Patriot Dream

A piece for Concert Band telling the story of a battle in the American Revolutionary War. The piece begins in a peaceful field, introducing the main theme. Then, the sound of drums are heard, before the British Army arrives to the tune of "British Grenadiers." Soon, the American Army also arrives, to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," and the tension builds. The battle between the two armies then ensues. When the battle is over, the smoke is too thick to tell the victor. However, a beam of light shines through, and the smoke begins to clear, with the Patriots as the victors.
Patriot Dream

Note for reviewers: I wrote this piece two years ago, so many of the weaknesses of this piece have hopefully since then been learned from. The structure of this piece remains because I felt that any logistical or preferential problems, things that weren't actually wrong with the piece, were not worth a total renovation of the entire piece. However, as this was my first composition for a large ensemble, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Also, I apologize for having not become more a part of the community before uploading this. I was unaware of this rule when I uploaded, but I do intend to become involved. =)

Greetings,

This was a very poignant work. I did enjoy it and I'm sure you have much improved since this piece was first composed. At measure 11, when you restated the main thematic material, I was hoping for a counter melody to be introduced, but you settled with further harmonizing the material. Throughout the piece, I could hear some counter melodies being played, but not enough for me to truly distinguish it from the other musical material presented. I really enjoyed the "Yankee Doodle" melody played in the Clarinet under the Piccolo and Flute. The much faster section starting at measure 69 could have gone a little longer for me. I was hoping for more development with the melodies present in that section, but that could have just been intentional on your part. Of course, this is your composition, so it really is up to you whether or not you will change something. The ending really seemed to work with this piece, but I the transition into the latter part of this piece was a little disheartening for me. Maybe you could have had references to the past section to truly signify the ending of the battle which I didn't really get a clear sense of its end. By the way, did you know you are missing the Oboe in the piece? All-in-all, I would say this is very enjoyable piece and I could see bands playing this at a state contest or just for a patriotic themed concert. Good job!

Peace,

C.L. Winston

Carlly Clabby, on 03 March 2011 - 11:12 AM, said:

Thanks!

I definitely agree about the transition. I admit, that was the hardest part for me to write, just because I couldn't find a way to make it sound exactly the way I wanted.

For the oboe part, it just happened to be due to circumstances. I wrote this piece with my high school symphonic band in mind, as my band director had promised me that if I finished it, they would look at and even possibly perform it at our spring concert (which we did. It was awesome getting to hear my music played live, as well as taught me a lot of things of what to do and not do!) So, the piece was also in part set around our strengths and weaknesses, and part of that was that we did not have an oboe player. So, I decided not to write one. A few months later, my brother (who happens to be an oboe player) suggested I write one in, but I have so far avoided doing so just because I felt I had arranged the parts where I wanted it, and didn't have the time to do any drastic changes.

If I ever decide to go back and make some revisions to this piece, which I probably will eventually, I'll definitely keep this in mind! Thanks again!