Fantasy for Cello and Piano

Just a little piece I had to write. Enjoy.
Any feedback would be nice.

There is a little tempo problem with the playback, it all of the sudden speeds up at the A tempo, you will see in the score, just ignore it.

I like it measure 69 on. Before that I don't get. Why did you write this section that way, it sorta sounded to me like an atonal mess... HOWEVER, after that, I heard some nice things about the piece that interested me. The end, in particular... that section at measure 141 on, I liked that a lot. But, other than that, I fail to the see the purpose of this piece; it certainly has movement, but it does not have purpose. It also seems mechanical and disjointed, fantasies must NOT be this way.

It has been my regard in my encounter with fantasies in that they have a certain idealism (especially in the romantic period), in that they always seem to have a flow, even though they are free-form. Not to say this in a bad way, but you seem to have put notes on the paper, not put music on paper. That is just my opinion, and don't get me wrong, it isn't bad... just VERY different. A lot of my work has this feel to and it is something I have been trying to work on for a long time.

-Mori-

I agree with parts of what you've said. I use the term fantasy loosey, its just a fun piece for cello and piano.
When I began this piece I wanted to be more daring and just try some things out. I wouldn't call it atonal exactly. I admit to myself it is VERY different from anything I've written, but I kind of like it. My teacher, cellists, a lot of people at my school have all responed very positivly to this piece. This is very wired to hear your comments. Im sorry that you do feel this is music, because I didn't just blindly put notes on the page, I really thought out the music. Thank you for your comments.

I guess some people have different opinions. But, you say you really thought out the music, honestly I don't see any form... could you tell me exactly what you did? Maybe I am just too dimwitted to see the genius as they say! lol.

Maybe I'm just completely missing what you were aiming for with this piece, or maybe I'm just not at all accustomed to this kind of stuff, but the beginning of it just sounds like a hot mess. I believe you when you say you really thought it out, but a lot of places it sounds like you just slamed your hand on the piano and wrote down the notes you hit for the accompaiment in the first section. Beyond that the piece is fine, really, very nice actually, but before that, I dunno. I'm sorry for this negative review; I think this is just a case of not-my-cup-of-tea. I have never liked atonal, so...yeah.

Well thanks for your comments, I am really shocked by what you all are saying. I guess is a case of whoes cup of tea. Im sorry that we cant see eye to eye on this. O well. One to his own i guess.

I would love to hear more comments.

I'm not sure the stuff around 30 is feasible on the cello...is it?
Also, the double stops from 53-55 seem a bit much. If the lower note were on an open string, then that might be okay. However, I'm not a string player, so I could be wrong.

My impression of the piece so far (I'm around 1:48) is that it moves forward without stop, but not in a clear way. This may be due to MIDI (I personally prefer the cello sound over the string section sound for chamber music, though I have friends who disagree with that.) Or it might be in the constant assault of notes. Or I might just be wrong.

Continuing on. Okay so the piece slows down a bit. Seems a bit rhythmically repetitive. Then again, might just be MIDI. Are you in any position to get your piece performed?

I like the change around 99. However, if this is a loud section, those pizz might not ring well, as they are higher. I believe on the cello the lower pizz ring better, the higher are thinner. Of course, that maybe what you want, I don't know. Just a thought. Also, string players are welcome to correct me, this is just as much a learning experience for you as me.
I think what bothers me is that everything is on the beat, pretty much. Even the offbeat stuff is just a continuation of the beat. Just a thought.

How old are you? Harmonically, I wasn't particularly bothered. I think your lack of conventional harmony would be balanced out better with rhythmic interest, which isn't always rhythmic movement either.

Thanks,
JWhitmarsh

Wow, a lot to take in. Well I have my school, tons of other music students and teachers, so Im trying to get one of the cello teachers to play through it.
I am 15.

Honestly, as a cellist, I would see no point in playing this piece. It is very sporadic (mainly the first part), the themes are not very strong and are scarcely reused, the slow section (dolce) seems to be written in about a minute for the cello part (i.e. it has almost no linear form past the first few bars and it in places sounds more like accompaniment to the similarly secondary piano part - which sounds very bland), many of the double stops are very abrupt and require much shifting at a quick tempo (though they are most certainly playable).

I may seem very mean in saying this but I think the piece is forced to the point where it is phonically disheveled and displeasing. The harmonic progression is absurd often jumping from key to key without any preparation - a significant no-no in terms of theory. It has oft been said "you must learn the rules before breaking them". At your young age, I would focus more on gathering a vast knowledge of what you can do right and appropriately then you can work into more avant-garde ideas. I have only recently started studying music theory in a intensive way but I have seen great improvement in my music since I started. I am not aware of your theory background but if it is limited, I strongly urge you to begin learning the rules and applying them now, you will find that writing music becomes more fluent and a lot better.

Sorry if my lecture and critique offends you, that is merely how I feel.

Thank you all.
This piece is dead.