic complexity. The track’s complexity lies in the combination of sounds to create a psychedelic effect at the beginning and a euphoric atmosphere towards the end.
NAVID OWJI
I have always found the combination of piano and cello to be very elegant and intriguing. This inspired me to compose my first piece, Drowning in Thoughts, a composition in C minor written in rondo form (ABACA). In this piece, I have portrayed my thoughts and emotions through the melodic dialogue between the two instruments.
Dancing with the Wind is a piece that uses Middle Eastern rhythmic/melodic patterns, adapted to a western type of instrumentation and arrangement. I am originally from Iran and these types of patterns have always been an influential factor in my style of composing. For this piece, I used the time signature of 7/4 which can be usually found in Middle Eastern music. The pattern that I chose within this time signature is 2, 2, 3, which whilst performing at a high tempo, creates an elegant flow within the piece. I adopted the following structure A, B, C, B, D, A because I wanted to develop a simple phrase, have a solo section, and go back to the main simple rhythmic pattern at the end once again.
EMILY THOMPSON
Bobbie is a tumultuous piece for piano, the theme for which I wrote a day after the passing of a family member of mine. And so, the key is minor and the chord progression somewhat dissonant. My intention was to create an expressive piece for piano using the knowledge I have from classical training on flute. The structure is such that the theme is introduced then modulated and expanded upon with a somber ending that reiterates it in a new light. Over the year of writing the piece, my world view/disposition would be reflected by the music. The theme itself, a reflection of my grief, the modulated version in the middle section, a reflection of the turbulence and melancholia which accompanies grief, and the last part of the piece, I see as representing the need for resolution.
My second composition, Reformed, is an attempt on my part to use my knowledge of melody to thread together cello and B foot flute. Similarly, to my first composition, I realized that it was difficult to compose following a specific structure and when I tried, the musical development would fall flat. Therefore, I worked on keeping a balance between various melodic developments and the outline of a cohesive structure. I’m inclined to say, “let the music speak for itself,” but, I do have to acknowledge that the piece goes in a lot of directions and I hope this description is helpful for the listener.
RABBINA UZYKHANOVA
I am very proud of my two compositions Waltz and Bloom.
Having no previous experience with composing, it was quite an exciting challenge for me when I began to write my own music at the beginning of Grade 11. My goal was to compose two musical pieces of different styles.
Waltz is a composition for piano solo in C sharp minor. The piece is in a rondo form (ABACA) with the main theme in the introduction, a new melody in the second part, a modulation in the third, a culmination in the fourth, and eventually coming back to the first theme in the end. The main theme gives a mystical sense that travels throughout the whole piece.
Bloom is a composition for harp, violin, and cello. The piece is structured in 4 parts, each consisting of 16 bars. I tried to use flowing transitions between sections, with the melody line being alternated between the instruments.
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