Writer's blocking on a French overture!

Hey, so this one's from a trio sonata I'm writing for oboe, cor anglais, and continuo. (The bassoon and contrabassoon parts I have written there are for my benefit and can be ignored.) I know my harpsichord part isn't realized, but I plan on trying to realize it after I've finished with this movement. The cor anglais is written in concert pitch for now; it will be transposed when I'm done.

While I'm looking to try and move into the development of the fugal section, critique on the first slow section and the exposition of the fugue would be much appreciated. I'm just stuck; I'm trying to figure out how I got into a three-bar phrase at mm. 38 and how I could make the three voices play with each other here.

Finale PrintMusic 2008 - [trio sonata - double reeds.pdf

trio sonata - double reeds.MUS

trio sonata - double reeds.MID

Got a little further on it in case anyone wanted to see more.

trio sonata - double reeds.MUS

trio sonata - double reeds.MID

Finale PrintMusic 2008 - [trio sonata - double reeds].pdf

The score is very messy, i'll comment on some problems a little later (since it's Christmas and i'm busy... =p)

Hmm. I must admit, the first section needs a lot of work. I find the trills unnecessary and most of them clash pretty badly with the other parts. The transition from mm. 6 to 7 is a bit unsettling because it sounds like you're going to be modulating from a C# major chord to a F# chord, but you just go back to a C# minor chord, where you started. Also, you can do better with the falling glissando part of the melody in the first ending, preferably so that you don't end up with an F#-E#-C# ending.

The fugue has much potential but beware of putting running sixteenth notes in two voices at the same time-- unless the voices are directly paralleling each other, it will sound overwhelming. If you want ideas, I envision a soaring, legato oboe countermelody over the tocatta-like melody underneath. Have you ever heard Holst's Fantasia on the Dargason? He begins out with a stacatto Irish jig in the woodwinds and then the horns play a sweeping rendition of "Greensleeves" overtop-- it's a great effect that I think would be cool in this piece.

Happy Composing.

Hmm. I must admit, the first section needs a lot of work. I find the trills unnecessary and most of them clash pretty badly with the other parts. The transition from mm. 6 to 7 is a bit unsettling because it sounds like you're going to be modulating from a C# major chord to a F# chord, but you just go back to a C# minor chord, where you started. Also, you can do better with the falling glissando part of the melody in the first ending, preferably so that you don't end up with an F#-E#-C# ending.

Are the clashing trills only occurring where two parts are trilling simultaneously? I went through and took some of those out and found it came out better.

Between mm. 6 and 7, I was actually trying to modulate from C# major to E7 to A major. Is there a way I can make this transition clearer/less awkward than described?

For the falling glissando, are you talking about the one the oboe has right before the endings, or are you talking about the one in the continuo right on the first ending? Either way, I don't understand what you are saying about the F#-E#-C# ending; perhaps I'm just missing something, but could you explain that one?

The fugue has much potential but beware of putting running sixteenth notes in two voices at the same time-- unless the voices are directly paralleling each other, it will sound overwhelming. If you want ideas, I envision a soaring, legato oboe countermelody over the tocatta-like melody underneath. Have you ever heard Holst's Fantasia on the Dargason? He begins out with a stacatto Irish jig in the woodwinds and then the horns play a sweeping rendition of "Greensleeves" overtop-- it's a great effect that I think would be cool in this piece.

Yes, I really love that piece! I see what you're saying with it. I could definitely try that out. Actually, I just realized that I used a motive from Alessandro Marcello's oboe concerto as the subject of the fugue, so I could try and draw countermelodic ideas from other parts of that concerto. Does that sound like it would make sense here?

Thanks very much; this is really helpful. :)