"With Glory in Their Eyes" - Composed / Conducted by myself

Hey guys,

I finally finished my first work, and I was fortunate enough to have an amazing orchestra teacher who allowed me to perform it with my high school symphony.

I tend not to follow the "rules" of music so I hope you classical guys can still listen to this openmindedly.

Let me know what you think... I know my conducting isn't the best, it's my first time. But any comments on orchestration, etc are more than welcome! I'm majoring in film and television (not music) next year so if I continue with this it will probably be somewhere down that path.

Chris Ryan

sidenote: sorry, I can't upload the score just yet

Hello! :)

I just listened to it and I'm a bit confused. You said you don't tend to follow the "rules" of music (what are those, exactly? Did I miss a memo?) and yet this piece is about as close to a typical sweeping film score sound as you can get. It's got a standard structure, lovely tonal harmonies...

In terms of actual sound, it would fit right into a decent fantasy film score. The orchestration is nothing innovative but it's adept and effective at carrying and developing your thematic material which, in itself, is very listenable while not being overly memorable - if only because it really doesn't do anything to differentiate itself from other examples of the genre.

I quite enjoyed listening to it though, and I think that it's very nice that you got the opportunity to get a recording and performance - that you got to conduct no less. Feels great, I'm sure.

Anyhow, those are my general impressions. Thanks for sharing and keep writing! :)

Thanks Marius!

I do understand there are no REAL rules of music, but I unfortunately find that too many people in this world see parallel fifths in a piece and then immediately get a sour taste in their mouth! But thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it... and yes, the opportunity to conduct this was amazing. There's nothing better than having some of your best friends perform your own piece, because they care about it just as much as you do.

Thanks again!

Wow, you should be very proud and grateful for that opportunity!

Congratulations! Very well composed, performed, and conducted.

Michael

Beautiful music. This is quite an accomplishment.

Congratulations.

Wow, I liked it. very well done. Could you explain what the inspiration of this piece is?

Ah, thank you! Well, it's very programmatic as I get most of my inspiration from film scores. I have every intention of letting everyone have their own interpretation of this piece, but it was was founded on the idea of coming home from war; a glimmer of hope despite devestation. It has a mix of tragedy and triumph but they sort of coexist throughout the whole thing.

Here's an old poem from which the title was derived:

America's Welcome Home

by Henry Van Dyke

Oh, gallantly they fared forth in khaki and in blue,

America's crusading host of warriors bold and true;

They battled for the rights of man beside our brave Allies,

And now they're coming home to us with glory in their eyes.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!

Our hearts are turning home again and there we long to be,

In our beautiful big country beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Our boys have seen the Old World as none have seen before.

They know the grisly horror of the German gods of war:

The noble faith of Britain and the hero-heart of France,

The soul of Belgium's fortitude and Italy's romance.

They bore our country's great word across the rolling sea,

"America swears brotherhood with all the just and free."

They wrote that word victorious on fields of mortal strife,

And many a valiant lad was proud to seal it with his life.

Oh, welcome home in Heaven's peace, dear spirits of the dead!

And welcome home ye living sons America hath bred!

The lords of war are beaten down, your glorious task is done;

You fought to make the whole world free, and the victory is won.

Now it's home again, and home again, our hearts are turning west,

Of all the lands beneath the sun America is best.

We're going home to our own folks, beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Intriguing conducting, a rather cringeworthy poem.... but a brilliant composition. You got it performed, it was well-received, the instrumentalists pulled it off. There's not much more to say other than good luck composing now you appear to have finished school.

I must agree with all the others that have commented...it was quite nice, and could fit well into a film score. And you should be very happy with it:)

Keep it up.

Thanks guys!

I'll definitely try to improve my craft... and yes, it's true: you see everything you're doing wrong the first time you see yourself conduct on film. :)

Chris