Sonate for keyboard C Major

Sonate for harpsichord in a mix of Baroque and Classical.
I dont use finale or sibelus so there are some bugs in the finale file, when i play 32rd notes the midi bugs when converting to finale file. the most damaged file is the andante : MySpace.com - SimenN - NO - Classical / Classical - www.myspace.com/simenn for mp3 file of Andante, (on the list. name is sonate for keyboard).


Sinfonia I C Major :
I Sinfonia C Major.mid
Andante II A Minor :
II Andante A Minor.mid
Prelude III E Major :
III Prelude E Major.MID
Fugue IV C Major :
IV Fugue C Major.mid
Prelude V D Major :
V Prelude D Major.mid

I know i dont follow the fugal rules, but its not a traditional fugue
Hope you like it!

Just to get the ball rolling, I'll make a few comments.

I am not convinced by the 2-part writing through-out. This is, considering it is basically "neo baroque" (or "pseudo", since it's really just baroque, there's nothing "new" about it) a suite, and not a sonata.

Just a few minor quibbles: a prelude starts a piece. It does not end with a prelude. And unless something is a set of preludes, there's no reason for two preludes within the same suite/sonata.

The fugue is not, as you noticed, really a fugue. That's ok. It's a good try. Practice does make perfect.

I think that now you need to be working on writing not so much from what your ear tells you should come next as from a more intellectualized conception of where you are going. My overall sense is that this is through-composed music, without a real plan to it.

Even as simili-baroque music, it has a same-ness that is a bit tiring to the ear. It would help a great deal if you varied your textures more. Move away from the 2-part writing, into more complex material.

Also a better sense of how the harmony leads from one place to another will bring more interest to your music. Understanding, for example, how to modulate clearly from a tonic to a dominant or subdominant areas, how to establish firm new tonal regions, using borrowed chords,etc..

I think you will tremendously enjoy studying counterpoint as well. Your music could use some greater facility with non-chord tones (appogiatura, suspensions, etc...).

This is still a large piece of music. But I would like to know that the next piece you write is also a large step forward in your understanding of counterpoint and harmony.

Hi SimenN.

What can I say. This piece exhibits the same quality of music that I expect from you. The style isn't exactly baroqe or classical, which I understand is what you were shooting for.
Around 2:10 and 3:50 of the first movement I felt that your piece wasn't as strong as the rest of the piece.
I really enjoyed the second movement. It didn't feel like an andante per se, but it kept my interest through the whole work. This quality work.
What can I say... the third mov was quality too.
Fugue: I noticed you used some chromaticism. Nice touch. It really didn't fully fit the fugue category though because there wasn't really a "chase" per se after :47. Harmonically, this is the most daring I have heard so far.
Prelude: Probably the tamest movement out of all five and seemed anticlimactic in comparison to the first movement.

Overall: There was a LOT of the baroque style phrasing (rythym, then up a step, then up another step)... you know... the triple repetition phrases...? There wasn't much... emotional basis on this piece. It seemed purely technical to me... but that is just my opinion. Regardless... I enjoyed it thoroughly and I strongly feel that you should enter a competition of some sorts with this piece. You are a very good composer who just hasn't recieved any of the attention you deserve yet. Keep working! I liked it

Thank you for you reply QcC! its true what you say about the planing, there is not a plan in the work, the only think i had in mind was to compose lyrical music that would be enjoyed, a nice melody ect, im not so sure about the musical forms as suite etc, yes i realy want to learn more counterpoint, i am obesed with writing to part music, i think its realy fun. what i realy want to learn is a good way to change keys, like you said form tonic to dominant ect. if you have some examples, id realy apriciate it. thanks for taking time to review my music, you have been a great help to me lately, so thanks QcC

Thanks you for your post! I agree with you in much of what you are saying, there are some movment im happy with and some i dont like as much! they are the same as you pointed out! Thanks for the good confidence!

A fun piece, Simen!

As Michel (QC) mentioned, the 2-part harmony throughout was done rather well for the most part, but it became uninteresting. Some of the chords in the sinfonia kind of caught me by surprise. Thick chords on a harpsichord are not a good idea, nor can harpsichords make accents or anything like you seem to have written in. The Andante is rather nice, again the 2-part harmony is ok, and your harmony is ok, but it's not great. I think you would benefit from reading Fux's "The Study of Counterpoint" or another book on counterpoint. I feel like you have a "feeling" for what is "should" sound like but...aren't quite there yet. The middle "prelude" was fun, exciting, to-the-point. I thought a little more could be developed though, perhaps a bit more adventurousness in the department of direction. Meaning, go somewhere with it, do something with it, give it a goal and take it there, really drive it home. Although its a baroque piece, even Bach experimented with, and succeeded in very exciting climaxes in his works (it's interesting to note that a lot of his climaxes were written near the 5/8 mark...which is a rounded version of the number phi, or "the golden ratio"...but thats for a different time). As Michel said to solve the "prelude" issue, perhaps call the last one a "postlude" and the middle one an intermezzo or perhaps scherzetto. The endings I thought were weakly done also, you have some vivid movement and yet you end your pieces with big clunking chords. Why not end them in such a manner as the rest of the piece? It is important to have, if not, a pre-determined ending (e.g. the "goal" i was talking about earlier), then it is important in non-programmatical music, such as the baroque, to have a characteristic ending. I feel like a few I-V chords aren't an effective way to end movements or pieces at all, unless you're a mediocre 18th-century composer who lives in a box , which you're not.

Overall, I think you have quite a good start here. Again, as Michel said, practice makes perfect, and from what other pieces I've listened to of yours here you seem to be making progress . Again, check out some books, study up a bit, see what you can learn. Experiment, test, and keep writing. Good job!

Nico

Thanks for the reply Nico! i will work on what you said! Im glad you liked some of it