My Composition First (Brass Quintet) (Please Critique)

For a first piece, this has a lot going for it -there's lots of sustained energy - and interesting harmonies considering that it is entirely written in one key (I only listened once but I can't remember anything but diatonic writing). There are only a few awkward moments as far as voice leading is concerned. I'm not anything of an expert on horns but I wonder that the 16th note articulations for tuba might be very difficult. My reasoning is that lower notes take more time to develop.

Good work.

Not bad at all!

I felt that there were a few places where it felt a little unorganized, and the harmony at places seems like it could have been just a little more varied.

But other than that, a terrific first piece



DK

Um, the horn part is virtually unplayable. It's almost entirely in the extreme upper register of the horn range. As a general rule, it's best to stay below about one octave above middle C - you can go higher, but not for longer than a measure or two at a time.

Also, you really need to give all members of the quintet some more rests. Brass players, unlike string players or pianists, need to breathe, and also need to give their lips a rest once in a while!

Thank you all for the wonderful advices.

Heshi,

Daniel

Sweet; a composition for Brass! I'd first like to say that I like the ideas that you have going here.

There are, however, some range issues. Nothing you have written is out of playable range, but it would take a very experianced player to jump around so many different registers of the horn within the same measure at that tempo. I'd hate to see the look on the trombone guy's face if you were to hand him this piece; no ideal place for a breath either.

You expect an extensive range on the french horn too, I see. You don't go out of range here either, but you could say that there is no real range limit with a french horn- just a range at which expecting someone to play it with a good sound is impractical. Playing so many running notes that high on a standard double F/Eb horn is also a challenge because your open intervals are so close together (you can essentially play all the notes in high registers like that without fingerings).

The Tuba part gets rather high for a tuba, too. that top line A in Bass clef is equivelent to a B above the staff for a french horn in treble clef. and then later in the piece you go all the way down to a pedel F!

Overall, it would probably be a good idea to rewrite it for a larger ensemble or spreading the parts out a bit better so that the range is not as impractical and sparatic. I wasn't too fond of the repetative trumpet section of the piece, but it's your piece. Anyhow, write more for brass!

Thanks Dante.

Yeah, my brother pointed the same issues, he said the Tuba and Trombone runs were a bit much, and a little high. I agree with what you said about the repetative trumpet parts. My bro also mentioned that the F-Horn part is not bad, it's just sightly out of F-Horn comfort range. But, I wrote it very quickly, (like in half an hour) and I didn't do any editing afterwards, so maybe I'll do some editing.

For some reason, I really like the sound of a great brass quintet... i.e. Canadian Brass, Empire Brass Quintet, so I want to continue writing these kinds of pieces. Of course eventually, I want to start working on larger ensemble pieces too. But thanks for the tips.

Have a blessed day friends.

Heshi,

Daniel

Nice nice. I like the overall sound of this, except at the end, the French Horn playing that A like that sounds. But the trumpets would be fine if they could be a little lower.

I LOVE measure 8. There is something about it that sounds so cool. I love it.

I have to say you work well with brass. All the technical problems here and there were already mentioned, like breathing and the French Horn part. Your trombone part doesn't go high, high. But no trombonist would be able to bend their arms at those speeds.

It does sound a bit random at those times where you pause and play a big long chord (which sounds great on brass) and then it speeds up, then stops, then speeds up then stops, but I suppose it makes sense, this being your first piece and all. TO be honest, most people's first compisitions do that and thats fine.

So, up until about 21, this is a great piece, after, I dunno, but the French Horn stick out way too much there.

Awesome first piece!!

Mitchell.

Thank you Mitchell for the nice comments.