Flying Game (Quidditch)

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Flying Game is a musical depiction of Quidditch which is a fictional game developed by J. K. Rowling, found in the internationally bestselling Harry Potter novels and films. It is described as an extremely rough but very popular semi-contact sport played by wizards and witches around the world. Matches are played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, (Wikipedia Dictionary). Flying Game is a piece that was composed to be a fun piece for young pianists. It was meant to be a “flashy and colorful” piece with the performer flying up and down the keyboard. The numerous arpeggios in the different ranges of the piano are meant to depict someone flying around on a broomstick much like how it must be if one could play the sport of Quidditch. The piece is in a Sonata form with a clear cadence of the Principal Theme in measures 18-20. The Transition leads to the Secondary Theme starting in measure 30. The Closing Theme starts in measure 53 ending the Exposition in measure 67. The Development Section starts in measure 68 using fragmentation of the themes presented in the Exposition. The Preparation for the Recapitulation starts in measure 96 with the Recapitulation of the Primary Theme starting in measure 100. A short coda ends the piece in measures 158- 159. The piece is grounded on the tonality of Eb although as the game Quidditch is not a game played on the ground, there is also an expansion of the regular harmonic triads. In order to depict “flying above the ground” the harmonies are based on upper structured harmonies using 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths and beyond. Because of the many chromatic upper structures, there are many courtesy accidentals to help the performer. The piece was premiered by on May 16, 2009 by Morgan Lee at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT.It was the required new composition for the New Haven Music School Piano Competition, High School Level. It piece was composed on commission by the Neighborhood Music School as Fritze won the Renee B. Fischer Composition Competition two years before (2007).

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