Piano Concerto no. II

Hello,

This is my first post to theese forums. I hope I can get some critic so I can improve in composing.

This piece was composed during this spring and the premiere was held 13th of May, 2008. The conductor was a good friend of mine, Madis J

Wow! You are a fantastic composer! Welcome to the forums, I hope you stick around :D I have only listened to this once, but I'll be sure to comment more in depth after I listen a few more times.

Vince

BTW. PLEASE post a score!

I listened to the first movement and I found it quite enjoyable up until around the cadenza. I think the music got a bit lost: it was moving forward quite well, I felt like it was being propelled forward and the introduction worked quite well, but when the cadenza hit the music sort of came to a stop and I found that the cadenza wasn't shaped very well, at least in my opinion. It sort of stayed in the same mood without really going in any particular direction: it didn't, to my ears, really develop your material, it didn't grow, it didn't bring us back to anything, it was sort of just stuck in there: it sounded more like accompaniment to me than "foreground" music. But, the music had a very interesting atmosphere, there was feeling in your music, I liked the orchestration (especially the bell at the end!). I'll listen to the next two movements when I have the chance. Good job so far!

I actually found the cadenza section to be quite interesting..... it was very dissonant, but enjoyable...my fav. movement by far is the first with the third as my second favorite...great concerto you have here zino, very exciting, post more works! :)

Thank you all for your intrest!

What comes to the cadenza, it was improvised so that is why it may not be so thematic. (excuses :D) Mostly it is spinning around in same harmony and variating the main theme from the beginning. Maybe some day I will write a cadenza and try to make it more interesting and thematic... It also might be possible that the cadenza I played worked live better than in a recorded because of the interactivity between me and the audience. Anyway good point, J Br!

Romanticist, there is two other works of mine in the chamber music section if you are interested. :)

Thatguy, I would love to post a score but I don't have it on my computer and I don't have a scanner. Friend of mine promissed to cleanwrite it but I don't know when he gets it done. If I ever get it I will post the score!

Thatguy, I would love to post a score but I don't have it on my computer and I don't have a scanner. Friend of mine promissed to cleanwrite it but I don't know when he gets it done. If I ever get it I will post the score!

Ah... That explains it!

It's a very nice work and I promise to come back with plenty of comments, as soon as I find a bit of time (which I'm seriously lacking right now).

Welcome to YC mate!

First, congrats on having your piece recorded and achieving this. Can comment only on 1 st movement for now -

For the cadenza I agree that it is a bit formless with some interesting ideas. Judging from your response, I am unsure you have had much training in improvisation? Correct?

Other question - I heard only strings and percussion. It maybe clearer when I hear the other two but was there a reason to withhold winds and brass? I think your cadenza could be organized using these groups to punctuate or add cohesiveness. Or you can write-out what seems to be a quasi improv like accompaniment which leads to a cadenza (I am thinking for the accompaniment idea, the 2 nd movment of the Beethoven 3rd piano concerto)

As for unity, it works (especially with a stronger cadenza) but I would have preferred more convincing cohesiveness. For example, you start off with two contrasting thematic ideas and seem to be going for a sonata-like form but it never gets much into a development section before entering the cadenza and then the recap. Also, the percussions and string groups could have had much more "conversation" with the piano (a good example of orchestral conversation/battle is the Nielsen clarinet concerto where the snare drum has its battling mini-solo with the clarinet while other orchestral groups work hard to do the same or support the clarinet against the bossy snare drum)

The chimes with the strings is a nice touch (reminiscent of another work which I cannot pinpoint) and enjoyed the string writing in the first 3 minutes with the contrasting percussion.

So in sum my reaction is mixed about the 1st movement --- also because I think the orchestral involvement shows some promise but never quite fulfilled -- for example the theme is played almost the same as the beginning -- why not have another instrument play the melody either with the piano or beforehand with the piano doubling the chimes? My judgement I feel would benefit from more info - eg your scoring choices, what form were you aiming for (or if there were a narrative guiding you on the form)

Lovely, just lovely...

1st Movement --

I quite enjoyed it. The middle section of it kept giving me a Rach. vibe....(I like him, so that is a good thing)

2nd Movement --

I quite enjoyed this one also. I particularly enjoyed the rythms the piano placed. Towards the end, for what I can tell the Cello plays with the piano for like a measure or two. It is a wonderfull affect and I think I should have been developed a little more.

(This was my favorite movement)

3rd Movement --

O.O! That woke me up. lol. That is a very powerful intro... lol. This one I felt was a little more disjointed than the others in parts. I believe you used the orchestra best in this movement. There is a little more of a "conversation" here.

As a Whole --

I felt like the orchestra could have been used more, still an amazing piece, but I felt there was *almost* something lacking. Can't say much else than, wow...

P.S. Congrats! and all that jazz... and Welcome.

This is really very good, certainly one of the best pieces I've heard here. Your style reminded me of Prokofiev, particularly the opening of the last movement, and also a little of Rautavaara, but it was still quite original and certainly not a pastiche. Your musical language is mature, and you have a good sense of the narrative of a piece. In addition, you seem to be quite a capable performer at the piano. My only criticism is that in my opinion it is a little bit short - I think the first movement should be considerably longer in order to develop your ideas and balence the length of the cadenza. Same with the last movement - it would have been nice to have heard the melody at the end earlier on, in a quieter version, and then bring it back after some development. And I think perhaps there should be a little more contrast between the first and second movements - the tempi and mood were rather similar. Nevertheless, the piece works as a whole, and you have considerable skill as a composer.

Is there a score for us to look at? I'd prefer that over a recording.

thats an awesome recording, its great to hear a live recording rather then something played off a midi file. you took and developed your ideas very well, the 8 minutes of the first movement seemed to pass like 2. keep me posted on your compositions!

good perform and good compose

the 2nd movement reminded me of meridia in super metroid. cheers