Trio

Some of you may remember a little while ago i posted a frantic thread asking for ideas for composing for an Accordion, Euphonium and a Saxophone. Well, thankfully, i have finally finished my composition and am ready to show it to the world!

This is part of my composition portfolio for my final year Composition module on my music degree. It had to be in a contemporary style, and believe me, this is more contemporary than anything i have ever written (i tend to stick to baroque-esque pieces!

Please let me know what you think!

Come on people, please let me know what you think! I worked so hard on this awkward combination of instruments, it would be great to get a bit of feedback!

Still no takers? OK – I'll step forward ... but first a question: have you submitted the piece yet or is the deadline some time away?

jada

That doesn't sound promising haha! No i haven't submitted it, i have till the end of April.

Good

More Q's – is this piece to be submitted as: (a) the score left at a desk and date-stamped? (b) you get talk about the piece to a jury? (c) the piece is performed to the jury? [Does "jury" sound overly judicial?]

I'm assuming that since this is part of a final-year effort, it'll be scritinised fairly closely. True? Is it a big percentage of this subject's mark? How's this subject going in general terms?

jada

Ok, so now your questions really are worrying me. The subject is going well, i have done composition at uni for the last 2 years and have got two A's and an A-. This years work hasn't been marked as it is a portfolio, however my lecturer has seen the first two sections of this piece, and said it is going well.

I have to submit a write up with all my compositions, and may be picked to do a short presentation on them too.

Marking wise, the whole years mark is based on a three piece portfolio. The first piece was a contemporary piece for 4 vocalists at uni, this one is for the three non vocalists on the performance course, and the final is a piece i have chosen to write with a local secondary school.

It is obvious that you are going to slaughter this piece, so please just get to it!

I like what you've done here. You've responded to the awkward ensemble constraints with music that gives the impression of being slightly uncomfortable with itself, but I like that!

Score-wise, I believe it's standard practice to display staves for all instruments on the opening system. Also, have a look through and fix the various colliding elements (nothing is colliding in a big way, thankfully). In addition to that, you appear to have mixed up the fonts used for dynamics - compared bars 38 and 39. Then go through and find the spots where the rests have gone wrong slightly, e.g. sax in bar 46.

Musically, there isn't really much to give feedback on, as it works quite well overall. All I would suggest if pressed for criticism is to consider using a few more punchy cluster chords to break up the flow now and then (in the same vein as the last quaver of bar 39).

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Mike, I'm really happy with how you described the piece: "I like what you've done here. You've responded to the awkward ensemble constraints with music that gives the impression of being slightly uncomfortable with itself, but I like that!" < Thats pretty much what i was going for!!

I haven't as yet tidied up the score, this is very much as it was as i went along. Sibelius is awkward with dynamics, using different fonts for everything! I'll change them all later on.

I see your point with the cluster chords, i will have a look into this.

Thanks for your helpful comments

What struck me when I first heard this piece was how filmic it seemed.

There was a BBC (?) miniseries shown in Australia a year or two ago: Vanity Fair (after the novel by Thackeray). Unusually for a costume drama, the music was along the lines of bent-classical-meets-brass-band ... all sorts of "wrong notes" and looseness in the playing ... and to me (fwiw) it worked a treat! Your piece made me think of a not-dissimilar take on a fairground or 1950's seaside resort. Possibly faded and seedy and oddball. Maybe about someone getting lost in a mirror maze, where everything is distorted and surreal. Instead of a "nice" trio of violin, cello and piano (say), you've used three "less-nice" instruments: sax, euphonium and accordion. (I can see those flames heading my way...!!)

Daydreaming further ... I thought that this piece might present (and gain marks) more effectively if it were part of a submission relating to film – even if it were to be presented in conjunction with a storyboard or whatever ... ergo: a viva voce might work in your favour over just leaving the work "uninterpreted" at the front desk or wherever.


Back to the nitty gritty – there seem to be notational issues which might be down to the software I'm using to read your score. (Mac X 10.4.11; Sibelius 5 demo – and I'm anything but a power user!) Is this score close to the version you'll be submitting, or just a sketch? (If it's just a sketch, all of the following will be redundant, but here are some points nevertheless...)

• the eupho seems to be notated in concert pitch, 8va, treble clef. For a concert-pitch score, would the eupho be better at sounding pitch, bass clef?

• the whole accidental situation looks a bit iffy. Some passages have a mixture of sharps and flats where either all sharps or all flats might read better. (Eg: opening sax phrase.)

• some accidentals seem to be repeated within given bars for no apparent reason. (Acc bar 26, bar 89, but numerous instances.)

• ditto occasional odd placings of accents and staccato marks.

• is the altissimo register OK by your sax player? OK by the examiner? (...so you don't get marked down for writing above written F or F# or whatever.)

• various quaver and/or semiquaver groupings look a bit sus. Some examiners will be fine about it; others might get stroppy! (Acc LH bars 14 & 16; 17-20; RH bar 41, 87, 88 ...)


None of these factors need be a huge problem – it's just that, if the examiner got out of the wrong side of bed that morning, it could make a difference in the marks you get.

No slaughtering!! Thanks for posting it – interested to see how it all goes!


jada


[stop press – just saw your posting of a couple of minutes ago: I haven't as yet tidied up the score – which obviates many of my comments. Hope it all goes well!]

I can't take credit for the use of "less nice instruments" as i had to use these!

You are right about the score. I haven't sat and gone through it as yet, this is just as it was as a wrote it. I will need to spend alot of time on this, as apparently the external examiner is very keen on perfect scores, as he should be!

The mix of sharps and flats were for my own use really, as i used a mix of scales, such as whole tone and Neapolitan minor, hungarian minor etc etc, and i had these on another sibelius document, as was following the sharps and flats on there as a point of reference. I will take a look at those later and make the score more coherent.

I was asked to push the players abilities, so yeah the sax register should be fine! That said, all the players have seen sections of this piece, and are moaning at the "difficult" rhythms they have to play. I say 'tough' , i was told to push you, haha!

I will have to give in a write up along with the submission, so i will be able to sell the piece there!!

Thanks so much for your helpful comments, i will take them on board and tidy up my messy score! I am happy that the music itself is well received.