Snowflake

Hi, I'm new here. Been reading this forum for awhile and I've enjoyed it, so I thought I'd hop in.

-David

I guess I can't upload an mp3, so here's a link to my myspace page where you can stream the piece: Snowflake

Hello David. Let me say upon first just looking at the score I thought this piece would be impossible to perform. In ways you murder the tenor by constantly forcing him to sing in such high ranges and the high A seems virtually impossible to sing without falsetto, which is prohibited in solo singing. That being said, I then listend to the recording. Is that you singing/playing? The tenor is fantastic, a true tenor indeed and the only note I question being in falsetto is again the high A. All of modulatory strayings that exist develop the text and the entire piece, and it fascinated me the entire time I heard it. Though it often leaps around and sounds difficult to sing, I enjoyed it. Is this piece considered in the jazz genre? It sounds like it to me, but as I know nothing about jazz I figured I would ask.

Thanks for your comments, Travis. I'm the pianist on the recording, and my friend is singing. He has a great high range (as you heard) and very little low range, and I tailored this piece to fit his voice, so that's why the score looked so brutally high.

I wasn't familiar with the "rule" that falsetto singing is prohibited in solo songs. I wouldn't consider this a traditional art song, though, so perhaps that rule doesn't apply to this. I told him to sing it that way.

I definitely wouldn't call this jazz. I don't think it fits well into any one particular genre.. I tried to split the difference between musical theatre and art song, and I think the jazz influence is mainly in the harmony.

Thanks for letting me know what you think! I'm glad you liked it.

I agree with dvk on the genre of this song, somerwhere between musical theatre and art song. The text is awesome along with the way you told the story through the melodic line. The piano part definately adds too the artistic idea of this snowflake gliding downward upon these two skaters. Very cool!

Thanks steffen. It's a great poem, isn't it??

Definately. Who is the text by? I never caught that.

William Baer.. he teaches at University of Evansville.

It's a stunning text. Absolutely stunning!

This is rather bloody fantastic. Genius use of text and of modulation, very nice piano part. This actually seems to me a lot like some of the less musical-theater-y of musical theater music... In the vein of Sondheim or Jason Robert Brown. Very well done. You ought to consider (if you haven't already) doing some stuff for musical theater.

Thanks very much! I'm glad you like it. I like Jason Robert Brown a lot and I'm just getting into Sondheim's music.

Mm, not Jason Robert Brown. The harmonic language of the piece is much more complex than his.

Adam Guettel has a lot of sound like this. Check out the shows "Floyd Collins" and "The Light in the Piazza."

Hello David. Let me say upon first just looking at the score I thought this piece would be impossible to perform. In ways you murder the tenor by constantly forcing him to sing in such high ranges and the high A seems virtually impossible to sing without falsetto, which is prohibited in solo singing. That being said, I then listend to the recording. Is that you singing/playing? The tenor is fantastic, a true tenor indeed and the only note I question being in falsetto is again the high A. All of modulatory strayings that exist develop the text and the entire piece, and it fascinated me the entire time I heard it. Though it often leaps around and sounds difficult to sing, I enjoyed it. Is this piece considered in the jazz genre? It sounds like it to me, but as I know nothing about jazz I figured I would ask.

Look here. Any tenor worth his salt is going to be able to deal with high A's. End.

Look here. Any tenor worth his salt is going to be able to deal with high A's. End.

The man speaks sense.

"The Light in the Piazza."

I saw this at Barnes and Noble today and bought it.

WOW.