The Little Match Girl

I am writing a musical for my senior project. This is a selection I decided to upload for feedback. Tell me if it sucks or not.

Matches, matches.mus

Matches, matches.mid

Matches, matches-score.pdf

This seems like it would sound pretty good when performed. It seems playful but not too cheesey. I actually thought it was pretty good. It sounded slightly reminicent of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but just slightly. Good job keep up the good work.

Will this music be canned while the singers sing? Or will you have an orchestra playing it as the singers do their bit?

If the music is canned. then you will need to do some work on the production to make it sound better. That mostly involves time and a decent hand using a Sequencer with good samples.

If the latter, it sounds like it is not that difficult to perform and should wow the audience.

A nice project.

Ron

Dustin,

Well done indeed. It reminded me of an intimate off-Broadway musical where the little match girl was trying to sell her matches on the streets of 19th century London. A few points:

Your musical material is very good. It lays out a clear style and has a destination and a clear structure. Orchestrationally, the piece is confusing. Is this a string quartet or a string orchestra? Honestly, both would work, but if you want to be economical, assume it is a string quartet and just add a piano. Often this is all small theaters can accommodate anyway so it's a good idea. Notationally, it was OK, a bit messy, and the staves were a bit large.

Your opening key should probably be one sharp putting it into Lydian mode to fa ciliate all the F-sharps. Your true tonality, I believe, is G here, but the grounded C makes for a deceptive IV, which is a really nice effect.

The faster bits may be a tad too fast with some of the lyrics. They are quite brisk. And that last G# in the solo Mezzo pushing the range. The lyrics were good, some corny, but the idea is there. A few word revisions and a more "Old English" tone of words would give it more focus, if that's what your going for.

Again, great job and happy composing!