Sometimes I Dream - for full orchestra

Hi! Here is a composition of mine that I finished in November or so. I've been waiting to see if I will get a recording (it might happen later this year! if not, definitely next semester...) to put up so you guys have something to listen to. BUT! For now all I have is the score and a bad midi representation. Since I don't usually bother with playback-stuff, it's pretty crappy. So a little imagination will be necessary when listening along with the score!!

That being said - the music. The music stems all from the opening section. It's a chord progression that I created melodies and other harmonies out of. It leads us through a dreamlike pattern of events, culminating in a nightmare. It was through-composed, although you will find strong structual elements throughout the piece. The beginning is all harmony based obviously, with some cell-like melodies on top. That leads attacca (like all the 4 sections) to a development on the harmonic ideas, slapping other 'tonal' blocks of sound (like the C major woodwinds, then the g minor brass) right on top of and in opposition with the original progression. That crescendoes into the melodic section, where a seemingly new melodic idea is introduced, for contrast. This culminates in the nightmare, where the full orchestra is unleashed for 2 minutes while all three structural elements - the harmonic progression, the melody, and the rhythmic motive are blaring away together. There's a little da capo as the piece ends.

Any comments are welcome! And remember, use your imagination while listening! ;)

Sometimes I Dream.mid

Sometimes I Dream Score.pdf

I can't stand midi. That wasn't bad though. I LOVE bowed vibs. We did it for a piece for our winter band concert. The sound is amazing. Kills the bow though...

Bowed cymbals are cool too....

Yes, MIDI is quite a pain. Hopefully I will get a recording of this piece this year, if not then next semester.

Thanks for listening!

This is excellent. I love it.

in spots the score doesn't seem to match the MIDI. I don't know if those are artifacts from Sibelius' midi creation.

sadly, for some reason, the MIDI file has no tempo data for Finale. or Finale doesn't read the tempo data properly. so I can't really listen to it.

what I have been able to listen to and the score I've examined make for a very interesting piece. I like the minimalist textures. I love the "messy" chords in a few places, where the harmony gets blurred.

Thanks Mitchell, your comment is appreciated. ;)

Qc - yes, the MIDI butchers some parts of the score. Can you listen to it through Winamp or Windows Media Player or something? That might get it to play more accurately.

Thanks - like I've said before, I do like tonality, just not in a traditional sense. The piece will hopefully come together more sensibly in a live performance - but it looks like I'll have to wait 'til next semester for that! Alas...

P.S. Do you notice anything questionable about the orchestration??

Well, I do appreciate the couple of comments I've received on this piece so far. But I was hoping for maybe more comments on the orchestration? I'll be patient, however! :D

Sorry for the triple post- but I thought I'd provide an update on this piece.

This will be read and recorded by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra this Friday in a reading with 2 other student composers' works! It is sure to be a great experience for us all. And of course, as soon as I get my hands on the recording, it'll be up here for you guys! It'll be a MUCH more true-to-the-score version than the crappy MIDI. (of course)

I'll post in here 'journal'-style after the reading, to let you all know how it went!

Sorry for the triple post- but I thought I'd provide an update on this piece.

This will be read and recorded by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra this Friday in a reading with 2 other student composers' works! It is sure to be a great experience for us all. And of course, as soon as I get my hands on the recording, it'll be up here for you guys! It'll be a MUCH more true-to-the-score version than the crappy MIDI. (of course)

I'll post in here 'journal'-style after the reading, to let you all know how it went!

I was going to listen to this here, but I think I will just wait until Friday!

I like it. It's very interesting, and it really does sound like something Koji Kondo would write for The Legend of Zelda.

Haha Koji Kondo.... really? ;)

Well thanks for the comments, everyone! The reading went extremely well! It sounded great after some time of reading it through (the piece only got 40 minutes of rehearsal), and once I'm able to, I'll splice together a 'real' version of the piece. They weren't able to get one good take through the whole piece, so I have to cut and paste it together, which is technical stuff that I suck at. So it's taking a while. But once I get it all finished, I'll post it up here! Then I'm going to send it out to competitions and see what happens. Wish me luck!

good msuic

dark@@