Piano Trio No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2-IV(Incomplete)

Hello, Young Composers!

This is not by any means meant to be the final thread for this piano trio... but after 8 months, this is what I have of the piano trio. I've basically written six movements for the ensemble in this key, but I've gotten rid of most of them. The first three movements have taken roughly five months to finish and this last movement will probably take another month or so, given how much I want to say in it.

I write as a romantic. I try to express my emotions in my music. I'm not trying to write in any particular "style", which is why movement two is so different from the other ones. It is simply what I wish to express.

Well, I hope you enjoy what I have so far of this trio :)

MP3 : Cuts off slightly before the end.. Midi holds the complete version

Piano Trio No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 - I - Allegro Molto Appasionato.mid

Piano Trio No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 - II - Adagio Con Moto.mid

Piano Trio No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 - III - Scherzo.mid

Piano Trio No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 - IV - Tema Con Variaza.mid

Math Project.pdf

This is a grand undertaking, unmistakably. Though I didn't agree with everything you did, and as you said it could use a little tidying up, it was marvelous thing to hear, and any criticism I might have would be trifling. It's almost prohibitively difficult, it seems to me, yet worth the effort. You're clearly moving toward mastery. I hesitate to offer it, but my only advice might be to rein in your horses just a tad until you have better control of them.

Do you have the other movements, or is this a work in progress?

My compliments on a magnificent work so far.

Mael -

Your improving by leaps and bounds. I love how the cello introduces the subject for your development section. And what follows is quite dramatic. I love the soloistic moments you give the violin and cello - the stops are good too. The ending too is very good as it completes the movement but prepares us for another movement. THis is one of your best works so far, Mael!

I still think your harmonic movement is a little square - too late in the evening for me to pinpoint. I think this would be resolved with some practice with counterpoint. Try the counterpoint exercises I gave in the Advice subject area. I also wonder if some practice of baroque figure bass may help you with this (try the exercises according to Handel). You are improving on your own - what I suggest would only accelerate this process.

Nevertheless, this piece shows you are learning that sometimes less is more and it is more important how you handle your ideas rather than how much you "develop" them or how elaborate a structure you fill.

Thank you both for your kind comments!

You both are excellent and well-reputed composers and it gives me some faith that I have the capability to learn this craft!

J. Lee Graham - Would the things you did not agree with be structural things, or are they of a less subjective nature (such as augmented chords resolving improperly or parallel fifths)? Since this is my most recent work, I suppose it contains the majority of what I've learned over this past year. While reviewing the score more yesterday, I found a few impossible stops. Despite the 'cello part being almost twice as difficult as the violin part, I have found some players willing to read it through and perhaps give it a performance!

On the advice to rein the horses: I must say that of all of the time that I have spent composing, I've never felt as "in control" of my music as I had when I was writing this. If I wanted to modulate from C min to Bb major, it was quite easy to know how to write it "properly" (even though I still made mistakes).

Thanks! :)

Composerorganist - Thank you for the comments and I think I am finally ready to go through those counterpoint exercises that you have referred me to twice. Now I have to find the time.... :P

Thanks again! :)

I don't know whether you've tried playing the piano part yourself, but there ARE a few spots that would be nigh on "impossible" considering the limited breadth of the human hand. I have rather large hands and wasn't able to play them with any success. It's something you really need to look into.

The score could use some tidying up. The piano staves are too far apart for most of the piece, you should at least have abbreviated instrument names for the very first staff of the piece, and it would probably look a bit better if you reduced the size of the string parts to maybe 80% compared to the piano part.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I suppose it is possible for me to reduce the chord spacing in the parts that you mentioned... and since I have heard a very good try to play it just yesterday, I think it would be a very wise decision with almost no negative result...

I realized that the names of the instruments were absent, but I don't know how to fix that... I guess I can look in the help book. Yeah, in most trio scores they are reduced... again I don't know how, but I can look it up.

Thanks! :)

Mael-

Could you get a midi file by any chance?

I can't play it on esnips.

Thanks! :w00t:

By the way, Qc is right. Some of the piano parts look REALLY hard! Especially the big chords.

Alright, I've altered some of the "impossible" piano parts to retain their contour and harmony somewhat... I've also uploaded a midi of the piece and made the score adjustments that Qc pointed out.

The mp3 is still better, though... :sweat:

You write beautiful emotional music Mael. Since being here ( I'm thatguy if you didn't know) your skill as a composer is growing so fast. I'm always interested in what you'll write next because of that. So continue your studies, you have a great future ahead of you in music. :)

I was going to comment on the piano part, but it seems like others have already done so. This was very easy on my ears compared to what I've been listening to. For comparison, I went from Gorecki's Piano Sonata 1 to your piece lol. Your harmonic language is always a pleasure to listen to, and like I said, very different from the Beethovian pieces you started out with. I like.

