Symphony #2, first movement - March

Symphony #2 - Movement I - March

I started this piece about 1.5 years ago and have worked with it off and on since then. It's complete in this form, but I am actually going to re-work a bit of it, inserting a contrasting section at measure 124, just to break up the repetition. I'll post that as well when it's complete. This movement is 7'15" and is the first of a five movement suite. The score (.pdf file) is 2MB and the mp3 file is 7MB.

The instrumentation is:
Piccolo
1st Flute (2) (doubling Alto Flute in G)
2nd Flute (2) (doubling Alto Flute in G)
1st Oboe
2nd Oboe
English Horn
1st Bassoon
2nd Bassoon
Eb Clarinet
1st Bb Clarinets (4)
2nd Bb Clarinets (4)
3rd Bb Clarinets (4)
Eb Alto Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet
EEb Contra-alto Clarinet
BBb Contrabass Clarinet
1st Eb Alto Saxophone (doubling Bb Soprano Saxophone)
2nd Eb Alto Saxophone
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
1st Bb Trumpets (2)
2nd Bb Trumpets (2)
3rd Bb Trumpets (2)
1st Horn in F
2nd Horn in F
3rd Horn in F
4th Horn in F
1st Trombones (2)
2nd Trombones (2)
3rd Trombones (2)
Euphoniums (2)
Tubas (3)
Harp
Timpani
Percussion (6)
SSAATTBB Chorus with Tenor and Bass-Baritone solo


1. Techniques used - There is a lot of quartal/quintal harmony in this piece, and I use extended sections where the harmony is in non-resolving suspended chords. I wanted the piece to be "on edge" and tried to stay out of defined tonality by using pedal points.

2. How long it took to compose the piece – I've been working on this off and on for about 1.5 years.

3. Structure of your piece – There is a long-ish prelude with fanfares in the brass moving towards the tutti main theme. The piece picks up tempo and moves from 2/4 to 6/8 for development. The excitement builds, climaxes, and then fades to a slithering flute/harp duet, builds slightly, then moves to a mournful double reed soli. A closely intertwined saxophone duet fades to a harp solo. Form would be Prelude-A-B-A-A-C. I'm currently re-writing this movement, adding a section between the two A's (Prelude-A-B-A-C-A-D).

4. Obstacles when composing - keeping momentum in composing and keeping the music driving, moving forward.

5. Summary of overall piece – dramatic and driving with an unsettled tonality, transitioning towards a mysterioso end. Since this is just the first movement, it does not have an end per se, but transitions to the second movement.

I really like the use of harmony! Also the tuba solo is very intriguing. Way to use uncommon solo instruments. I appreciate this, being a bassoonist.

I'm glad to see you posted this over here. Hopefully more will get to hear it here.

Originally Posted by rolifer

I'm glad to see you posted this over here. Hopefully more will get to hear it here.

I thought it was more appropriate in a "large ensemble" forum. Hopefully there aren't any rules being trampled by cross-posting... I'll take the lashes if there are, of course.

Greets, David! Nice meeting you through your music! I liked what you did with this piece...the harmonic textures were colorfully drawn, the instrumentation was top notch! The transitions between themes were very acceptable for me and the themes had a feeling of agony and anticipation, which I liked very much!

Kudos, from me!

Thank you for your kind words, Manossg! I admit I was worried that not having the unpitched percussion on the mp3 file would cause issues. (Frankly, I feel my time is better spent working on new music than dickering about with a Percussion map in Finale...)

mgrafe - bassoooon!!
My ultimate goal when writing is to make every part interesting. I tend to think of my works as "chamber music" for band... where everyone plays an important and individual role. So, why not write some interesting solos?

Besides, if you don't challenge everyone, they'll get bored, and that boredom comes through when they play.

Very nice, the fanfare was awesome.

After the fanfare you develop a bit of Sci-fi movie feel.

The end creates expectation, a perfect setup for movement 2.

Well done.

Thanks Paginani! I definitely tried to make this movement wind down and prepare the next movement (Agitato).

Hopefully I can get that posted within the next few weeks...

Wow... I'm glad you asked me the question about the tuba solo, otherwise I would never have noticed this piece. I symphony for concert band/wind ensemble... I had the idea myself, but I don't have enough composing skills to back it up yet. My first symphony will probably be for concert band though... I am not fond of strings, I personally feel that a wind ensemble can express much more. Speaking of that tuba solo at the beginning, I don't think it is that necessary to write two staves for the tubas on page two, I've played tuba in band music where the tuba had a solo line and the section piped up underneath all on one staff, and with more stuff going on than what you have here, so writing too staves isn't entirely necessary, I would say you have the choice.

Your knowledge of instruments really shines here, if I didn't play clarinet, I would probably deem the parts impossible just looking at them. This work of yours shows that people who play the many instruments tend to write more challenging parts for them, while still considering them for playability. As a fellow multi-instrumentalist, I give you a high-five.

There was a small part where I thought it was losing focus, but I won't bother mentioning it since it was only an initial response and you picked up the interesting almost moments later. So good job on that, this piece did hold my interest. I would suggest featuring the oboes more in future movements, you haven't really given their section much of a spotlight yet like you have the other sections. In fact, I don't even remember hearing them anywhere. Mmmm.... I can't wait to hear the soprano sax.

Thank you for separating the horns and saxes, I see way too much wind music where the horns and saxes either share the same part, or the saxes get the interesting parts and the horns, though incapable, are given the boring parts. You showed a lot of balance between the sections, and that really separates the men from the boys.

OOoohhh..... alto flute. I'm liking this....

An agitato next? I would have expected something quite the opposite. Is that your intention?

Congrats on this wonderful piece of music so far, I can't wait to hear the follow-up movements.

I very muched enjoyed everything about your work. You mentioned that an obstacle for you was keeping up the energy and drive to keep it moving forward. I think you did a good job in conquering that issue because you really can't tell that there was an issue with drive and energy. I enjoyed your use of the low woodwinds very much.

The form is also very clear and the piece is very well tailored and edited. I really couldn't tell I was listening for as long as I was.

I thought the Tuba writing was wonderful as well. I have not come across much good or exciting Tuba writing in a long time.

I enjoyed this a lot. Looking forward to hearing more.