Fausto Manuel Orieta

Hey there! Thank you for listening and your feedback, greatly appreciated! It's true that while I taught myself mainly from Fux this composition is much closer to a baroque piece. Having said that, my main goal is self expression rather than composing in specific styles. I listen to music from the renaissance up to romanticism, as well as modern pop music so ultimately my works will have those flavors, and I wouldn't want to restrict myself from making certain choices because they wouldn't fit a particular style. Expression as a whole is an aspect of composition I've definitely neglected, and it is something I'm working on. While I find the idea of letting performers give their own interpretations fascinating, ultimately the lack of expression markings in this piece are the result of me spending a little too much time on counterpoint and ignoring other areas of composition. Hopefully I can add more dynamics and such as I get more comfortable implementing them. I've been trying to make music for many years, so it's nice to finally publish something and share it. The next movement will heavily feature fugal elements, while taking some liberties with the structure.

I've been studying counterpoint for years now, learned mainly from Fux's gradus and developed a solid understanding of species counterpoint. That said, one quick analysis of this first movement will reveal deviations from the rules presented in that book. Accented passing notes, leaping from dissonances, and the occasional unprepared chord in second inversion, that one consecutive fifth... I'm well aware of the rules broken and the liberties I have taken when it came time to make the transition from species exercises to actual composition. Despite that, i'm very proud with what I ended up with. There's plenty that I wish to improve, and hopefully you'll get to hear the results of my efforts in the following 2 movements, as well as in everything that will be released following the completion of this sonata. Youtube link with sidescrolling score: