"Scherzo Ad Infinitum" for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano, in C, Opus 13

"Scherzo Ad Infinitum" for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano, in C, Opus 13 (Copyright: 2007, by M. Bulteau, a.k.a. Berlioz)

Yay!

After more than two months of no composing whatsoever, I give you my latest scherzo!

Composed yesterday, from 6 PM to 5 AM with only a stop for dinner.

Here is the mp3

Score is here!

The theme, for once, is excellent, and the harmonic progression unusual and interesting. I'm not sure if the clarinet gliss. is playable or not, check with someone who knows also, the clarinet might not sound too good in a real performance with the quick scales up there. The following passages, though, are fantastic: I love the progression leading the soft delicate part, and the following crescendo; reprise of the theme right on spot, and the following bars with the piano arpeggios are delightful. c. 2:25 the sound is somewhat mozartean, though hardly out of place.

Overall, there is a slight lack of form, but I'm not disturbed by it all; every part flows into the next one, and the ad infinitum feel is always there. at c. 4:30 I'm not totally sure if the bassoon will sound as delicate in performance, maybe it'll just take a good player. The scale at around 5:10 didn't sound the most effective to me, and I didn't feel the build up towards the end worked so well, but overall it's definitely a very entertaining and enjoyable piece.

Really, I had a large review and a huge stack of things I wanted to say, however I looked back at Tomas's post, and it was all the same stuff. So, I won't give any examples except I want to reiterate one thing: I am not sure either if in performance it would sound as delicate and light in general as the Finale makes it. Those high passages for the clarinet make for some heavy breathing, and you cannot count on her/him to always play it delicate and soft. I believe it is possible, not practical.

The Bassoon part is HARD, and I like it! You have made a very fun piece that I enjoyed listening to, more composing! MORE!!! lol.

-Mori-

Nice work! Your score needs a lot of attention. My first advice would be to drop the key signatures altogether, OR spend a good deal of time improving the readability of the score.

Some of the passages are made to look ten times harder than they actually are because you used an ass-backward voicing. For example: m.146-147 in the Clarinet, you have arpeggiated eighth notes E, Ab, B, E, Ab, E, B, Ab... basically an Emajor arpeggio. Why did you use Ab instead of G#? Because it's in the key signature? If you're going to go outside a key like that, keep the entire "outside" part in the "outside" key signature.

Another example: m.143-145 piano. The chords are spelled very obtusely. G, Cb, D - why not just write the Gmajor chord... G B D??? G C Fb - why not a Cmajor chord G C E? The inverted D major chord spelled as Gb A D?? Your misspellings make this very difficult to read. Another example: m.27 bassoon. F# Db Bb Db F# Bb F# Bb. It's obviously a Gb major arpeggio... why mix flats and sharps and confuse the bassoonist while also visually concealing the underlying harmony? Use Gb.

There are a ton of (what I consider to be) errors like this throughout the score. You definitely need to fix that aspect of the piece. The misspellings are maddening.

The clarinet part is completely playable (except the glissandi) and is not particularly difficult to play though it's very difficult to read. Be advised that downward glissandi are not playable (theoretically, maybe, practically, no.). If you're wanting a measured glissando, write out the notes and rhythm. A "smear" glissando will not work in this instance. Smears are only effective moving upward on the clarinet, and above the break (i.e., written B-natural above middle C).

Some notational issues (not including collisions, etc. in the score):
1. Don't use dotted rests in duple time. Only appropriate in treble time.
2. Don't beam three eighth notes together unless they are triplets. (personal opinion)
3. Don't use mordents or gruppetti, just write the damn notes out. Trust me, it saves rehearsal and practice time and is less confusing.

Again, I like the piece, but you have some work to do before you should consider it finished. Please take this constructive criticism in the light in which it was given.

Great job!

Thanks for the three comments so far! And yes, flint, I know what you mean, I'm correcting the score as we speak. xD

I've removed the mordents, written the notes, and I've let it all in C major. I only changed keys because the mordents wouldn't work in half-tones. (just a matter of sound, I take special attention to scores when they're really meant to be played, which hasn't really happened yet, so... )

I'm changing the score, but it is not totally according to your specifications yet (dots and beaming...), it's just a guideline for now.

Thanks.

Very enjoyable; certainly good work for one night!
I think it would help your music immensely if you weaned yourself off Alberti bass, and found more original ways of keeping the movement going. (the rest of your style is very original, why not the accompaniment figures too?)

Two small details: your dynamics are too excessive (on the loud scale of things).
You use forte for passage that need to be played piano (and which come across that way) - and you use ffff!
An ffff orchestra would sink a battleship - you need to scale things down. ff is a sensible upper limit (especially for chamber music), and for that special 'battleship' moment, you can use fff. Then all the pp signs etc. make more sense.
The other thing: perhaps a result of hasty work, but you had a D flat, then a D natural moving in an upwards scale at one point... better to rewrite this as C # and D natural. Fewer accidentals, and makes more sense in your upwards-leading passage which was in C at the time, I think.

Other than those points, rather enjoyable.

Oh, nevermind the exagerated dynamics, it's just because of the finale recording. As I told flint, the score there is but a guideline for now. If this piece would be actually played, I'd obviously have to rewrite the dynamics. It's just that finale sounds very low, and when I want the piano chord to be struck at forte, or fortissimo, only ffff gets to the sound I make.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Berlioz

Oh, nevermind the exagerated dynamics, it's just because of the finale recording. As I told flint, the score there is but a guideline for now. If this piece would be actually played, I'd obviously have to rewrite the dynamics. It's just that finale sounds very low, and when I want the piano chord to be struck at forte, or fortissimo, only ffff gets to the sound I make.

Thanks!

Is there no possibility to adjust the velocity and still keep the same dynamic?

You think I'm gonna have all that work?

I'll just change the dynamics for the actual printed score when and if this piece is to be recorded at any time...

Aside from score problems, I really enjoyed this piece. I like the melodies and harmonies, especially the wacky key changes that pop up. As a whole, it's a bit repetitive, I think the main theme comes back too often. Maybe you could replace some repetitions of the main theme with an additional theme? Maybe contrasting.

Good piece!