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  • Submitted: Jan 18 2012 05:10 PM
  • Last Updated: Feb 04 2012 09:08 AM
  • File Size: 7.65MB
  • Views: 718
  • Downloads: 287
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Sub Genre: Neo-classicism
  • Form: Prelude

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Prelude and Fugue in B minor

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Scores

Prelude and Fugue 6




Please comment!

The prelude is in binary form with a neat little coda to wrap things up. The tone row used here is BF#D#Dnat-GFnatBbAb-AnatEC#Cnat. I used cells which are derived by partitioning the tone row into groups of four here, and some of the material is derived by alternating notes in the tone row. It's a little complex, the whole thing, but I'm just too stupid to remember or explain what I put in the music.

The form is interesting in that the piece moves through the B, G, A and B key regions, in this sequence, with these notes being the 'tonic' for the cells described above. The fugue's subject refers to this oddity. The piece is also partitioned neatly into two sections of 64 bars each, and the ratio of the prelude (without the coda) to the fugue and the coda approximates (rather badly :P) to phi:1.

Edit: the chords in bar 2 are derived by splicing the tone row. This is important to note as I use this splicing of the tone row as much as the tone row proper for development purposes

Edit: The fugue is quite simple, and so I've decided to dispense with 'spoilers' for this fugue, and I intend to do so for all subsequent fugues. The harmony pallete of the main part of this fugue is not very ambitious, nor is it essentially different in function from the classical model (although I'm sure there're some passing/neighbouring notes and intervals that would assuredly be foreign to Bach); this is contrasted with the more chromatic and octatonic harmonies in the passages leading up to the recapitulation and beyond. I've marked down the voice leading in the score, anyhow: I feel that it is important to do so in this fugue as the implied voices may not be so clear. 'Forbidden' intervals (I may have missed some) are marked with a cross. I have some theoretical justification for these 'exceptions', but it's a bother to go over them; besides, anyone with sufficient intelligence would be able to work them out. As usual, there are a few references to Bach here and there for embellishment.

I sneaked a small puzzle into the fugue. The solution should seem quite arbitrary to anyone but the composer; but, should anyone who has too much time on his hands chance upon this piece, here's the hint anyway:

Spoiler

Edit: The notes for the right hand in the bars 117-118 should be an octave lower.



Pieces like this one usually leave me in awe, looking into the score to figure out 'how did this composer do that'. The prelude is very complex and demanding, both for the player and for the listener - but the wise use of the tone row gives it a sense of unity and direction. These qualities are rather usual in Bucket's pieces (tonal or not), hence the high degree of respect and admiration he arises in YC.

Now, it seemed to me that the piece is not finished (it ended rather abruptly after a few bars of the Fugue). Am I mistaken?

Anyway, congrats - the Prelude is quite an achievement in itself.

Quote

It's a little complex, the whole thing, but I'm just too stupid to remember or explain what I put in the music.

Shut up.

Anyway, Austenite pretty much hit the nail on the head here:

Quote

The prelude is very complex and demanding, both for the player and for the listener - but the wise use of the tone row gives it a sense of unity and direction. These qualities are rather usual in Bucket's pieces (tonal or not), hence the high degree of respect and admiration he arises in YC.

This pretty much sums up what I've always thought of your music.

I just wish you'd get into the habit of posting your works when they're complete, rather than half-finished! I was really geared up for the fugue, which kind of just ... died, all of a sudden, like the pianist suffered a sudden heart attack and just fell over mid-piece. Some people may benefit from completing some of a work, getting some feedback, and then going back to it later, but you're not one of them. You don't need us for anything but attention and encouragement, frankly, you're that good.

What I'm going to continue to press on you, though, is trying out new styles. I know you yourself are frustrated that you "can't" compose in any style except the neo-Classical/Romantic style. But why not try? You don't need to be any less complex -- just, "different". You may surprise yourself at the results. What have you got to lose?

Anyways, love the piece, as usual. *Finish it :angry:*

:)

SergeOfArniVillage, on 19 January 2012 - 10:26 AM, said:

I was really geared up for the fugue, which kind of just ... died, all of a sudden, like the pianist suffered a sudden heart attack and just fell over mid-piece.

I actually laughed out loud when I read this! I could have uploaded just the prelude, of course; but I thought it'd be funny to write just a tiny bit of the fugue, because people would probably expect it to be some noisy 'modern' shit, but it's not - it's melodious and lyrical, instead.
This pieces has been on my to do list for some time now. Finally got the time to listen.
It has a rather savage nature. Which is cool, but I can't handle that for too long. I therefore really liked the chorale-sections, and its introducing texture (like ms 35), which cleverly also serves as interlude (ms 46)

This again is a typical product form your hand. Many treats can be recognised. That makes it harder to distinguish works from eachother. In term of texture I feel like you often use the entire keyboard, and preferably the extreme high and low ends with a really fast passage in between.
In the end it sounds like you are trying to hit as many keys possible. And makes is sound like many twelve tone pieces, much alike. You have the benefit of a great motivic coherence, and I see how you try to provide contrasting sections. I would suggest you try to be savage on the high end, for a longer time, and later on the low end. So that in the grand scale the sections (in terms of different textures) become more clear too.

The fugue. contrast enough there. And I feel that it, in terms of range, will be a bit more limitied to the classical piano range. That is textural contrast too. But maybe too much now. (Its never good, is it? ;) )

Serge, if the player died, at least he made the "3 voices" come true :D
Please don't take anything I'm about to ask as an insult or anything like that...I am genuinely curious (and I have also only given this one listen, although that probably doesn't matter to the nature of my questions). This isn't the only score I could ask questions like this, but this is as good as any: with pieces like the prelude, how much of it do you hear in your head and how much of it do you write just with compositional processes in mind? Are you a bit surprised when you hear it or is it exactly what you had in mind once you press play? I realize those are probably very basic questions that could be asked of anyone writing music of such dissonance and complexity, but I guess you just happen to be the victim of my inquiry. (Sorry, lol) I hope you, or someone else, wouldn't mind shedding a bit of light on that.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
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