Rich

Well, flattery will get you everywhere! I think the Mendelssohn/early romantic style is quite clear. That said, it DOES take some knowledge and a little skill even to copy! Thank you! I learned a ton in the approx 2 years it took to get it to this point, with some long breaks in between.... Despite the cost--and being grateful I could do it--it was a hugely benefical experience, from getting the right musicans together, learning about part preparation, doing a read-through, the recording session, and post-production concerns and what I need to be attentive to. I am committed to having the next live recording process go much smoother, including having ALL my music ready , and in a highly polished form! Thank you again! I worked really hard on it--it didn't just happen... I have corrections (I won't say "final") I want to make in my score, and some refinement yet to do as a follow up...

Thanks for your comments, Henry--and yes, if you're writing chamber music, nothing compares to a live performance--the strings were so much more detailed and nuanced, emotive. This is very helpful for me to remember and to write with this in mind. I was shocked at how much Derek brought out of the piano part! The Cost?! A lot! The musicans were $100/hr. x4 hours for the recording session. The studio was $75/hr. This included the enigneer and access to the glorious Yamaha C-7 (7.5 ft conservatory grand) freshly tuned. I spent 3 hours in post-production for splicing and mixing. It was a $2k day. This is summer vacation money for a family for 5 or 7 days. This is how I choose to spend my treasure-- I rationalize it by calculating that a composition degree and access to musicans would cost $60k-80k (easily) at university. I hope to write something substantial each year and go to studio in the late spring /summer--at least untill I have internalized the lessons to be had from working with real musicans and recording. Next: A violin sonata (violin+ piano) which will be cheaper by almost half! I want to do a full-on string quartet after that.... The musicans: They were great! NO auto-tune here. A few pitch issues but really very, very good. All University of MIchigan trained string players. Master's degreed. Derek is a fresh graduate of Wayne State University, and has a great career ahead of him. He prepped this in 7 weeks, where 3 months would be the norm... I just googled for string players. They gave me the lead on the pianist... I think I got lucky... I think I'm going to start the violin sonata and back track and do the last movement of the PQ-- a tarantella tempo piece with a Siciliano B section (my mom was Sicilian). Up-tempo and a bit more adventerous...

At last, I can post the studio recording of my Piano Quartet in C minor. The two movements were recorded in a 4 hour session on 5/23, and spliced/mixed today 5/30. I've learned so much, and am very happy with the result, as solo strings are not good on ANY VST, compared to professional string players. The pianist stepped in on short notice and did wonders humanizing the piano part--the chorale and 2nd movement theme sound fantastic! Now I have a concrete reference for what my writing sounds like with actual musicians. I plan to do another pass over the score, as there are things that need improving on my part. A worthwhile and important step in my DIY musical education!.... The artists: Fantastic musicians, and they all helped me consider my writing, score/part preparation and musical issues in new ways!---- Violin: Dan Winnick Viola: Chloe Thominet Cello: Michelle Kulwicki Piano: Derek Szlauer Recorded and mixed and Big Sky Recording, Ann Arbor, Mich. Geoff Michael, Engineer. 5/23/25 and 5/30/25.

Yeah. Well thats a big big philosophical difference. While I certainly regard music (at its best) as a form of self expression, there is a tremendous amount of theory and historical experience to learn and draw from. Or not. Myself, I've never regarded music as anything less than a shared communication between composer/musicans and an audience -- I have expectations and likes/dislikes when I select/listen to music. I only assume others are the same. So, while as a practical matter I write for myself, I would like to think I am communing with this vast spring of muscial history and ideas to the extent that I strive to understand and learn from it. Does it make me uncomfortable? Absolutely. But I can attest that in the uneasiness, the growth happens.

Looking at Peters original post, he wonders if focusing on composition work is narcissistic. I don't think so--at all. When I am working I need quiet and 100% of my bandwidth to do work. Thats how it is, and I suspect thats how it is with many. Writing music is hard. Being ultra focused is just part of this, as is any pursuit of such complexity. It certainly isn't clinical narcissism, and anyone labelling a person so dedicated to their craft/job/pusuit is ignoring what is involved. And nothing of great value can be created in this world without that kind of focus----art, music, engineering, architecture, scientific pursuits....

