"Psalms" for string orchestra (live recording)

(No, the name wasn't stolen from Tokke) This is part of my composition exam. The orchestra was a bit small and the recording equipment ancient, also has a bit of tape noise... tried to remove that and failed. I mastered it myself, the recording wasn't very good, it sounded "OK" on their studio speakers but not so good at home, and for some reason I got some artifacts from the tape (screw you DAT), had to do some copy-pasting/crossfading between takes.

The piece is sort of neo-romantic maybe with some minimalistic elements, it's completely diatonic.

Recording

Score

We did a few minor changes to the score at the rehearsals but I didn't add them to this score yet, shouldn't be noticeable though.

Sounds excellent. Manage to create a contrast without diminishing the tender, reflective mood. String writing is pretty strong - only suggestion for next time is to spend more time in the more extreme registers. I realize for this work it may not work but I longed for some soprano pedal points. But this is very very tiny and more a matterof personal taste. Bravo!

I'm going to echo CO on both points...I loved most of the writing, it was beautiful and thoughtful. I disliked the pizzicato section, but that's merely a matter of personal taste, I'm not a fan of pizzicato sounds. The lilting melody afterward was brilliant. Also, what I longed for were soaring high soprano pedals at points, or booming bass pedals at other points. The suspensions you used were well prepared, anticipated and executed. I found myself just nodding along, knowing where you were heading and enjoying the journey all the same. In much the same way as Barber, I would love to hear you attempt to put words to this, but that's the choir geek in me.

This piece was incredible. Very well thought out, very nicely shaped. I loved it. I really think this is an exceptional piece of music. Great use of suspension, very nice timing. You changed chords when they needed to be changed. I think, if anything, the pizzicato was sort of the most off putting section. Maybe a little more variety in the pizz's, i'm not really sure. A pizz section is a good idea, but I think you need to look into it a little more. Beautiful melodic material afterwords, however. I think you should be very proud of this work.

-thumbs up-

Awesome job.

Good stuff. I second the comment on the pizzicato section - although it wasn't inappropriate I felt it should have been taken up and developed rather than just left as a little interlude in the melody. It had a rather Sibelian feel to it which reminded me of one of the variations in the slow movement of the Fifth Symphony. I'm not entirely convinced by the title though. It's clear that you want the music to convey a religious feeling, but to me (an agnostic btw) a psalm is a shout of praise or else a lament. Your piece was more like a meditation or a quiet prayer of thanks - like movements in late Beethoven quartets.

:horrified:

:happytears:

Ok, now this is how one writes for string orchestra. This was amazing, very well done Max! You paced it almost exactly right and I felt that the slow sections were not boring. The subtle changing of notes in the inner voices were enough to keep my interest, a serene picturesque view with a subtle movement of the trees of lake's waters. I can see David himself just siting my the lake playing his harp singing like this. It was very well done.

Qualms: Few and far between actually. The pizz. section was a shock. I think it works but you should more gradually move into it, perhaps stagger arco and pizz. for a time having both motives being played at the same time slowly moving to all pizz. and back again. I think the pizz. needed a bit more variation in it as in the main melodies in arco being poked through the pizz. texture, counterpoint between the main melodies and the pizz. accompaniment.

The beginning and ending sections have some very weird barring and time signatures. Consider simplifying it by getting rid of the larger numbers such as the 7/4 and 3/2. Dividing it into more bars gives less room for error for the conductor and the performers.

My favorite bit was from m. 104 on wards with the octave divisis. This section was simply heavenly. With so many octaves, it almost started to sound like the strings and principal divisions of a organ. Perhaps like an Erzahler stop(which ironically means "story teller" as David was with his Psalms). The melody is crafted well and it just was so great! Amazing job! :phones:

Good luck and happy composing! :)

Beautiful. Very well put together, Max. I really wish more modern composers favoured this kind of beautiful romanticism over wild avant-garde stuff...might save out art a bit (although, some of the "wild avant-garde stuff" can be incredible, too.)

I hope I don't sound like a total knob in saying that it really made me think of Barber's Adagio. Had a different sense of movement to it and didn't stray as much into the incredible intensity that Barber has, but the harmonic language seemed pretty similar, and you've got a great idea of this style. My only issue is the end seemed to drag on a little bit, didn't really seem like it fit with everything that came before it. I did however like that last F in the basses, almost forgot they were there.

Not too bad of a recording either, how many players were there?

Congrats!

Joshua

Simply stunning. A true meditation on the Psalms. And it appears that we indeed have had a glimpse into the eternal. Well done.

Sincerely,

Brian Sagraves

Thanks for all the comments so far. ;)

Not too bad of a recording either, how many players were there?

About 30 I think. The (somewhat excessive) reverb makes it sound a bit fatter.

Good stuff man! I really enjoyed it, never got boring despite the long chords. I felt like you showed a lot of restraint and control, and when you finally let loose and the violins play divisi in high registers the effect is amazing! Really good stuff. The ending was also a nice mirror to the beginning and really effectively summed up the piece. No critique here, but I thoroughly enjoyed the work, great job!

I actually had no problem with the pizz, it didn't feel out of place at all. The beginning slow section got just a TAD old, I was thinking I'd have to bail on the piece but then the faster section came in and renewed my interest. Lovely, though.

I love it! Thanks for sharing.

The opening (up to bar 20) reminds me of Mahler, which I like a lot.

Very lyrical indeed. I enjoyed it. It flowed nicely. I liked the suspensions, they felt very nice (for lack of a better word).

I do have one complaint for the pizz section. It's not that it's out of place, but I felt like it was a little rushed. I think it should have been held back a little bit more.

I also would have liked some more color variation. That's one of the things that's hard about strings. They are all so similar, you have to use different technique than just throwing in different instruments and others out. It has to do with the registers, so I just would have liked to see a little more differences in registers.

Still, to say the least, very well written. Who performed this by the way?

Who performed this by the way?

My professor's orchestra, he was conducting. His orchestra records mostly for the radio and TV.

Your "Psalms" piece was like lettuce to my ears!

The taste was delightful and it never got mouldy throughout my consumption of it - despite my snaily-like pace at such things.

Well done and all the best,

*photograph of slimy signature for you to keep*

Blenching Snail

Your "Psalms" piece was like lettuce to my ears!

The taste was delightful and it never got mouldy throughout my consumption of it - despite my snaily-like pace at such things.

Well done and all the best,

*photograph of slimy signature for you to keep*

Blenching Snail

Um... Thank you.

In contrast to just about every else on this thread, I have to say that I didn't like it very much at all. Don't get me wrong, it was a well-constructed and well thought out piece but it simply didn't appeal to me much at all. Most of the criticism I have against this piece is more the style in which it was written (which I find rather uninteresting in general) rather than the piece itself so I'll refrain from commenting further. The one nice thing I can say is the recording was very good. Congratulations on a live performance.

another sammel barber style music , but it look nice and wonderfull , touching my soul

perfect, I loved this :-D

I loved this.

The moving voices at the start were timed perfectly, and the outbreak of emotion when the piece broke into the divisi section was amazing.

Great job!

Just Wundersch

This, I believe... is the music of heaven.

Absolutely miraculous!

Very well done. Beautiful melodic lines throughout the piece. I will agree with what the others said about the pizz. section, but an amazing composition regardless. Thank you for posting this.

The recording sounds nice, skillful writing for strings and nice/natural overall concept, the pizzicato i feel was not a good decision or rather it wasn't rendered to correctly depict what you meant to say in that part.

Its very Movie score-Like, end of movie credits ! Nice work