The Pass
Faculty Mentor
Jonathan Middleton
Presentation Type
Creative Work
Start Date
4-13-2026 5:20 PM
End Date
4-13-2026 6:30 PM
Location
Art Building Gallery
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Music
Abstract
This piece of music is an experimental composition. Inspired by 20th century composer Olivier Messiaen. He was a French composer known for composing music that has intricate rhythms, heavily dissonant sounds and music which left the western music tradition completely behind him. He was also an ornithologist, and his love of birds found his way into his music. Messiaen traveled the world and came up with ways to transcribe these bird calls into music which he later put in his book “A Technique de Mon Langage Musical ("The Technique of my Musical Language.") In this book, he describes a series of modes he uses to compose music. Modes are a collection of pitches, and I chose to use his “Mode 7.” My professor Dr. Middleton challenged our composition class to combine influences from Messiaen with capturing a biocentric focus. My intent was to create music that captures the sound of traveling through an icy and snowy pass on foot.
Recommended Citation
Shepherd, Christopher, "The Pass" (2026). 2026 Symposium. 5.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2026/cw_2026/mus_2026/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
The Pass
Art Building Gallery
This piece of music is an experimental composition. Inspired by 20th century composer Olivier Messiaen. He was a French composer known for composing music that has intricate rhythms, heavily dissonant sounds and music which left the western music tradition completely behind him. He was also an ornithologist, and his love of birds found his way into his music. Messiaen traveled the world and came up with ways to transcribe these bird calls into music which he later put in his book “A Technique de Mon Langage Musical ("The Technique of my Musical Language.") In this book, he describes a series of modes he uses to compose music. Modes are a collection of pitches, and I chose to use his “Mode 7.” My professor Dr. Middleton challenged our composition class to combine influences from Messiaen with capturing a biocentric focus. My intent was to create music that captures the sound of traveling through an icy and snowy pass on foot.
