Piano Quartet #1

Hey all, I have finished my Piano Quartet, and am back to share it all with you:

Over the past couple of months I have been trying to put this piece together for my friend's b-day, however... I have found something else he will like better beside my music and I am getting THAT for him instead. So, now I have this lovely piece and nothing to do with it... so what do I do, I take it and make a second movement, much longer and slower. Making a nice addition to the once Piano Sonata (of sorts...), now a Piano Quartet.

This piece, in RagtimeMax's words: "the beginning [is] in whole tones, a nice lead in for the gentle flute melody. The piece really builds volume with the addition of clarinet, and then the sudden stops are a nice contrast from constant melodic counterpoint activity. The atonality of it all is quite nicely done... After some fast transitions, you introduce a piano background of sustained chords over a slow violin melody, which is effective. Then after another transitional phrase, we have some nicely done raggy ideas with oohm-pah figures in piano and a nice single-note syncopated melody line."

And, then, the piece is finished out with a HUGE finale that I worked on for a while and debated how I wanted the piece to end... However, I told myself that it shouldn't matter as much as the effectiveness of the ending in the second movement.

There are some recording problems, the music is MUCH to non-expressive (as it is a computer, or course). But, ESPECIALLY for the second movement, as is most of my music, it sounds SOOOOOOO much better live. And, this is the first piece I have written I want to really be recorded live. I think this piece has a lot of Jazz influence... but isn't Jazz... if that makes sense. It is a very modern piece, and Yes I KNOW it isn't atonal. It VERY VERY much has a tonal center... in fact more than some of my other pieces.

NOTE: in the second movement, around 3:25 to 3:55... is a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. I use a chord structure and melody from Trouble in Tahiti. And, it is marked in the score. I am posting links to the MP3s and the Score. I am sorry, but the Finale just doesn't cut it for this piece... it sounds bad enough with GPO. I have a vision for this piece, I just can't get it in a recording. haha.

Note numero DOS: Also, the dynamics in the First Movement... were put in after the reocrdings... so just pretend they are there. Oh yeah... and the coincidence that both of each movement is 24 pages long... is a coincidence... (...).

OK, SO I CANNOT UPLOAD THE MP3s... for some reason... blah. So, here are the finale files. Use GPO if you have it. Patches are all there.

Thanks,
~Mori~

8 Days... sorry guys, just trying to be helpful for myself, criticism might be nice. I have updated things since last time some of you may have heard it just in the recording and things.

WHOOPS... I also noticed the download sites... suck. Let me FIX that.

First piece: I found it to be quite interesting, but one thing detracted from my enjoyment of it and that was the fact that it seemed to constantly transition from parts where you knew what you were doing to sections where you were just sort of meandering along for the sake of it. That cute jumpy section around pg.15 was easily my favourite part of it - adorable! You returned to that feel as you went on and that was nice. Overall, the end half of the piece was better than the first. The end phrase was a little unsatisfying, but not too bad. It lacked a certain cohesion and sense of development, but that sort of schizophrenic style may have been your intent, I don't know.

Part two: You seem to love thick harmonies The piano intro is very moody, I love the feel you got going with it. The only thing that annoyed me was the unisons in the woodwinds...you really gave up an opportunity for some great harmonies. Some sections reminded me somewhat of Rhapsody in Blue, but not too much; just sort of the same vibes. I liked the return to the piano intro, gave the piece a sense of overarching structure. The chords at m.104 are very powerful, I liked them. The part from m.111 to the end was the best, very nicely done.

I'll get around to the second movement later, but my thoughts on the first movement:

I agree largely with what Marius said - while many sections of the movement are interesting, it has a distinct "assemblage of parts" feel. The music seems purposeful at times (very good use of rhythmic drive, especially measures 144 through 154), aimless at others (and I thought the cadenza-like bits for the violin seemed especially aimless)... perhaps the entire movement could be helped by changes in some of the transitions. Not all of them - some were extremely effective, such as in measure 164 - but others could use work.

I think one effect that gets overused in the movement is the long sustained chord as a means of moving from one section to another. It seems to me like the intent is to bring the music briefly to rest, but the impression I get is more like a grinding halt than a pause for breath.

I disagree with Marius on one point: I thought the "oom-pah" effect in the piano, measures 97-118 and 136-143, didn't quite belong. It's a bit off-putting to hear what I usually think of as a rhythmic cliche, in the middle of a movement that clearly has more modern sensibilities, and I'm not sure what it added to the piece.

Well, I must say, I enjoyed the first movement very much! Sure it had it's problems, as Marius and Caltech pointed out, (I especially agree with Caltech in that you do use a long sustained chord as a transition far too much...) but I loved it. I especially loved the part starting at measure 58, I thought it was absolutely awesome! I also liked the oom pah bits.

However I didn't like the second movement so much... It got kind of boring. And I really didn't like the fact that you copied some parts from the first movement, just in a new key... You could have changed them a bit.

But overall, a great work! And your right, GPO doesn't really do it justice...

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MR. MORIVOU

Thx a lot! Now, you would you listen to my duet for Piano and Flute, perhaps?