Ballade #6 in C Minor

Ballade #6 in C Minor

This is a very free form work. Most of my works do not follow any kind of pattern, but this piece is one of my most highly irregular pieces. I use a little impressionism in this piece, but not much. It is more modern romantic.

This piece describes a supernatural event. That is why the piece may seem a bit freakish, especially at 4:00. The majority of the piece is very sullen, and somewhat horrific. But of course I throw in some romance, due to the nature of my overall style; I have to include romance in every one of my pieces :P

This is a lost soul who has died, and cannot figure out that he has been dead for quite some time. He starts catching on around 6:05, but he isn't at peace until the very end, when he finally realizes he is dead.

To those reviewers who originally listened to the piece, I made a slight change to the ending, from 7:50 to the end. I was discontent with the way I originally ended the piece.

Modern Ballade # 6 in C minor

ballade-6.pdf

This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard in my entire life....

there are a few places I'd REALLY like to make specific comments on, but without a score it's nigh impossible.

is there ANY way you could maybe post the scores of a bunch of your ballades together, like a collection or something?

I was just wondering if you played this or if it was a software that recorded it. I love it actually. This is kind of like the stuff I love to play. Chopin is one of my favorite influences. Though I'm only 18 and I started playing piano only a few years ago, I've been getting a lot better. But I couldn't play anything like this. I love when you go to the chromatic scale. It reminds me of a little bit like a jazz scale.

I love your effort. You didn't use a lot of 7th chords to gloss over it. And the technique in the writing was very virtual and just plainly wonderful. Good job.

Theres just one little thing. I just love Chopin's work, so may I add, this song could be re editted to be composed of a few various themes. Just how so much catchy music is written by Chopin and many other great wizards. Like start off in our sad moment and launch the piece with the utmost magesty. Then eventually change key very suddenly into a dreamy part of the song that takes us into the reality of the past. And then slowly build to a furious raging part in even another key and extend it to your likings to meet back to the original theme.

This is only one of my better examples. I practically thought of this as of now just for you.

Please feedback to me on what you think about what I said.

Thanks. Ryan.

is there ANY way you could maybe post the scores of a bunch of your ballades together, like a collection or something?

I am working on the score for this piece in Finale and I will post the score when I am finished notating it. Unfortunatly when I compose my pieces, they are very sloppy and I do not format as I compose in order to speed up the process. And I do not like to use Finale as my main composing tool.

I was just wondering if you played this or if it was a software that recorded it.

This is digital music. I did not play this, but I programmed the midi to how I would want a pianist to play the piece. To give you an example, this particular piece may have about 2000 or more tempo changes, which is how I make this sound close to life-like.

For those of you who are curious about the notation, I will provide notation for this piece, so sit tight.

I like the peice! Its very beautiful!

I didn't really like it, the harmony to me just sounded too much like Chopin's main use of harmony except with different melodic lines.

Sorry to be so blunt

That was very beautiful, It seemed to kindof go off in some parts but overall it is a beautiful piece and I think you should publish it.

I just uploaded the score to this piece.

I would suggest mixing up the accompanying arpeggios a little more. And I don't necessarily mean in this piece. I mean in general. I've heard a bunch of your music now and you use them a lot. Not that they're bad but they dull the texture when they're used all the time.

I'm not sure why you describe any parts of it as freakish. It seemed highly regular and structured to me.

There were some very nice sections with nice melodies and harmonic texture but most of the expression and intensity only came with quick tempo changes and brilliant runs and arpeggios. I recommend more development of melody throughout the piece that isn't so tied to a few specific rhythmic structures.

Also, the transitions were always evident, it seemed more like an on/off switch rather than a buildup of idea and emotion.

Overall, there are good ideas but it seems to have been composed too theoretically. The lines of thought are clearly evident and there is non-functional or non-expressive repetition.

The recording was impressive for a digital recording. How did you do that?

-jesse

Like blm22 said, you should try and publish this! It's one thing to have fellow composers here having a look at it, it's another to having people playing it! (try MyScoreStore.com to self-publish)

Piano is not my instrument, I play woodwind and brass, but hearing this makes me wish I mastered the piano better!!

You should be published. 'Nuff said.

In my opinion your piece has some nice ideas but is too boring, your main theme is rythmically not that interesting and you repeat it too often which gives the feeling of 'this again?' with listeners I think. Also, this is a very nocturne-like piece with the arpeggio's as accompaniement almost throughout. I think you could do so much more rythmically especially. An idea might be to have in one section of your piece multiple themes or ideas, accompanyments or rythms.

The Allegro part was nice, this is where your impressionistic influence shines through most, except that I also think it is too long and too unvaried.

Complex notation wow!

Very beautiful.

The dynamics don't play back entirely convincingly though. E.g., the fortissimo in measure 65 comes across as a slightly agitated mezzo piano!!

Very nice work though.

I really enjoyed it; at moments I heard lots more Debussy than Chopin. I think some people might complain there wasn't a massive deal of originality, but this didn't bother me. If it's good, who cares!

It sounds original enough to me. ;) I hear influences of Chopin in this piece, but it isn't extremely Chopinesque either. In other words, I don't think this piece necessarily copies Chopin.

Very, very beautiful! :happytears:

It sounds original enough to me. ;) I hear influences of Chopin in this piece, but it isn't extremely Chopinesque either. In other words, I don't think this piece necessarily copies Chopin.

Well... Chopin wrote it... ;)

wow, really beautiful. also a bit repetitive. but the funny thing is even though i realised it was a bit repetitive i didn't care cos it's just so dam good. i want to learn to write like this, i'm going to give it a go. so beautiful.

What a piece to play. Talk about incredible harmonies and such.

Pianistic writing is immense.

COngratz.

You rock!!!:w00t:

I like the piece is beautifull

My congratulations to the composer.

Mr. Schroeter

wow........ very fine composition! great job!!!

Absolutely beautiful. Just the way you expanded the main theme in so many directions while still keeping it interesting was amazing. I agree with some of the others that the arpeggio harmonies that appear at the very beginning are used a little to much throughout the piece. Just change some of the rhythm/notes in the harmonies and the piece will be perfect!

Fantastic job! :thumbsup:

P.S. I am very curious to which what program/sampler you used to playback the sound. It sounded like a true performance and you already stated that it was digitally created. Please tell me what you used!

I've listened to this piece many a time, and am appalled to discover I didn't comment after my first listening. This is extremely beautiful, I absolutely adore your harmony, infact, I intend on printing off a few pages for analysis when I get some more time to dedicate to music.

Thank you very much :happy: