Orchestral Piece in D minor

I wrote this piece in about a month (off and on). In this I was playing a lot with groupings of instruments, and development of themes/motifs.

It still needs work, but I think it is mostly complete.

I think there's enough material in here to write a few more movements.

Lay it on me!

Finale 2008 - [Orchestrain D minor good copy..pdf

Orchestrain D minor good copy.MID

Orchestrain D minor good copy.MUS

Alright, first of all, I've got no idea what I'm doing, so you probably shouldn't take any of this too seriously. (You actually could probably just stop reading without missing out on much.)

I liked it for the most part, but there were a few times when it seemed sort of rambling and disjointed. I'm sure I'm also missing out a lot, only being able to listen to a MIDI. Really, the only thing that I can say made me flinch a bit was the lead violin going on its own around 1:50 there. Not that that's a bad idea or anything, but it didn't seem like it was following an underlying harmonic base. (Just that the measures didn't seem to agree too well.)

Hope this helps in some way or another.

That is a valid point about the violin line, I may have become too attached to that part to see that it does not fit. I will look at it again, thank you.

Anyone else have comments on this piece?

You seem to have composed a very interesting but not extremely memorable waltz for strings. It actually reminds me of a piano piece I wrote a few years ago.

Let me start with suggestions before the praise. (Keep in mind that much of what I say reflects my own personal taste.) I honestly didn't like the opening theme repeated throughout the piece. It was predictable and just doesn't really stand out in my mind as unique. In fact, the opening theme is symptomatic of a larger problem, which is that your melodies and harmonies are just too safe and predictable to be entertaining. I didn't go through and write out every chord, but it seems that you used a very limited quantity of chords other than basic triads. Try using some diminished, augmented, and 7th chords, or any combination of the above. Also, when writing your melodies, feel free to use plenty of dissonances, especially if the beat is not strong. And even dissonances on downbeats can be beautiful. You seem to have strong proficiency in the question/answer technique for melody, but you don't seem to utilize the equally important tension/release quality of good music. Also, I tend to favor chromaticism, and you seem to remain quite firmly in a single key as you move through, with the exception of a few accidentals here and there. Your score notes of "return to D minor," etc. suggest you are perhaps too worried about staying within a key. In today's world of wild chromaticism and atonality, try just writing what sounds good and ignore the keys for the most part. One last suggestion: I personally felt a little overwhelmed by the heavy presence of pizzicato. I would suggest using pizzicato sparingly, but that might just be my taste.

I don't want you to think I didn't like anything! I really enjoyed the theme from about 3:43 to 4:17. It seemed freer than the rest of the piece, so I would suggest maybe working some more with that. You also handled writing for 5 string instruments quite well, in spite of some of the other flaws I've mentioned. If you combine your skills at writing for strings with some new thematic material, I think great things will result. Keep composing!

Thank you for your comments. I'm still trying to get a grasp of basic compostional techniques so that is why my piece probably sounds/is boring.

Your comments about chord progessions, dissonance, etc.. are all very valid and I do plan to branch out into more complex pieces once I get a hang of the basics (This was my first piece that I actually think is any good at all).

I am still working on this piece so your comments help greatly.

Thank you again.