Markmywords

For the most part, I like a lot of your ideas. I do have issues with your voicing and orchestration, though. I'm all about voice crossing and whatnot, but it's not really practical for altos or basses to sing their respective low Ds and have them sing actually words - you won't be able to understand them, especially if we're talking an intermediate choir. I appreciate wanting very low, rumbly sounds, but if you really want the text to come out of the texture, I would have the soprano or tenor carry that torch rather than the altos or basses. In the same vein, though, I like how you have different text being sung at the same time, it creates a nice effect. All around, this is a very imaginative piece with a lot of potential - you just might want to rethink it to make it a bit more practical.

This has a really grand feeling to it that I enjoy. It's very fitting with the text you chose. It just has a very beautiful tone to it that would fit in well in a mass, requiem, etc. Really nice work! Any way to see a score?

Text by Walt Whitman. The music is pretty much done but please pardon the appearance of the score, I'm still figuring out how to get it all to look right. There are missing lyrics and missing dynamic markings - once I get the score situated and figure out what I'm doing with all of that, I'll reupload the score and the audio file.I plan to submit this piece to a state-wide high school competition in November, so I have a lot of time to edit it down to what I really want it to be. I wanted to illustrate how a soul travels after it is released from the body - overall, the piece is meant to represent death, but in a peaceful sense rather than a grim one. I also wanted to interpret Arvo Part's technique of "tintinnabulation" for my own style. A Clear Midnight

This piece has a really cool Renaissance-era feel to it (which is appropriate given the text), but at the same time it doesn't feel derivative or boring. This is quite a virtuosic work and I love the placement of the soprano line - personally, I don't think it's too high by any means. A soprano who can't hit a few Bb5s should probably consider a different career, ha ha. I quite like this and would love to hear a live recording once you've fixed the lyrics and the other small issues mentioned. (: