By Katie Murphy ’14 | Staff Writer

After joking around about spending class time composing music, Connor Reinamn ’14 created an original piece of music for Calculus teacher David Martin.

On the first day of class, Reinman was composing music during class when he should have been working on math, said Reinman. 

Martin said he halfheartedly told Reinman that if was composing music in class, it better be related to his class somehow.

“He (Martin) told me, ‘one: if you are doing that you should not be doing that, and two: you better be writing me a song,'” said Reinman.

Although Martin’s rule did start off as something as more of joke, it became serious when Reinman started to compose the song and called it “Requiem for the Victims of Calculus AB.”

The music is supposed to be fitting the mood of the class, said Reinman.

“The title of the it (the piece) is something of a joke, but the piece itself is not,” said Reinman.

The piece is in two movements.The first movement is slower, and somber. The second movement is much faster, aggressive and powerful. It took him about 2 and a half weeks to compose, Reinman said.

Martin said could not have been more appreciative and grateful for Reinman’s gift.

“He said to me ‘this is the coolest present anyone has ever given to me,’” said Reinman. “I gave him a full score, and an audio recording. I also gave him my original, handwritten sketch, which apparently he liked a lot.”

Understanding that the composition is somewhat of a cynical piece toward his feelings of the class, Martin said that he enjoyed the song overall, and is able to understand the depressing nature of this song knowing how difficult the class is.

“I know Connor’s sense of humor, he’s very funny, he’s very dry,” said Martin. “Probably half if this is true, and the other half of this is his wittiness. But I can take a joke.”

Fellow classmate and orchestra member, Sarah Knust ’14, said that Reinman’s piece is not only a well-made composition, but a humorous and accurate feeling of the nature of the class.

“Connor’s piece is great. He is so talented, and it is awesome that he was able to use his talents to make such a unique gift,” said Knust. “I really enjoyed it, and I think everybody else in the class did as well.”

After listening to piece, Martin said he enjoyed the build of the song, and it had made him open his eyes to different types of music.

“I just thought it was great because he was attributing a mood to the class,” said Martin. “It also made me appreciate classical music a little more which I don’t always do.”

To preview Reinman’s original math- class composition, “Requiem for the Victims of Calculus AB”, follow the link below.