apschneider

I can't wait until they're all available on IMSLP in Public Domain.

I haven't seen any genuine threats yet. But redirect this to another thread.

What is this supposed to reference?

I don't think you would. And I think I like it here.

What? I never uploaded a midi! I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic.

Focus people!

And can we please steer this around to the original subject of this thread?

Which is why I'm heading them off at the pass.

Do not be offended at me just because I am business-savvy and discreet. I've learned too much from the life of Franz Schubert to go down the same road as he did, overly trusting of his "friends" (read:parasites) as he was.

But wait. WatchDox seems to work only with emailing things to other people. Is there a way to make this apply to attachments too, or will I have to email this to the forum in some way?

Sounds perfect!

Hello. I am here wondering what are your opinions on string quartets, being a composer of 4 myself within the last year. They are all symphonic in scope and music dramas of some sort. I will probably upload the midi files only, as the scores are too valuable to be made public here unless there is a way that I can disable the printing option on Adobe Acrobat for those who upload. You can tell that I am paranoid about copyright thieves. Not to mention that the slow movements of my quartets are really songs without words.

Never.

Well, thank you for that. That's helpful for a change. The thing is, the design of the forum page is such as to make one think on arriving there that the only thing there is the shoutbox, which I don't go for. You have to scroll down to get to the important stuff. I meant the most recent post column on the home page, but that problem is solved. And that's just the problem with the Forum Jump list. It's only at the bottom. It should be at the top as well. The position in which it is currently located is such that hides its importance. I see no reason to be so secretive.

You seem to have a habit of stalking me. I have to go back home in order to access the performance thread or the off-topic threads, and then only if one happens to be in the most recent threads column. Of course you'd talk like that--you've been here for three years.

I find navigating this place extremely hard. It's a matter of finding the link that takes you to the sublink that takes you to the sub-sub-link that takes you to where you want. This gets annoying after a while.

I'm also fond of the loud introductory chord gesture exploited so well by Haydn in his late string quartets.

My being in choir has put me decidedly in favor of the point being asked.

How programmatic?

I love repeating the same melody over and over again, but to different harmonies. This is especially the way I like to begin my recapitulations, taking the first theme into completely unexpected keys in such a way as to make the listener wonder if the development is even over. This is particularly effective if you modulate into the recpitulation gradually, not with a powerful closed cadence, but perhaps with a plagal cadence or a pedal modulation on the tonic (Beethoven 4th symphony 1st movement).

I would venture to add Sir Arthur Sullivan, and not only for the operas with Gilbert. For those who can enjoy lush tunes, the reconstructed Cello Concerto's slow movement will rip your heart out. And for the grand tastes, the Overture di Ballo is very thrilling. The Sorcerer is a textbook for those wanting to know how to effectively use the wind choir. My favorite opera by him is The Rose of Persia. His art songs show that he learned his Schubert well. Moreover, these songs tend to reflect Sullivan writing for the types of texts that he felt more comfortable writing for than the "topsy-turvy" libretti of Gilbert which he was able to negotiate so skillfully. These texts tend to be humanistic and on sentimental themes, and Sullivan will not hesitate to make it clear that the form of Dame Hannah's legend from Ruddigore is not an exception to the rule: that is, he will frequently state 1 1/2 verses, then change tempo. Differences between verses can also vary very slightly, but very significantly. I would also posit that he took "I am the monarch of the sea" from one of his songs written before, just to show how important they are. I say this because my first string quartet is based mostly off Gilbert and Sullivan melodies, only manipulated to fit my conceptions of the classical forms. I even manage to fit themes together that would never be heard together in the operas. The final movement is a 22-minute set of 31 variations and double fugue on "When I was a lad" from Pinafore. Diabelli, anyone? Moreover, I've found that he's one of those composers who can always be made to sound good with the right touch.

I have been listening to Reicha's wind quintets for months now, and they are what has helped me get into writing my string quartets on similar symphonic proportions. Moreover, and almost more importantly, they are powerful insights into how much the concept of sonata form, which Reicha was one of the first to define, was still emerging. Reicha mostly sees the sonata form as a binary form rather than as a ternary form. In other words, in most "standard" sonata forms, the exposition introduces themes which are developed in the development, but with the understanding that they will be restated in the same order in the recapitulation. Reicha, on the other hand, introduces ideas in a very long exposition which must be repeated for the listener to have any familiarity with them. In the development, these ideas are indeed developed, but often we might hear the second theme from the exposition before the first theme, evidence that he thinks of the development and recapitulation as one whole unit. True, he may sound academic at times, but this is countered by his inventive harmonic ideas. I bring this up because I have, to a degree, adopted this viewpoint in my string quartets, beginning the recapitulation in a way that suggests that the development section is not yet over. My recapitulations have been known to really settle into the home key with the second theme. If Reicha's quintets are symphonies for five instruments, then my string quartets (40'+) are symphonies for four.

I've used Finale for around 6 years and don't intend to stop there. From what I've seen of Sibelius on their website, the playback features are rather choppy for someone used to the smooth look of Finale. Tell me if I'm wrong. Moreover, it's becoming easier to create a professional-looking score with the updates that the makers of Finale have been adding recently. It's helpful for my purposes, which involve writing music in sonata form, which necessarily involves much copying and pasting. Don't worry, I lengthen passages and insert twists the next time around, as if to say, "That's what I really meant to say in the first place." I don't need to worry about using playback as a crutch because I can hear everything already in my head. Moreover, I only start writing things down once I've heard them a lot in my head. 10 times works well for the various themes of a sonata movement or that of a theme and variations movement. Moreover, it helps with my particular method, which is writing out of order. I start from the ends and work inward. That's easy to do when you already know what form you're writing in.