Last Sunday, I attended the performance of the CU Wind Symphony and the Ithaca High School Wind Ensemble at Bailey Hall. This was my first time attending a performance by the CU Wind Symphony, and I was shocked at how good they sounded. I have always liked classical music. I used to play violin back in high school, and I am currently in Cornell Chorale. In addition, this semester I am taking Introduction to Western Music Theory, taught by Professor Spinazzola, who is the conductor for CU Wind. A few days before the concert, our class got a chance to meet David Maslanka, the composer of the majority of the pieces performed at the concert. Mr. Maslanka described to us his composition process, which involves a lot of visualization. He also mentioned that walking can help somebody to think better–a fact that I have also found to be true, as I often walk around when trying to come up with something to write for an essay. I was also surprised to learn that Mr. Maslanka often based his musical themes after the melody in other, older works. For instance, during the lecture, Mr. Maslanka handed out to each of us a copy of “Jesu, meine Freude,” an old chorale, and had us sing it. He mentioned that the melody of the chorale was present in his Symphony No. 8, as well as another piece he wrote, titled “Oh Earth, Oh Stars,” which he played a recording of in class. Although I could clearly hear the melody of “Jesu, meine Freude” in the piece that he played for us, I was surprised to so distinctly hear it again several days later when CU Wind performed his Symphony No. 8. By this point I could no longer remember what “Jesu, meine Freude” sounded like, but as soon as the second movement of Symphony No. 8 began, I immediately realized that I had heard that tune before. I was shocked that Mr. Maslanka would so obviously incorporate a different song into his own. I guess I always figured that original music would not include music from outside sources, but I suppose that there is only so much originality that exists in the world. Music can still be original even if it borrows from other songs, as long as it reworks it into something new. Although I could clearly hear the melody of “Jesu, meine Freude” in Maslanka’s Symphony No. 8, I could also tell that it was not the exact same song.