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Hello, I chose the Clarinet for the Hare and the Bassoon for the Tortoise with orchestral accompaniment. My reason for choosing the Clarinet as the Hare is because of the Clarinet's agility and capability to hop around very easily. The Clarinet also possesses an ability to make a laughing sound effect that I attempted to emulate (https://youtu.be/PMjAAH86cIk?t=30). My reason for choosing the Bassoon as the Tortoise is because I imagined the Tortoise as a bass instrument. While most instruments are able to produce sonorous sounds in their lower registers, I believe the Bassoon was the best choice. I decided to stick with the original Aesop story as my inspiration: The music starts with the Tortoise's motif and the Hare making fun of the Tortoise for being too slow. I use a common childish tune with pizzicato strings to represent the child-like nature of the Hare while it dances around the Tortoise's motif using polytonality to represent how different the two are. The Hare asks the Tortoise a question, "Do you ever get anywhere?" The Tortoise then responds with proving that it can beat the Hare in a race. I imagined the Tortoise talking very slowly and labored, so I slow the tempo down to give the Bassoon time to talk. I like to think that there would be a moment of anticipation as the Fox readies the runners. The Fox is represented by the Oboe. I also put a spot in where the Fox would say, "Get ready, on your marks, get set, go!" As the race begins, the Hare immediately jumps ahead of the Tortoise. It eventually sees that it is so far ahead that it begins to lighten its' pace and slow down a bit. The Hare will eventually mock the Tortoise's words from earlier. As everything quiets down and the Hare is far beyond the Tortoise, it will take a nap. I write in a part for the Solo Clarinet where the performer will snore. The Brahms Lullaby is played with quiet, pizzicato strings to imply the Hare is sleeping. The Tortoise's motif then enters quietly building up to a forte and back to piano. I wanted to emulate the Tortoise passing by. The waking of the Hare is signaled by the Clarinet quote from the opening of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue - I always imagined that line as being a waking of something. With the Tortoise being nowhere in sight, the Hare begins to question itself before realizing the Tortoise must have passed it while it was sleeping. This realization is signaled by this sound effect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6rq_8EQkOI). The Hare then sprints as fast as it possibly can in an attempt to catch up to the Tortoise. However, it's too late. The ending is a repeat of what the Tortoise said earlier with all orchestra instruments involved. I imagined that all of the other animals are rejoicing with and congratulating the Tortoise. The Tortoise then walks off with a final laugh at the very end. I included the judge's notes. The .pdf has minor changes that are not present in the .mp3.

I like this score a lot, my favorite section is the first. Nice score in total I would consider putting a pickup measure at the start