Keep writing Mael, and although I'm not on much anymore, when I do stop by it's nice to hear excellent young composers like yourself dazzling with your music.

Vince

Thank you so much for your post, Vince!

Though, I must disagree with you... this isn't very beautiful at all XD. It was a poor attempt to emulate beauty. But oh well, that's why we write more music... so that we can improve and hopefully one day be recognized and have our music carry our spirits onward throughout time. (At least, that's what I hope will happen with my music after 100 years).

I would really like to hear that Piano Concerto of yours... whenever you do get around to posting it. It probably will have that Shostakovich feel like your previous pieces did. But then again, I hope that you are evolving too (as you said, I've moved on from Beethoven, though I still love the guy!).

Thanks again for the post! :D

J. Lee Graham - Would the things you did not agree with be structural things, or are they of a less subjective nature (such as augmented chords resolving improperly or parallel fifths)?

Most of my quibbles would be of the subjective variety. The most concrete thing I could say would be that there are times when I'm not able to follow what you're doing harmonically; it's the same issue I have with Beethoven's "Grosse Fuge" - an undeniably brilliant piece, but there are stretches where there isn't much to grab hold of.

On the advice to rein the horses: I must say that of all of the time that I have spent composing, I've never felt as "in control" of my music as I had when I was writing this. If I wanted to modulate from C min to Bb major, it was quite easy to know how to write it "properly" (even though I still made mistakes).

I should have known that the "rein in the horses" thing was too vague. What I meant was to pull back on the effusion of emotion in favour of clarity, speaking again to what I was saying previously.

I love the contrasts in this piece.

It starts off simply and quietly, and then explodes into hysterics later, it balances sweet, flowing melodies with outbursts in the piano, and there are sections that resemble call-and-response singing in a choir. Dynamic contrasts are all over the first movement especially, and the piano part made use of this well with its more virtuosic sections under the strings.

An immediate impression was left on me by the agitated piano part starting at m. 13, which I thought was very well done. Though you gave the piano a rather showy part, the strings play an equally important role. This gives the whole trio a sense of balance that leaves the listener satisfied at the close.

Like I mentioned, the quiet exposition followed by the bolder development is a good idea, as this kind of contrast keeps the listener interested. The development itself is impressive, with elaborate string lines and runs in the piano. Even here, all the music is united by the dotted motive introduced in the very first bars.

There are things that could be improved, though. Even though there are many dynamic contrasts, there really is never a break from the original themes, or a significant shift in tempo. By the end, I thought the piece was beginning to get monotonous, and I wish you would have introduced a much calmer section around the middle and returned to the original material later, like an ABA form superimposed over the whole sonata.

Besides that, this is good work. As you write more, your musical language is beginning to incorporate things that weren't there before- music that's closer to the 19th century than the 18th. Keep it up :P

i have no advice, other than keep writing music mael. we need music from creative beasts like you in this world. its so nice to hear tonal music!

dont get me wrong anyone, atonality is fun as well, but its so great to hear a passionate tonal piece once in a while. mael, it has been said already, but you are definately on the road to mastery.

great job man!

Alright, that makes much more sense, J. Lee :) and it'd be wise to follow your advice since it is some of the best that I can get!

Voce - Like I said, it took a while to sink in! The point of writing this piece was not merely to write for a piano trio. It was to use this medium in particular (whose raw texture I find so pleasing) to express my feelings at the time. And I couldn't be restricted to using only 4 voices at times, which is why the piano part becomes quite showy. However, the timbre and character of the strings is what I hoped would overcome the difference in part. And I did actually introduce a calmer section (A new theme per se) where I took the violin part (played over that agitated piano line) and transposed it to a major mode. Perhaps I could have developed upon this tranquility more to show contrast. Thanks for your detailed review, Voce, and I owe you one of equal length (and usefulness)!

Goodridge - Haha thanks for labeling me as a creative beast! That's quite a compliment! It's my opinion that tonality can express me the best, and this piece kind of shows that. This is my latest piece, so I'd hope there is some improvement, like you've said. Thanks for the comment! :)

good music

i like it

dark-bigeyes

Very nice music Mael, but the piano part at bar 16 is impossible in the right hand, and the left hand is difficult in that tempo, besides that good music!

Oh yes! Thank you for catching that. I'll be sure to correct that.

Thank you Darkangel and SimenN :)

This is cool it sounds like Middle eastern kinda

very enjoyable to listen to.:)