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  • Submitted: Jan 13 2012 12:01 PM
  • Last Updated: Jan 13 2012 10:38 PM
  • File Size: 16.18MB
  • Views: 1856
  • Downloads: 1,344
  • Genre: Classical Period
  • Sub Genre: Neo-classicism
  • Form: Sonata

Piano Sonata No. 3 in C, Op. 23

* * * * * 14 Votes

Scores

1) Allegro Comodo
2) Adagio malinconico
3) Presto Agitato




This is a Piano Sonata I composed around 2003. I recently revised it extensively, so I'd love to have some feedback about it. This work is among my more 'Classical' pieces, and a full performance takes around 15 minutes at most.

The first movement (Allegro comodo) is marked "alla Mozart", as a kind of stylistic homage (while I didn't actually attempt to imitate Mozart). It's in a typical sonata form (exposition, development, recap).

My Romantic inner self gained the upper hand for the second movement (Adagio malinconico). It's a slow, flowing, Nocturnish piece in sort of a free form, with a sudden playful episode right in the middle. It might show the influences of a few great masters, but I'll let the listeners figure them out.

The third and final movement (Allegro agitato) is kind of a 'Beethoven meets Chopin'. It was inspired in both the Pathetique Sonata's finale and the Revolutionary Étude. But again, I prefer the listeners to judge by themselves.

The upload got a bit messy, but now the problems are finally solved (thanks, JohnBucket and Maize). Please enjoy...



I have only listened to the first movement so far. I think it's a great homage, if I didn't know I'd expect it to have been written a couple of hundred years ago. Will listen to the other two tomorrow.

You should remove the ° signs from the title though, I had to remove them from the url before I could access this page!
Maize: thanks a lot. JohnBucket and you both pointed out at the right solution to the access problem. It seems the upload had worked from the beginning.

As for the piece itself, I'm very glad you actually enjoyed the first movement. I hope you can provide feedback about the other ones as well. Again, a million thanks!
What an impressive work!
Thank you for sharing this with us.

Very lively and with lots of different themes, for my personal taste a bit too "mixed".
My personal favorite is the first slow and dramatic part of the Adagio...

Overall a great Composition, keep on!
Stephan
I've listened to all three now. They are very well written and feel "complete" together despite being in such different styles. The second movement is romantically beatuiful, and I really liked the accelerando before the playful part. It was a simple but effective way of showing that there was more of the piece. The fermata toward the end sounded a little awkward to me but that is probably because it's a midi rendition.

I could clearly hear the references in the third movement. I liked the rythmic variety in this one, it never got boring. As Stephan said, thanks for sharing!
Stephan: I'm flattered! I'm glad you liked the Sonata and particularily the Adagio. I agree the piece overall has lots of different themes (and styles). Yet I wanted it to be coherent as a whole (and, at least according to Maize, I was successful in this).

Maize: thanks for your reviews. You're right about the fermata glitch at the end of the Adagio - I couldn't fix it at all. But I hope if I ever get a live performance, a player could figure it out adequately. I'm also glad you find the third movement 'never boring'.

Again, thanks!
Hi,

First off, very good. Not very many works on here actually use modulation as a method of telling a story with development and stuff. So kudos for that. But, the first movement feels more like a Rondo to me because there's really not enough contrast for your second section of the exposition. In fact, I can't really find it, and I'm guessing it's at the key change to the dominant. The sonata is not just exposition, development, and recapitulation (which you did pretty well), but it's predicated on the idea of resolving the tension caused by two conflicting ideas in close proximity. The two ideas conflict both in character and in key to achieve maximum tension, which will allow the development to flow freely. The recapitulation, then, should show that the two ideas can be combined beautifully. I like the harmonies throughout the piece and I feel like they got quite a bit better as the piece went on, probably since you would have harmonic freedom to leave the key. The voice leading is pretty good in general, too, so kudos for that. My main concern is your notation. The noteheads aren't lined up on the right line in the staff a lot of the time... that's really weird. The score looks nice with everything else, though.

The second movement also feels like a rondo, but this time, not because of the lack of variation, but the sectioning off of the ideas, which seem to be all unique. I don't think you need all of those repeats, the statements are quite clear the first time you say them haha. The repeats just serve to section off the piece better. The harmony in this section is pretty good, but could be little bit better because there are numerous times where on the strong beat of a melody, you have a 6-inversion or a tritone from the bass to treble voice, which is a no-no in this style and sounds out of place. The bass line is relegated to background and middle-ground for the vast majority of this movement so the textures aren't as varied as I would have preferred; perhaps more conversation would help to bring this movement alive. Also, if you varied up the rhythm and texture of the 2nd iteration of the main theme, it would add some textural, harmonic, and rhythmic variety and give the piece even more strength. (See Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, Movement 3).

Movement 3 (again a Rondo) is very nice in terms of melodic strength. Again, there were harmony issues in the beginning that prevented it from being as strong as it could be. The 6-inversions on strong beats are the major culprit again. The chord is not the problem, but the way you use it, I can see what you're trying to do, but it's not very necessary to have an independent line in the bass if it muddies the harmony like that in an otherwise monophonic texture. You have a knack for keeping ideas interesting by variation, which keeps the left hand's uniformity from being a problem, but like I said, the piece would sound really really really good if there were some more melodicity and less periodicity to the left hand writing. Fyi, I really liked the measure 139 section because the contrary motion in the right and left hand sounded very nice together.

This is all very nit-picky stuff, because it's clear you're just a slight step away from having written a perfect thing, so I'm trying to help you. I'm not trying to be mean, just pointing out what I saw. I hope you'll take some of the advice to make your next composition just as brilliant and a bit more

Good work :)
Wow, an excellent work. The first movement doesn't really sound like Mozart at all and I mean that as a compliment. Rather than a pastiche, it's a classical style homage but in an original style which appears to have been your intent. The only slight criticism is that it's a little repetitive to my ears thematically. I agree with the previous comment that the there isn't really too much thematic contrast between sections.

I love the other two movements. The last movement truly does remind me of Beethoven (the theme sounds a little like the last movement of his Pathetique sonata).

Very impressive work!
Ananth: I'm very grateful you took so much of your time to give such a detailed and deep review. I especially valued your comments on harmony guidelines and musical theory, which have never been my strenght. And was stunned and humbled by your statement that "it's clear that you're just a slight step away from having written a perfect thing".

It's true the first movement is almost entirely built around a single theme, so I'd rather call it a sort of an 'abbreviated Sonata' where the conflict, if present, is provided by getting farther from the tonic. But I hope to take advantage of your insightful comments about this and the other two movements. Thanks again!!

Bkho: glad that you liked it as well. The first movement being 'classical' but not exactly Mozart was my intent indeed. So was the third movement's resemblance of Beethoven's Pathetique (although it has also plenty of references to Chopin's Revolutionary Étude. Again, thanks for the review!
" The first movement a hybrid between Scarlatti & Beethoven however in the classical style. The 3rd very, very Beethoven. I believe in your malinconico you find elements of your own musical signature( which can be a simple yet original & unique musical ideology longing to be tempered with discipline) as opposed to emulations of the style of the greats which of course is also merit able. Congratulations, i really enjoyed the classical ambiance. "
Thank you for the upload. I thoroughly enjoyed each movement.
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