Personality disorders and ability are seperate things. A person can be gifted and quite talented and still normally adjusted--able to love and work with others as individuals. Conversely, a person could be just as gifted and isolated/ill to the point of being delusional. Wagner vs. John Williams, for example.... Or a complete hack. Which is likely more often the case----the gradiosity covers for their failings.

A very good effort in a difficult form to get right. I would recommend more immitative counterpoint in the 1st movement---particularly in the cello. While I get the "grave" tempo and the intended feel, sonic interest might be better served by a bit more motion. Not to hinder but to ACCENTUATE.

Sounds like an articulation mapping problem. VSL will fix it, I'm sure. Product support is good, and they are intent on breaking into the entry level VST market....

more depth on the Garritan CFX. Like honey....

I agree--the Garritan CFX is really amazing-- I have the "lite" version. Every bit as good as VSL, if not better!

Crisp--- A very fun and well-orchestrated piece. Not usually my fare regarding muscial genre, but I truly enjoyed this---varied, unpredictable, and yet cogent as a whole. As for your revered teachers--- LET THEM TURN!

I thought it was a fine piece. A few things: Bar 9: The thin texture needs a bass line. I'd keep the cello here. Bar 21: choir entry. Again, I'd fill the chord here by retaining the cello. A few adjustments to phrasing might be useful, but generally I liked the feel of the piece. With the reduced force, I'd certainly use what you have to the fullest-- you create a pleasant and interesting sonority.

Yes-- My main models--rondos/style I really like were Hummel (1816 piano concerto in a minor, 3rd mvmt) and Ferdinand Ries' piano quartets in general- both "early romantic". The rondo form held on into the mid-1800s. ( The simple sounding opening with the alberti bass/arpeggios should be build on/complicated later--hopefully with more romantic gestures.) UPDATE: Thinking about your comment--- I'm going to go with a semi-quaver pulse for the accompaniment--what I call "block chords"---more early romantic and amendable to intensiification /morphing...at least as a starting basis. To tired today--this weeks work, and scoring the string partial statement of theme.... Thanks for the comment--it got me thinking. Wish I had more time to "make the sausage".... I'm likely going to thin the chords in the right hand as I want there to be a build up on subsequent A theme entries--but these are where things are headed.... The ornaments (gruppettos/mordent) are pretty common as written in classical/romantic pieces. It certainly lends itself to elaboration. I definitely want to break up the melodic rhythmic patterns a bit more. Thx for the listen.

DISCLAIMER: WORKING WITH A TWO MONTH DEADLINE....! I wanted to come up with something memorable, and suitable to pair with what has been written. Fiddled with this simple rondo theme. Everything is subject to more fiddling---tempo might increase, parse down opening statement texture wise (simpler right hand), a little more rhythmic variation... But this is something close. ABACA Sonata form rondo--- This is the opening--the second half will be a partial statement with strings leading and a brief breakdown and codetta leading into a major key B section -about 1.5 min or so... Some German 6ths in there and a Neapolitan or two....learning...

Hey Markus--- Yes--- aside from the 2nd theme in F (Eb Major in recap), and the chorale, it is a minor key affair. I do note the flitting between major/minor in the works of great composers---Schubert's gift for this comes formost to mind. I simply lack the technical skill to do this at this point--though, along with more motivic digressions--I want to work on it-a looser, more ranging feel in general. So, I agree and the point is taken. I will keep this in mind as I work on the Rondo (Rondo sonata form A/B/A/C(DEV)/A--- the key plan is Cm/G major/Cm/ maybe Am,F minor?/ then Cm with a major key ending--Eb Major or maybe C major? I was just thinking how even a nominal "minor key" phrase can have a major key turn (schubert again), or major key answer....I need to be open to these ideas. I have to be patient with myself---the learning is coming in buckets right now---even touring studios /working with the pianist is enlightening.... The simpler scored violin sonata will allow more focus on form/feel, and I do plan on a more adventerous musical argument... Thank you for your comments! They help