You are my Heartbeat was originally composed for solo piano after I was inspired by a performance of by the Croatian pianist, Martina Filjak. This composition starts with percussive sounds where the very low clusters represent a heartbeat. You are my heartbeat explores chord clusters as a point of stability, and these clusters fall on different beats in the composition. The irregular accents of the material are a mockery of a lover’s heart that goes out of rhythm, as well as a heart condition I have recently been diagnosed with which leads to dysrhythmia. The tone D is the tonal centre of the composition and these clusters also mirror around D. The material that alternates with the clusters is mostly built from second and seventh chords of which the vertical intervals mirror around different pitch axes. The middle part of the composition is a slow and melodic segment which also contains certain elements of the previous material such as the seventh chords. The melody as well as the accompaniment becomes more dissonant and dense in texture to return to the clusters.

This composition is an orchestration of the first movement of my piano composition with the same title. I chose to orchestrate this movement because I felt that it needed the substantial dynamical power and forces of an orchestra to justify what I wanted to communicate with listeners. In this orchestration I had to find ways to imitate the percussive sounds of the piano, and also put that percussive material in contrast with melodic parts. Some of the piano material was changed or omitted in order to create a coherent structure in the orchestra.