A Perfection That Doesn't Exist is a reflective contemporary work for piano and strings by Australian composer Justin James, exploring youthful idealism, expectation and the elusive pursuit of a perfect life.
 
🎧 Listen to audio sample
 
Quick Information
Level: Intermediate–Advanced
Category: Chamber / Ensemble Music
Type: Original Composition – Contemporary Concert Work
Genre: Contemporary Classical
Style: Cinematic / Reflective / Programmatic
Mood: Melancholic • Reflective • Searching • Hopeful
Time Signature: Primarily 3/4
Tempo: Melancholy, with later tempo changes and ritardandos
BPM: ♩ = 120, with later changes to ♩ = 90 and ♩ = 100
Instrumentation: Piano, Violins, Violas, Cellos & Double Bass
Focus: Ensemble balance, sustained string textures, expressive phrasing, rhythmic consistency and tonal shaping
Format: Digital PDF Download – Full Score
 
About this Composition
A Perfection That Doesn’t Exist is a contemporary work for piano and strings by Australian composer Justin James.
 
Built around a persistent piano figure and sustained, evolving string textures, the piece moves between melancholy, warmth and tension as it explores the desire to construct an ideal version of life - and the inevitable gap between the image we imagine and what is actually there.
 
Originally written in 2001, the musical idea later appeared in a comical audio satire about Photoshopped images before being reworked as a piano and strings ensemble piece for Algorithm Hitz – Episode 5.
 
A Note from Justin
Written in 2001, A Perfection That Doesn’t Exist began as a musical idea that went into a comical audio satire about Photoshopped images. The piece later underwent a transition for Algorithm Hitz - Episode 5, becoming an ensemble work for piano and strings.
 
The piece is about the youthful desire to build a life like paint by numbers - believing in the image before it shows you what is really there. It reflects the desire, and often misplaced direction, of youthful exuberance.
 
My eyes tell me what is perfect, but does my heart follow to fit? Or is the beauty in life about the perfection that comes from not trying to paint by numbers?
 
Ideal For
Contemporary ensemble performance, chamber concerts, student and community ensembles, cinematic programming and performers looking for atmospheric contemporary repertoire.
Technical Focus
Maintaining rhythmic flow in the piano part, balancing sustained string textures against the piano, expressive dynamic control, ensemble phrasing and shaping gradual changes in musical tension.
Performance Use
A reflective contemporary concert work for piano and strings that combines recurring rhythmic movement with sustained ensemble textures and programmatic storytelling.
 
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