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Old Nov 5 2007, 8:37 AM
QcCowboy QcCowboy is offline

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Is this score in C? or are the horn parts transposed? (I know they are, but it should be marked in the score since you aren't using key signatures to indicate it)

I also think the 2-measure repeats are excessive. You should simply write out those measures.

From the point of view of the score, I don't care (as a conductor) for landscape scores, unless the music ABSOLUTELY warrants it. In this particular case, I'd much rather see simply a slightly smaller font choice and a normal layout - portrait. Two systems per page will give a nice look, and will make the piece a few pages shorter, as well.

Musically, I wasn't bothered by the dissonance, I rather enjoyed it. It was a bit too short on form and substance, however. Basically, it felt like a lot of "effect" to me. The dissonances taking the place of actual "material". Had this been the introduction to a longer piece, this might have worked. As a stand-alone, the listener is left wanting something that isn't there.

It was also rather "square", which rather goes against the entire dissonant aesthetic of the piece. I think you have a good sketch of something here to start with. It requires some work, mostly developmental. But it's a good start. I think it has a lot of potential for a very interesting piece, if you could develop some of the material a bit and give a little more sense of purpose.

For example, there's a very interesting rising arpeggio motif that doesn't seem to go anywhere.

The brass writing seems well done. I DO question the wisdom of the glisses in the horns. The interval is a bit short to get a good glissando effect from the horns. Remember that they are glissing across the overtone series. It's not a "real" glissando as you would get from a trombone.
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