This piece was premiered at Central United Methodist at the UMKC Conservatory Freshmen Composition Concert. 

In classical antiquity, the four temperaments represented various personality types, or “temperaments.” The Greeks, though inaccurately, believed that one’s temperament was determined by the amount of fluid in his or her body, and that it was necessary to achieve balance so that no temperament overpowered any of the others. In this piece of music, each of the movements can stand alone as a personality type, but they are intended to be performed as one set. 

I. Melancholy (ca. 7:30”)
The melancholic individual is an introverted, philosophical one. Instead of relying too much on his emotions, he prefers to use reason, logic, and his brilliantly-crafted intuition. While others prefer to socialize, the melancholic may feel uncomfortable around groups of people, often preferring to wander off alone into deep periods of inner reflectivity, appearing aloof to others. Not a good talker, but is quite the listener. 

II. Sanguine (ca. 5:30”)
Loquacious and gregarious, he is the life of the party and the talk of the town. Talking, boasting, and quipping interesting pieces of information is no problem for the sanguine person. An extrovert, he is always eager to socialize and be around other people, quickly asserting his dominance in the conversation and often steering it towards himself. He has the tendency to get on other’s nerves, and he comes across as arrogant and selfish, mainly due to the fact that he so often speaks before he thinks.

III. Phlegmatic (ca. 6:30”)
The phlegmatic person loves peace. A sociable introvert, she prefers to make friends rather than to argue. While she often has deep moments of inner angst and self-evaluation, she is a great friend and will stick with you to the end. She is naïve and a doormat, being often taken advantage of by unscrupulous people. However, she has an unusual aptitude to forgive, overlooking the faults of humanity for the sake of achieving inner spirituality. 

IV. Choleric (ca. 4:30”)
Assertive, dominant, and driven, the choleric individual is the natural born leader. Automatically, everyone assumes him to be in charge. Never one for petty infatuations and fake complements, the choleric is unabashedly frank and prefers offensive honesty to fake friendship. Around the right people, a choleric person can be a well-organized, fantastic player to have on a team. However around the wrong people, he frequently comes across as pushy, arrogant, or even belligerent. Don’t pick a fight with him.


Choleric

Phlegmatic

Sanguine

Melancholy

Art credit to Michael Tompsett.

For this piece, I imagined moving pictures. That is, standing in a particular location in the city and absorbing the sounds, the colors, and the smells. For each movement, there is a story.

Westview Gardens: you are walking through a beautiful part on a sunny afternoon, filled with flowers, bushes, and trees. You stop to observe each one.

Gentle Rain at Midnight: you are sitting inside, listening to the sound of rain against your roof, and you listen as it turns into a storm and fades away into a mist.

Midtown Traffic Shuffle: it is a busy day. There is a music festival, and traffic is moving slowly. As you drive, you hear the sounds of bands playing in the background. You hear different bands, sometimes all playing and once, and fading away as you drive off.

Fire: you see a few sparks coming out of a large building. You walk closer to see what's going on, and you realize that its' on fire. The fire starts to get bigger and bigger, and everyone is panicked. Sirens are blazing, everyone is running back and forth. The fire is put out, but there is almost nothing left.

Fire!

Midtown Traffic Shuffle

Gentle Rain At Midnight

Westview Gardens

A 7/8 groove that could function as a title sequence for an action movie.

Jazz Title Sequence

This is the song that I wrote to propose to my wife, Megan Eve Sprankle, and then later re-recorded. Eventually, she would walk down the aisle to this song.

JDS Music: recording & production
Josiah David Sprankle: vocals, piano, mandolin, & percussion
Joel Flanagan: guitar
Ashtin Johnson: violin
Joe Alongi: violin
Esther Seitz: cello
Ben Foerster: bass

Just Say Yes

A short composition inspired by Marvel's Infinity War. Composed in Ableton Live.

Dark Strings

Made in Ableton Live, featuring the Descant Horn by Cinesamples.

Mysterious Horn

Made in Ableton Live featuring 8DIO's Adagio Violins.

Romantic Strings

Josiah Sprankle is a pianist and composer currently studying at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Josiah David Sprankle

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