Toccata

While this is a serious piece in its own right, it is also a kind of pastiche of romanticism, and it is ultimately quite light in spirit. I was interested in highlighting some of the things I dislike about being a pianist, particularly the "cult" of Pianism, exemplified by late 19th and 20th century romantic excess. I also was interested in seeing how much I could do with not very much (thematic) material, and the material I did use being a bit dull or limited.

But whatever it is, it's really a piece of fun mock seriousness, and mock neo-romanticism.

L.

This is an interesting piece. While the melodies are good, I find it hard to believe that people will be able to play it that fast. Maybe it is just the way Midi comes off, but I think it is too fast..... Or Maybe it is just me.

I'm not sure whether you really hit the nail on the head or not with the tone of the piece.

I thought it was far too interesting to be a merely "mock" romanticism.

Come to think of it, it reminded me more of a Debussy étude, or a Prokoviev toccata.

If you're being self deprecating looking for compliments, there's really no need. This is a fine piece.

The tempo, as has been mentionned, is probably a bit too high, though not by much. I was able to muddle through the faster parts at the full speed of your midi file. It didn't necessarily SOUND good, but it was playable.

My one issue is with the ending. It felt to me as though it should have ended a little bit sooner. The repeat of the initial material at the end was once too many, to my ear and eye.

Score is strange in a few spots. I don't see any real justification for using three staves. It would work just as well simply on two.

Do be careful about your cautionary accidentals. There are quite a few defective/erroneous ones.

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah the midi file is a bit crap, I just listened to it now (didn't listen to it before putting it up).

Re: ending - Oh I think the whole thing is a bit excessive, don't you? Not just the ending. The ending comes too late because of the excessive recapitulation, which to me suits the spirit of the piece. I mean, it's not a head on pastiche, but it's not serious. Although it's nice to be compared to Debussy, he had far more finesse, the phrasing here is instead deliberately clumsy and sometimes lopsided. Whether that comes out I dont know.

The three staves problem bugged my composition teacher as well. Basically the way I thought of it was a way of separating out the decorative figure and the main figure. The top line would always be decorating a melody, but slowly the two figures become merged and come together for the wall of sound at the end of the middle section. The three staves remain to show where both things have come from. The other reason was a bit of a dig at Debussy's second book of Etudes, which are all written on three staves, when most could quite comfortably fit onto two.

The cautionary accidentals aren't my decision, they're there to clear up false relation, and I think they're obvious, but this piece is for A-level and you have to show knowledge of false relation and all that, so they're there anyway. I don't think there are any "wrong ones", I just put, in D major, a C(#) when there's a C-natural in the LH, for example.

But anyway, I'm glad you liked it.

"I thought it was far too interesting to be a merely "mock" romanticism."
-- Can't it be both? The spirit of the piece is the latter, but it doesn't require the piece to be boring!

Cheers.

L.

impressive piece but not the least reminiscent of the romantic period, verges on modality and chromaticism a large majority of the time...i'll have to agree with Qc that this is more along the lines of Prokofiev

This is very bold and intriguing. The score is beautiful! (I notice that the page format is A4 - that's quite a lot of systems that can fit on one page).

Structurally it's reminiscent of the third movement of the Dukas sonata, I think. Your harmonies are interesting but I'd say not thoroughly convincing.
Bar 47 is a straight triad that sounds a bit out of place. Straight repetitions in bars 137-142 come so dangerously close to boring.

Are you planning on producing a sampled mock-up (or a live performance )? Obviously MIDI is lacking in depth, but even tempo changes (e.g. bars 9, 28, 96) don't materialize. I'm curious about your intended execution of the first measures (there is pedal indication without release mark). Also, why change key signature at the end?

I love it. You have put a lot of work into this. Yes, what QC said sounds right - a bit too fast...but its been mentioned a bit already. So meh. I love tocctas

well done.

I loved it. It really seemed like you put some time/effort into this (I haven't seen any of your others yet, hope to soon). I love the speed of it, but I don't think that it's realistic for one person to play. I've only put one post up so far myself, but I thought that piece was good.

Very very nice! Mwah! The middle piece is torment! I can play the first part, but the middle part is torment! Oh, why should amateurs bother virtuosi like us! (giggle!). Hahaha.

I am sure to practice this one soon!

What's the brief for this composition? If it's for an exam, I'd be wary of attempting to 'mock' Debussy or Prokofiev.