UW News

October 22, 2009

UW School of Music grad goes for baroque in compositions to be performed at Town Hall Oct. 24

When Justin Henderlight’s original composition is performed at a concert Oct. 24, he’ll be wondering if it sounds old enough. Henderlight, who got his bachelor’s in music at the UW in June and is now taking some courses in preparation for graduate school, writes music in the baroque style, and the concert is by the Seattle Baroque Orchestra.


The baroque music style flourished between 1600 and 1750 and includes composers such as Bach, Handel and Corelli. So why is a 21-year-old citizen of the 21st century writing that kind of music? Essentially because he likes it.


“I think the music of Bach and Handel speaks to us today,” Henderlight said. “We still hear it. People still play it. It’s not like it’s dead music, so the style still has relevance. Therefore, why not write new pieces in that style?”


That’s what he’s been doing since well before he entered the University. He started in seventh grade, in fact, when he was first exposed to classical music. He listened to recordings of baroque music and thought, “That’s cool. I want to do that. I want to see if I can write something that sounds like that.”


At the time, Henderlight was playing trombone in the band, which didn’t provide much help in understanding a music style that is built around the harpsichord or organ plus strings. But that didn’t stop him. He taught himself by trial and error.


By high school Henderlight had switched to oboe — still not really a baroque instrument — but he also took harpsichord lessons from Byron Schenkman, one of the co-founders of Seattle Baroque Orchestra, who took an interest in his music. It was through Schenkman that Henderlight’s composition, Concerto Grosso No. 1 in e minor, was chosen for the concert.


This isn’t the first time that Henderlight’s music has been performed, but the other performances were by fellow UW music students. “All students have to give recitals as part of their degree, so most of my friends have received pieces from me that they performed as part of their recitals,” Henderlight said.


Given his early interest in composition, one might assume that Henderlight studied that subject at the School of Music, but he was actually a music education major. Composition, he explained, is generally reserved for music innovators, not people who are trying to reproduce the sound of an earlier century.


Just what is that sound? “Baroque music is highly intricate,” Henderlight said. “There are many melodies going on at the same time, which gives the music texture. Your ear doesn’t quite know what to settle on. You’re kind of bombarded by sound, and I just like that.”


He won’t be performing in the concert because his piece has no oboe part and he doesn’t consider himself adept enough on the harpsichord, which is very much a secondary instrument for him. Nor does he expect that the concert will launch him on a career of baroque composition. He plans to obtain a master’s in music history and eventually a doctorate in historical musicology with the aim of becoming a college professor some day.


But he’s looking forward to hearing the piece played, and is a little anxious about its reception.


“I try to write in the most authentically baroque style possible,” Henderlight said. “I want my work to sound like it was written in 18th century Italy. In this concert, my piece is sitting in the context of five other pieces that were written back then, so this is almost a litmus test to see how well I did. Is it going to stick out or blend harmoniously with all those other pieces?”


The concert is at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, in Town Hall, 1119 8th Avenue. For further information or to get tickets, go to http://www.seattlebaroque.org/.