kvitske

Very nice piece! I absolutely loved listening to it. Just a few tiny thoughts: You are excellent at painting the mood for this piece, establishing the character. However, this comes at a cost: while the first three words are not by far the most interesting part of the text, they get a lot of attention. The next bit of text ("qui transitis per viam") is at least as interesting as "o vos omnes", but gets a lot less attention in your music. This could be, of course, a decision you make in composing this music to this particular text: for you the mood seems more important than the specific words. And that's absolutely a good choice. But making this choice knowingly could lift your music even higher. Try to sing your parts yourself and take some distance from your own score while doing this. Look at it as if you're a singer and not the composer. You will find that this music, while its atmosphere is very touching, is not very fun to sing. The parts on their own are a bit dull. Professional singers will sing this just fine (they get paid to do so), but amateurs will protest. Of course, then it's the conductors job to combine this with other, more challenging pieces, but that's another discussion. On the same note, maybe consider adding a c to the alto part in bar 28. The jump from ab to the d (first altos) is unexpected and not too easy to sing. The jump from g to low ab in the basses in bar 36-37 is the same, maybe you could add the low g on 'per' in bar 36 already? Just a suggestion to make the parts easier to sing. Again, singing them yourself is the best way to detect places like this. (Also, in bar 78 the basses have to jump from b to low c) The ending is too abrupt to my liking, not fitting in with the rest of the mood. Bars 38 to 44 are absolutely brilliant! Good voicing, interesting music, just beautiful! I'm looking forward to hearing more!!

Lux aeterna, "May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord" Normally a part of the requiem mass, if I ever decide to write a requiem mass I'll have one piece finished already! But for now, this is as it is. The idea started when my father had a heart attack which of course frightened me a lot. I found peace and calm in composing this. I'm not entirely too happy with the B- and F-part ("cum sanctis tuis in aeternum"), although I really like the ending ("quia pius es.") so I'm leaving it as it is for now, until something better comes along. If I continue writing other parts of the requiem, I'll probably be using the D-part of this piece as a beginning, so it returns in this piece (which comes later in the requiem mass).

The right to use a cell phone has to be earned, imo. Earned by, for example, not using it while you're out eating with someone, not using it whilst in a conversation and making sure it is completely off when it should be, like in a concert, be it a concert by aunt Mary and uncle James on the piano in the local bar, or the New York Philharmonic...

The carillon, I've wanted to play it since I was a kid... or at least a teenager... ;)

I nominate Jules Van Nuffel. A Belgian composer, even most Belgians have never heard of him, but he's a genius! Youtube him, you'll find some amazing works. All religious music, though.

I agree with cschweitzer here. Some minor text details bother me a tiny bit, but overall I really like this piece! I don't know how to say it in english, so this may sound really weird or stupid, but I think this style suits you very much. Have you considered writing more in this style? Congratulations on a very nice piece of music!

Thank you very much for your kind reply. I actually considered using the gregorian chant melody for a moment, but instead I opted for writing my own melody. Glad you liked it as well. :happy: I indeed intend to set it as an a cappella work, because I thought it would be a nice difference from the usual requiems. I agree that it's rather short and could be longer. But at this moment I don't feel like writing a longer one. Maybe later on I'll write a longer requiem, but this is mainly intended as a piece to get acquainted (had to Google that word for the spelling :musicwhistle: ) with the concept and the texts of the requiem mass. Consider it a study piece. :) I do, however, not agree with the G major chord. While I'm familiar with that sort of chord progressions (jumping to C major in E major is the same kind of thing), I don't think they would fit in a fragile piece like this one. In my opinion, it would ruin the mood. But thank you very much for your suggestion! :happy:

Thank you both very much for your kind replies. I maybe finish the rest of the mass later, but first I've got to get through the music theory exams in school. :toothygrin: Though that shouldn't be any problem,. :happy: Thank you for your reply. I tried out what you said, but using that in the last bar is only good for ruining the entire piece. If I use the f#, I might as well throw the entire thing in the trash can, because everything the piece is, is worthless from that moment. In my opinion, of course. Using the f# is waaaaay too cheap there (in my opinion) and using them both is completely evading what I've written that chord there for: I tried to give a sense of openness, of endlessness. g and f# together ruin that experience.

You might want to check your score in page 5 and 6. There are some dissonants that sound like they don't belong there, I think. I like the mood you set in the beginning, I get the carnival feeling. But it starts getting a bit repetitive soon, maybe you should consider adding new materials in page 4, before having the flutes and clarinet join in on the main theme? Also, where is the text? I don't know if you have much experience with choral music, but you should add a text for the choir to sing, or at least directions if they have to hum, or sing on 'ah', or something...

