Dance suite for Violin and Cello

This is a dance suite for Violin and Cello. Hope you enjoy it - here are the mp3s and the scores (in Finale).

I. Allemande

II. Courante

III. Sarabande

IV. Gigue

Melody in D Sharp Major - Variation No. 1.mid

Back then.MID

Ia.sib

IIa.sib

I'm finding it quite hard to make head or tail of this work without a score in front of me. If you could post the score, that would be great.

Oh yeah, I just read it's required for the score to be posted. I'll make that change now.

Oh yeah, I just read it's required for the score to be posted. I'll make that change now.

Listening and looking at your piece allemade, It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Cello sounds outof place with violin and vis versa. The ending from 44 on really is the only part that makes any sense at all, though does not fit in with the "randomness" of the beginning. Which I don't really get? Is that the sound you want? Grant it that's not how it would sound for real but, it seems like all of it is like out-of place and such?

I have only listened to the Gigue, and it is pretty good.

A performance is required to make the ideas more concrete. It may come off as random, but finale doesn't give enough oomf to the places that need it and which balances it from the light and the heavy. Though at the end going to the pp!, wasn't expecting that:)

Ive only listened to the Allemande so far, but lovely work - very tasteful, and original.

I like it.

And thank God for the mp3 !

I listened to the finale file first..it kills it.

Listening and looking at your piece allemade, It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Cello sounds outof place with violin and vis versa. The ending from 44 on really is the only part that makes any sense at all, though does not fit in with the "randomness" of the beginning. Which I don't really get? Is that the sound you want? Grant it that's not how it would sound for real but, it seems like all of it is like out-of place and such?

I'm not sure what you mean by randomness. Looking at the score to the allemande myself, there is nothing apparent to indicate randomness. It could be that your playback does not produce a good result - if that is the case, try listening to the mp3 along with the score. Granted, this music is not traditional tonal music - however it is far from atonal. It could just be that you are unfamiliar with the musical language of the piece (or that you just don't care for the language, which is fine too).

Well, you seem to have the Baroque genre covered. At least that's what I feel like you are going for with this piece. Overall, to be honest, I did not fully enjoy the pieces, but that is because I don't like Baroque music on the whole. It is too mathematical, too strict, too formulated, too unoriginal to spark any really interest in me. I do however admire your abilities as a composer, as you have some good ideas here and have presented them well. Best of luck with your future compositions.

To start off, I am of the opinion that good music will sound good even when played in MIDI.

However, in the case of your music, the mp3 definitely adds life to this work that is lacking in the Finale file.

I'll take each movement one at a time.

I. Allemande - This piece suffers from the fact that it feels like it has no tonal centre. Even Bartok, who your work most reminds me of, managed to maintain a tone centre, or at least a note that everything was drawn to. Your final resolution in D was not naturally satisfying, because as far as I can tell, we could have ended on any note and it would have worked just as well. Not to say that there wasn't some very intereing material here (on the contrary, I adored the modal changes in measure 30 -33), but when the only foundation we have is a motif that has no tonal home, it's hard to follow the piece. That siad, your mp3 did give it some needed drama and it did not bore in its brevity. The ending where it suddenly slows down seems odd and I wonder what its purpose is.

II. Courante - While the themes are easier to recognize here because they are more distinctive, the unsettled otnality continues to permeate this work. I like your use of pizzicato in this piece. The way the tempo slows down and speed sup suddenly throughout gives me the impression of a very disturbed mind wnadering form one idea to the next in its mad ravings. Yes, this piece reminded me of an insane man taking a stroll, unable to control his violent mood swings.

III. Sarabande - The solemnity of the opening is a welcome change of pace from the hard driven frenetic prior movements. I feel for the first time that there might actually be a bit of a tone centre too (on D again). The piece does not remain calm for long as you delight in repeatedly speeding up the tempo. It's like a quiet dance in which the man slowly begins to pick up speed. Or perhaps the onset of a seizure and the aftershocks. Perhaps that can explain the violin and cello interjecting the fast figure there at the end.

IV. Gigue - As I hav elooked at this piece, I watched to see if you were going to give us a tonal centre, and it did seem you were hovering around a modal D (dorian mode I believe). I thought the interjections of the 4-tuplets against the normal 3 beats was excellently done. I looked forward to each new 4-tuplet. The trills also served to highlight the intensity and instability in this piece. It seemed like everything was scrambling to reach one final culmination. Your choice to end on an E seemed arbitrary to me though. Again, it could have ended just about anywhere.

This is an interesting duet that you have composed. It is decidedly modern and uncompromising on both players and listeners. Thank you for sharing it and I hope my remarks have helped shed some light on the perspective of the listener.