Op.21 Striech Quartett Nr.5 ein E Durr

Hi,

Just thought I'd submiit my smallest chamber composition ever ..... bundle of Joy .... It's my only " Happy " Piece titled " Christmas ". I'm sure you can picture Vienna when you hear it. Hey Matusleo (User name) What a coincidence my 2nd Quartet is in A Minor too. But anyway ....... It consists of 3 movements ....... composed over 3 days a week before christmas 2004 ...Here it Is Mein Streich Quartett Nr.5 ein E Durr

Would love a lot of reviews.

Thanks

Akhil G.

Originally posted by Maestro Akhil Gardner@Nov 5 2005, 04:54 PM
[b]
Would love a lot of reviews.

Well. At this stage I'd appreciate even 1 review.

Thanks

Akhil G.

1st mov. the very beginning is strange, those thrills at 0:08 are too much strange and strident, sounding very unpleasantly dissonant. but then you start a delightful fast movement full of vivacity and with wonderful writting for strings. loved! just the the coda could be a bit more impactant after this so rich and resounding movement.

2nd mov. fine cantilena with great pizziccati. the fast section is surprising and wonderful, but its purpose is a bit puzzling, regarding the return of the slow pace afterwards... it seems that that little storm has caused no effect on the general mood, because after it all is the same as it was in the beginning. that is a bit uncoherent. the ending is very unneffective too. suddenly all vanishes without any reason or logic! for me it is missing here a real coda.

3rd mov. i am not sure, but all it seems wandering without direction, and all usually floats in the high regions, which sounds too much strident. there are delightful sections starting at 0:54, 1:14, 1:57, 2:22, and 3:34, but its ending is too much sudden and unreasonable too..... sorry, this movement seem to be needing great rework in order to create a more unifyed and coherent whole. the textures are also too much similar along all the piece, and these aspects deprives it of a greater interest.

anyway, in overall it is an impressive quartet, with many wonderful sections and striking writting for strings. maybe the midi sonority spoils some of its beauties, but i guess that it would deserve more than 3 days of work to become a fully accomplished artwork. its material is too much rich to be left as the mere outburst of many lovely ideas without a serious and thoroughful attention and development. the first movement is nearly perfect, but the remaining 2 ones need a better treatment.

best regards and keep working!!!

Hi Frantz,

Comments appreciated. I will have another look at the quartet and decided whether I should leave it as is or rework some of the sections. But your feedback was quite detailed and well appreciated.

Thanks

Akhil G.

hi Maestro! yes, all criticism should be looked at as you have taken this one - just suggestions from outside. only the author has the right of deciding what must be changed or kept - because the work is the fruit of your own soul. many works in history have faced harsh criticism just to be looked later as masterpieces. so, good luck and keep up your lovely works.

Mvt I - You do seem to love Sonata-allegro form I notice. While the intros to your piano sonata worked, this one doesn't. It just seems to build to nothing and is overly dissonant to no end. The themes you have in this piece are all very enjoyable, and on the whole, I had a delightful romp here. The development section was sufficiently interesting both harmonically and emotionally.

Mvt II - This was very nice and quite lovely, though you used some dissonance throughout the piece that seemed to mar the beauty of it, as it didn't seem to serve any purpose. The short fast paced section started out being very interesting, but it just dwindled out of existence. I felt cheated by that. And the ending was uninteresting, it just sort of dies out. Is that what you meant to do here?

Mvt III - I must confess that I did not particularly enjoy the A material. The constant trilling kind of annoyed me for some reason. If elt it was overdone. The B material was lovely and I whs you had used more of it! The ending was quite unfulfilling to me though. I think there could have been far more done with this.

You have a great first movement, but it is saddled by two other movements of lesser quality.

Hi Matusleo,

Thanks for your Critique. As I mentioned earlier, I don't like revisiting works once they're completed, so unfortunately this quartet may be in ruin, but I'll make sure the next is'nt.

Thanks

Akhil G.