Overall, I like the choir parts very much, they are well composed, and seem to paint the text very nicely. I did, however, not like the piano part all that much. Of course the mp3 piano isn't an amazing representation of what it will sound like in the end, but I found it to be a little too busy, not fitting a lullaby and as such clashing with the choir parts.

First off, I like the overall 'mood' of the piece. It colors the text very well, it absolutely suits it. I think (even without hearing the rest of the requiem) it's good this is homophonic. It adds very well to the mood. I didn't look at the instrumental parts all that much, because I don't know very much about instrumental music, I'm more of a choir guy. It shows that you have choir experience, the parts are very singable and well written overall. One thing that bothers me, personally, is the placing of the text (I don't know how to say that in English?). The text accents often come on weird places. The text accent is on qui <strong>tol</strong>lis, but you have a musical accent on qui tol<strong>lis</strong>... I know, Duruflé does a similar thing in his requiem and other composers as well, but it's a thing that bothers me, as a choir conductor. Too often ignorant choirs completely ruin beautiful music like this by only paying attention to musical accents... But this is of course only my opinion, and there are many great composers who completely ignore word accents, like Poulenc does from time to time (if I remember correctly), so it's not a huuuge problem if you do so as well. In modern music, composers often creatively use time changes to suit the word accents and to play with them, but in this cadans there is not much you can do like that, of course. I feel like I'm ranting (is that a correct word? My English is <i>really</i> bad :-) ) waaaay too much, so here's the conclusion: I like your piece. I like the mood, I like how it's written and how it uses the color of the voices/instruments to suit the mood. edit: oops, this was apparently a year-old topic? Sorry for bumping it... :whistling:

A Lux Aeterna as first written part of a requiem. I don't know if I will write the rest later, we'll see.This is another piece in my efforts to write more contemporary music. In the past, I used to write very classical (maybe even dull) music, now I'm trying to explore chords that are more open. Especially when I try to write religious music, I like to use large chords for large rooms (large churches/cathedral), for some sort of 'exalted' feel (if you know what I'm trying to say). For example: the end of this piece, where all the voices come together and hold the (almost eternal) chord on 'aeternum'. Please comment and ask questions if you don't understand my bad English :-). Lux aeterna

Thank you both very much for your replies. theusii, I agree with you that some dynamics should be added. In my haste to post this, I must admit I completely forgot to add them to the score.

Something I made for the introit for the feast of Ascension. It will be sung after the cantor sings the gregorian 'Viri Galilaei'. Viri Galilaei

Hi! I'm thinking of doing some sort of Via Crucis with one of my choirs next year, but I would like to not use a Via Crucis as one composition (like the one by F. Liszt), but I'd rather use individual (classical) music pieces with each station of the cross. I'm just starting to gather some ideas, but I could use any help anyone can offer. So far, I've found two pieces: -Stabat Mater (Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger) -Eli eli (György Deak Bardos) All suggestions are welcome!! Thank you very much in advance!

Of course you can improve your voice! With the training comes the proper use of your voice and everything related to it (which is actually your whole body) for singing! I used to have a terrible voice, but after singing classes I improved a lot, up to the point where people actually think I've got a very good voice and I sing very well.

Fix your notation!! I started following the piece, but I simply could not because of the bad notation! There are spelling errors (I'm not a native English speaker, but I think that if you do want to write music in a specific language, no matter how well you know it, you should at least study it for a while before attempting to write! Or stick to the languages you know...), and overall many inconsistencies, like some capitals here and there, no hyphens,... no-one in their right mind will want to sing this like it is at the moment.

Overall it's a nice piece. I, however, do hope that you realize how difficult it will be to find a choir able to perform this. I'm not talking intonation-wise, but the Db in the basses and the B'' in the sopranos, for example. The interpretation of the text is very good, I think. You're very adept at using the techniques to make the text come alive. One thing I thought was not so good, was the E chord in bar 67. It sounds rather... cheap...

It's both, actually. But most of all, it sounds too dark. I tried to put only the G in the bass, not the d anymore, but then I feel like the distance between the tenor and the bass, or even between the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and the Bass is too big and if I take the G one octave higher (g) then I think it feels to crowded. I tried both of your suggestions (thank you very much, by the way! :) ) but I think I still prefer the d. :happy:

Thank you! The melody in bar 16-20 was used to make a difference between the 'kyrie eleison' and the 'christe eleison'. Is there something about the melody specifically you don't like? Or just the melody as a whole?

