Trumpet and Piano - Mvt. I

This is mvt. 1 of 4 (the 2nd is almost done) of a piece for trumpet and piano. There is some programmatic narrative (a little) behind the piece, but I don't think I need to explain it since the whole work isn't even finished yet. I thought I'd just post this. I apologize for the sloppy score, I know everything that's "wrong" with it, since there is still slop to clean up, so if you can abstain from, "Oh my god _________ is right on top of the staff" posts and just focus on the music itself, the score is plenty readable.

Anyway, the midi doesn't do this the most justice since you can't replicate most of the things I write on the midi properly. You get the gist though.


EDIT:

PROGRAM NOTES
Ausburg 1893 (on the life of Rudolf Diesel)

I (Slow) - A very serious loner of a child spends hours reading and studying, and is very interested in art.

II (Scherzo) - Moves to Ausburg with his uncle, begins studying at the Technische Hochshule of Munich when he is 20

III (Very fast) - Patented Diesel engine blueprint in 1892, but first experimental model was made in 1893. The first model exploded. Four years followed until he made a succesful model.

IV (Slow) - Later in his life, plagued with emotional issues (suffering a mental breakdown) and fearing that the German army would steal his ideas for use in war machines. Died in 1913, death is a mystery. Some believe he committed suicide, others including his family believe he was thrown overboard by German agents for fear he would allow his ideas/schematics to be given to other countries like France (this was right before the first World War)

Oh come on :-p

This makes me weep. No comments at all? I comment on works around here all the time.

Wow, what a funky piece. Why is it that the majority of trumpet solos are disonat? Some Sugestions, in the begining, when the trumpet first comes in, it seems way too slow. It is good slow but not that slow. I like the piano accompiant. However the trumpet solo would not be very fun to play. It would be Really challenging technically but no satisfaction as to the melody. Maybe add some tonality to this piece. You don't have to add alot just enough in the trumpet solo to give something for the listener to grab on too. I think if you do this it will give your piece more balance.

I wouldn't do anything with the tonality or harmony of the piece, it perfectly fits the mood of the piece. I do have a few questions/ suggestions about the trumpet part (I play trumpet). First off do you have a specific performer in mind or are you just writing it to write? The trumpet generally is not a very intervallic (sp?) instrument, in regards to large leaps. So bouncing all over the register is going to be extremely difficult for who ever you get to perform this. Also watch out for large leaps that you have that are slurred. Take the extremely difficult part and multiply it by the biggest number you can think of, thats the drastic difference between the two. I'm not saying that it can't be done but just be fully aware that the odds are who ever you give this to might laugh at you for a little while, get frustrated, say wtf was this guy thinking, and just wing it if it ever gets performed. Aside from the trumpet part being what it is I thoroughly enjoyed the piece. I thought the balance between the two instruments was nice, in the context of musical ideas. The two complimented each other nicely. The mutes and flutter tongue effects on the trumpet seemed to be well planned out and added to the piece instead of just being performed for the sake of doing something interesting. I hope to hear more soon.

For the record: I play trumpet, I've played it for the past about..10 years now, and I'm a junior at a slightly major university. At least in America. I obviously can't speak for our international musicians.

Also, this is only the first movement of a four movement piece. I guess I'll post the program notes in another post.

Originally Posted by Reth

Wow, what a funky piece. Why is it that the majority of trumpet solos are disonat?

Dissonance is in the eye of the beholder...or the ear? This movement is quite stark, which was the intention, though. Not as colorful as stuff I've written before, with good reason.

I like the piano accompiant. However the trumpet solo would not be very fun to play. It would be Really challenging technically but no satisfaction as to the melody.

The melody in the trumpet is a 12-note row (the approach to language in this movement was 85% serial. Like any other composer, I broke away from the row when I felt it was necessary. Obviously the octatonic flourish in the piano on the first page is definitely not derived from the row or any of its permutations). I made sure the construct the row in a way that I could create an expressive melody out of the row. The trumpet line definitely has a very singing quality, at least in the "A" sections. The "B" section is a completely different idea, though still derived from the same materials as before.

Maybe add some tonality to this piece. You don't have to add alot just enough in the trumpet solo to give something for the listener to grab on too. I think if you do this it will give your piece more balance.

The D-Eb-E-G and it's variations are all over the movement, I think there's plenty for the listener to grab on to. The purpose of this movement is to represent a sort of internal monologue. Imagine someone alone is a huge library late at night, that sense of pensive and the serene, and the fireworks going off the person's mind (this piece is a programmatic work on the life of Rudolf Diesel by the way).

Originally Posted by JazzyKendall

I wouldn't do anything with the tonality or harmony of the piece, it perfectly fits the mood of the piece.

Thank you, especially since this was my first full venture into using serial techniques. I've used them before, but I always stayed from actually creating an entire row and a matrix. I'm very proud of what I did with this movement, especially from the standpoint of form.

I do have a few questions/ suggestions about the trumpet part (I play trumpet). First off do you have a specific performer in mind or are you just writing it to write? The trumpet generally is not a very intervallic (sp?) instrument, in regards to large leaps. So bouncing all over the register is going to be extremely difficult for who ever you get to perform this. Also watch out for large leaps that you have that are slurred.

Question: Have you ever played the Honegger Intrada? That piece is much much harder than this movement and it is a fairly standard repertoire piece for college/professional players. It has leaps of 10ths all over the place, literally. AND it's high! And loud! Thankfully it's only 4 minutes

Yes, I do have 2 specific performers in mind, but that's really just splitting hairs because I want to get the best performance possible. I could play it if I wanted to, but I don't have the consistent range that I'd want to write for in the 3rd movement. Anyway, one is a Master's student, and the other is a Doctoral student, both are phenomenal players. There are 3-4 undergrads in my class I know who could play this if I can't get a grad student for my recital.

I'm not saying that it can't be done but just be fully aware that the odds are who ever you give this to might laugh at you for a little while, get frustrated, say wtf was this guy thinking, and just wing it if it ever gets performed.

I've never had or seen anything such as that. Anywhere.


Thank you both for posting

I liked the construction of this piece a lot and felt that the tone row was used fluently. Just as a matter of personal taste however, I feel I have to post to agree with what has been said above - that at times it verges on boring due to a slow tempo and lack of any form of harmony/accompaniment.

I have no doubt that this has been all well thought out and think this is a very good piece, but from the point of view of a listener I also think that it would be more satisfying if you "put more in there"...

Originally Posted by walkingwikipedia

I liked the construction of this piece a lot and felt that the tone row was used fluently. Just as a matter of personal taste however, I feel I have to post to agree with what has been said above - that at times it verges on boring due to a slow tempo and lack of any form of harmony/accompaniment.

I have no doubt that this has been all well thought out and think this is a very good piece, but from the point of view of a listener I also think that it would be more satisfying if you "put more in there"...

You really can't judge a piece from the midi...

Especially since I don't take the time to make sure the MIDI sounds good, considering how counterproductive that is. The midi does not make musical choice, or play with direction, or expression. Nor can I get the RESONANCE that happens when the trumpet players into the piano and stops playing. There is a high level of drama and excitement in this movement, and I would hardly consider that last gesture boring. Also, there are other things in here that just HAVE to be done by a performer, I'm not going to over-notate for the sake of a more "proper" sounding midi and wind up having a performer who can read my scores.

I cleaned up the score

I also changed the counterpoint in the last section ("shyly" in the piano) and some other things. I'll post an mp3 tomorrow