notlagj

Sorry - I forgot that paragraph spacing doesn't work on here! My comments were all beautifully spaced out for ease of reading, but have now been bundled together in a slightly unintelligible jumble - good luck in wading through them (if you do)!

Hi LExilenia - welcome! I'm pretty new here myself, but in the time I've been on I've discovered it's a fantastic community with lots of interesting people and music to explore. So, regarding Piano Work in C minor - there are things I like and things I don't like about this, and I hope you don't mind if I briefly talk about both (bearing in mind, of course, that this is purely my opinion...) rather than fob you with of with a bland "ooh, that's nice". Here goes: Opening - it's partly the midi sound (or whatever it is) but I feel it's bit clunky (e.g. the big right hand leap from ms5-6) and perhaps a little uninteresting until we get the "fruity" chords around ms17 which I like. ms18-33 - this section really caught my attention - slightly whistful, but also quirky (I especially liked ms 21) and some interesting harmonic ideas (e.g. the transition from ms25-26, although I can't help feeling you could have done something more interesting with the left hand in those measures - don't ask me what, though!) ms 34 - 43 feels a bit of a let down in comparison, and meanders somewhat, and (for me) the chord in ms 43 doesn't really work. ms45 to the end - my interest picks up again (no coincidence that this harks back to the section I liked earlier) and I LOVED the unexpected B natural in the right hand in ms 48 - more of that kind of thing please! - and, the now familiar interrupted cadence in ms 52. So, my overall verdict is that there is lots of interesting stuff here but the material is just a little inconsistent - we've all been there! I look forward to hearing more (I mean that!) Jon

Thanks, guys, for the comments - really appreciate it!

Hi! After your flattering comments on my latest piece (thank you!) I've been browsing your stuff - you've covered a really interesting range! Anyway, I particularly enjoyed this one and listened to it several times. I love the left hand melody that starts in ms4! And I really like the change of mood in the Andantino, although for some reason the harmonies in ms18-19 don't do it for me (but that's a personal preference). Although I can see where the "trite" comment comes from, I feel that most of the Moderato section works well, and it's only the repeated left hand quavers from ms48 to the recap that I find less interesting, even there there is lots of interesting stuff. So, overall, really enjoyable to listen to. I shall continue my perusals of your vast catalogue of work!!

This is a piece I wrote in 2010 for two violinist sisters and a pianist. This year I was allowed to play the piano part myself, and this is the recording of a performance we gave at a recent recital. Those of you who (rightly) upbraided me on my lack of markings in the violin parts of the Five Bagatelles - please notice I have taken your comments to heart (maybe now to an unpalatable extent...!). But any comments on markings, enharmonics and related niceties warmly welcomed. The Awakening

This is gorgeous - inspires me to go and write some solo piano stuff of my own... I agree with the comment about the penultimate chord being "fromage", but we're talking about high quality Camembert here, so not a problem for me...!

This is lovely, and quite hypnotic. What made you choose this combination? Also, just a thought - at first I wasn't quite convinced by the way the rhythm stops in bars/ms 4, 8, 12, 16 etc. then I wondered whether it might work better if the bottom G and the EBE on the xylophone were short e.g. a crotchet rather than a dotted minim (sorry for British terminology if you're from across the pond).

Thanks for the detailed comments - really helpful. Collectively you've inspired me to spend some serious time "cleaning" this score - esp the articulation/slurring issues (luckily the violinist is one of my best friends and she can help me with this!). johnbucket (may I take the liberty of addressing you as John??) - spot on comments re ms 204 (I was rather pleased with it myself) and 212 foll (technical limitations on my part, alas...). The "B" section - as I expect you spotted - takes the "A" motif and turns it into an LH ostinato, overlaying it with references to the material originally stated in 66. I guess it's quirky things like this that I feel entitle the pieces (admittedly by the skins of their teeth) to retain the rather inappropriate designation of Bagatelles.

Lovely... I actually feel it could work quite well as an organ piece (with flute-y stops, but maybe something reedy coming in later on). Any thoughts?

Thanks for the comments guys - Miggy, thanks for being the first to join my fan club!! Just posted a review of your "My Heart Leaps Up". jrcramer - really good point about slurring (actually for the first performance it was even worse - I gave my poor long-suffering violinist hand-written copies!). guess initially I wasn't always sure what I wanted, so we (violinist and me) worked it together, but it was inexcusable laziness not to then go back and input what we agreed! Your comment has prompted me into action and I will def rectify this for the sake the other violinists I am gradually trying to coerce into playing them!

Hey, there's lots I like about this - I think the opening is great, and I love the chord on "sky" in b5 (which you also use in b14 and I think b23 as well) - I'm too rusty to think offhand what chord it actually is! I've had a look at some of the comments above but haven't scrutinised every syllable, so may be repeating things, but the main thing I would say is that some of the word settings are quite awkward (this may be deliberate?) - some examples are using a minim for "the" in b4; minim for the "be" of began in b8; minim for "a" in b11 - OK, running theme seems to be holding on to words that, when spoken, would be unstressed - is that something you've done to create a particular effect? Also, I'm not altogether convinced by a few of the harmonies - the suspension in the tenor part in b16 is an example, and likewise the C sharps in the bass part in b10-11 (I don't know if that what johnbucket above is referring to as non-functional harmony, or indeed what you could replace it with). Overall, though, I think you've got a lovely sound-world here, and I'd love to hear Clare College choir or similar folk singing it!

Thanks so much for these really interesting comments - I shall def have a look back over on these! And yes, the final bagatelle has hints of all four of the preceding ones, but the main theme is the second subject (if one is allowed to use sonata form terminology for this kind of music) of the Fantasy.

Gosh - there is some really interesting stuff here. The opening definitely grabbed me (although I though the texture was more Mendelssohn than Brahms - hope you don't find that insulting!) and the interesting fugal kind of development in the middle where the harmonies get a bit whackier. There are a couple of passages that seem to end a bit too "conveniently" somehow (I can't find a score, but an example on the sound clip is 0.22-0.23 seconds in, and there are a few other similar instances). Overall, though, really enjoyed it and I shall certainly listen to more of your stuff! (Oh, and thanks for your comment on mine!)

I love this! The rather late romantic German harmonies at the beginning are just my sort of thing, and I agree with 'last life' that the beautiful and 'serious' nature of the music makes it funnier (and oddly moving) - especially in context I would have thought. Has the performance for which it was commissioned gone ahead yet?

A cycle of five pieces for violin and piano, written between 2008 and 2010, originally for a violinist friend to perform with me. Five Bagatelles for Violin and Piano