This piece is a collage of images that represent important themes that will be revealed in the course of a music major.

First of all, Bach is portrayed as God (or the god of music) within the clouds. I chose to personify Bach as the god of music since he experimented with developing music harmonically and texturally so much that he set an example to be followed for hundreds of years. Besides this, everything he wrote was intended for God.

On each side of him are two angels with the heads of Beethoven and Mozart. I chose them since they are quite often thought to be the most influential composers in the history of western music along with Bach.

On top of the clouds are three choir boys to recognize the vocal side of music.

Coming out diagonally from the clouds is the Guidonian hand. This was an important teaching device used in the Middle ages and the Renaissance in regards to scales and intervals. It was used as a map; if a teacher would point to a certain part of the hand, the pupil was expected to sing the right pitch. (For quite some time chromaticism was avoided since it was 'not in the hand.')

Overlaying the hand is a portion of the Earth which shows Europe, which is the origin of the music we've studied.

On this is a statue of a female (seemingly neo-Classical in style) playing a lyre, giving credit to instrumentalists. As the only female in the composition, including her also gives credit to both genders in music.

Curving down is the image of Pan. He could have a couple of functions in this piece, but I'm using him primarily as an icon of the devil. "Pan, being so wild and bestial, became the Christian perception of the Devil. Our modern, popular, Christian notion of what the Devil looks like equates with the ancient Greek god Pan: goat-like legs, hooves, and horns, shaggy appearance and wild looks" (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/mythology). With this imagery of the devil, Pan could also be tied to the Romantic era in which composers had a preoccupation for things such as nature in its wild state and all aspects of the supernatural (sacred, eerie, and demonic).

On Pan's shoulder you can see an F# which is the bottom of the circle of fifths.

Following the portion of the circle you see to the top, you find a C placed under Bach. The interval between C and F# is a tritone, which is an interval that was intentionally not used (especially in the music of Bach) for many years since it was associated with the devil.

In the center of the composition is a distorted view of the phases of the moon. Since the moon controls the high and low tides on Earth, this made me think of a pendulum swinging back and forth ("for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction") - which is often a good description of the difference between eras in the study of the arts. Thus each phase of the moon is an implied representation of some of the important time periods we study (Early Christian, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionism, and 20th Century). It is also simply symbolic for the passage of time.

In the background on the blue you can see five black swirling lines indicating those of a staff.

The whole piece is in the dimensions of the golden ratio, which be found in the harmonic series among many other things.

"I feel some thanks are in order for this project. I couldn't have done it without Dr. Sjoerdsma's 'ok,' which turned out to be pretty intimidating. (I hadn't anticipated the project to actually be approved!) My family and friends were really supportive as always, and my Uncle Frank was really great when I needed his expertise. I want to thank Dan Lyons for his help and encouragement. Alane Spinney and Phil Powell were always more than willing to help me with my many rough drafts. Through talking with them, I also realized a couple of 'happy mistakes' I had made, which is always welcome in art. Again I want to thank Phil for his honest opinions, which is what I wanted to hear. Lastly, thank you Carthage Security for letting me be the creature that dwelled in the stairwell late at night when everyone else was gone."