Thanks. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm only trying to get people to know him. There's not much I can do, but as a choral conducting student, I hope I get the chance to perform his works later in my life. :-)

I know, most of the time I prefer e-le-i-son as well, but I've seen it used in both ways, e-le-i-son as well as e-lei-son. I think it depends on where you're from, even though it's the same language, people from Germany will pronounce it differently than people from France of Italy of England or... Even in my own little country Belgium, I find that it can be pronounced differently: éléison or èlèison... And I'm sure in the whole world there are people who prefer e-lei-son... I like both, actually. As for the G in the basses at the end, I tried it, but I think it makes it too dense (if that's the correct word). I'd like it to be more open. Thank you very much for your comments!! :happy:

Not bad, I think, but if you would like this to be performed sometime, don't let the sopranos start on an as'' in piano... that 's just asking for trouble...

In general, I'm not very proud to be Belgian. I mean, what is there to be proud of? We eat waffles every day, we drink lots of beer and we have Manneken Pis... But there is one thing I'm really, really proud of, and that's our composer Jules Van Nuffel. Too bad most Belgians don't know him... <_< Jules Van Nuffel was born in 1883 in a little village called Hemiksem, somewhere near Antwerp. As a boy, he went to the Minor Seminary of Mechelen. There he received his first piano lessons. Later, he went to the seminary to become he priest. There he conducted the seminary choir and he played the organ. He also started composing. Even though he asked Belgian composer Edgar Tinel for advice from time to time, he is mostly an autodidact, he learned composing on his own. Van Nuffel conducted the choir in St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, following pope Pius X's motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini. This meant singing old polyphony and gregorian chant, only organ (no pianos or other instruments) and very importantly: no mixed choirs in churches! Van Nuffel was lucky to have a boy school in Mechelen, and he was able to conduct a large mixed choir using only boys and men. He also wrote most of his music for this choir (and the famous Flor Peeters at the organ). In 1916, he performed his psalm Super flumina Babylonis. It was such a big success, that Mgr. Mercier, the cardinal, asked him to form a permanent St. Rumbold's Choir. Van Nuffel continued to conduct this choir, both in Belgium as in the rest of Europe, until 1949, when he was too sic to conduct. From 1918 until 1953 Van Nuffel directed the Lemmens Institute of Leuven (then it was still based in Mechelen). One of his biggest achievements was the creation of the Nova Organi Harmonia, eight books of gregorian accompaniments. For his choir, he wrote many compositions, including 8 psalms. They are written for choir (4 to 8 mixed voices), all but one with organ accompaniment. Some of those psalms have been arranged for choir with orchestra. It is one of those psalms that I would like to show you: Psalm 125 'In Convertendo Dominus'. It really is a shame this composer isn't more known in the world. Even in Belgium, most of his works have never been performed after his death. Of course, that has to do with Belgium being a very small country and not having the big choirs required for the works of Van Nuffel (after all, his last Te Deum, for choir, organ, trumpet, horn and trombone, was performed with a choir of around 300 voices...). But, with our school (the Lemmens Institute), we performed a couple of his works a couple of years ago. It was broadcasted on the national television and has found its way to YouTube: (please remember this is not a professional choir, but I think we did fine :happy: ) A truly beautiful piece for five voices (Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, Baritones, Basses). It also exists in a version for four voices (which I think is the original version). A simpler piece, almost completely homophonic, but still very beautiful. Tria Cantica Eucharista consists of three pieces, one with organ accompaniment: Written for Cardinal Mercier's birthday, I believe. One of the eight psalms, one of my favorite as well. It is so full of energy, absolutely amazing! So, I hope you enjoyed listening to the works of this Belgian genius? Van Nuffel died in 1953, way too soon, and after his passing, his big St. Rumbold's Choir slowly died too...

A kyrie as the first part of a Missa Brevis. I've started on the gloria, but it's nowhere as finished as the kyrie. The kyrie starts, of course, with 'kyrie eleison'. 'Kyrie eleison' is sung three times. They all start with the four voices building a chord and they all sing 'eleison' together. After the 'kyrie eleison' comes 'Christe eleison'. It starts with five bars in counterpoint, followed by three times 'Christe eleison' with all voices beginning on the d' and expanding each time a little further around that d'. Then comes again the kyrie, it starts kinda like in the beginning, but then there is a soprano solo while the other voices lay still. After that 'kyrie eleison', there is one more 'kyrie eleison', completely homophonic, ending on an open chord (d-a-d'-g'). I don't compose (if you can call it composing) very much, and most of what I've done so far is very tonal, very easy. With this composition, I tried to go a little further and add some not-so-tonal chords. But nothing too atonal either. Just not so down-to-earth. Kyrie