The Juniper Tree - A Symphonic Poem

Hello all~

I haven't really been posting much or anything on these forums, however, when I somehow accidentally found this place again, I thought it'd be interesting to see some of your comments on my music.

Since I'm an unfamiliar face here, I'll give a brief introduction about myself:

I am a seventeen years old composer who wrote a variety of works ranging from solos to chamber ensembles to orchestral pieces. I write mainly in the genre of contemporary classical, loosely basing my pieces on Schoenberg's 12-tone technique. I have studied composition under a former University of Toronto professor for almost two years. My main influences are mainly 20th century (e.g. Stravinsky, Bartok, Webern...), though like much the composers of that time, I prefer to employ forms of the Baroque and Classical era. However, I'm a firm believer that a composer should be well-rounded and well-educated in all styles, for there's always some techniques that might be interesting for your own style.

But enough about me, I mean, the point of this thread is about my piece, so without further ado...

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The Juniper Tree - a folktale for orchestra

Though many people consider Brothers Grimms' tales to be children's tales and 'fairy tales', there are many stories that actually weren't meant for children. Even Hansel and Gretel was intended to be quite grim, though, much of these tales were morphed into the happy little fairy tales we see today. Furthermore, Brothers Grimms' tales weren't all 'fairy tales', many of them were just plain folktales since supernatural elements weren't present. And I chose to set my symphonic poem in one of these folktales.

The Juniper Tree, quite frankly, is a somewhat cliched story that could be summed up in one line:

evil stepmother kills boy, boy transforms into bird, bird kills stepmother.

Despite the simplicity of the story, I realized that a purely musical setting might be able to give the story an entirely new face. Furthermore, The Juniper Tree is quite eccentric in its description and narration. If you have never read the story, I'd suggest you to at least have a little glance at it; it's actually quite a strange story, in my opinion.

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Originally, I intended the piece to be divided into sections in accordance to the Golden ratio (i.e. dividing 14 minutes by the .618 (phi)). However, the story, being eccentric with its descriptions, somewhat led me another way.

The 14 minutes symphonic poem could be divided in 4 simple sections, in accordance to the story. The first section depicts the scene of the birth of the main character, the death of the mother, and the mystical Juniper Tree. The second section depicts the murder of the boy and how the stepmother made him into a dinner. The third section depicts the burial of the remains of the boy by his stepsister and the boy's revival as a bird. The fourth section, evidently, portrays the murder of the mother, and the vaguely happy ending for the boy, his stepsister, and his father.

Despite the fact that the main melodic elements all derived from two tone rows (one row was the 'protagonist' and the other the 'antagonist'), much of the harmony could be considered quite tonal, and at times (e.g. letter B with the bassoons) bitonal.

Yes, the piece is based largely on motifs and they recur in different forms when need be.

Orchestration wise, it's for a moderate sized orchestra without most of the brass, so in other words, something like Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin. My influences in orchestration for this piece was mainly Richard Strauss because of his ingenious ability to dramatize a story with instrumental colours. Therefore, I was listening to a lot of Salome, Elektra, and Till Eulenspiegel as I was constructing this piece.

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Having done co-op at a music publications, I have learned that a composer's responsibility does not end at just finishing a piece. A composer is also responsible that the score, which is what represents the composer if they are not present, is elegant that there shall be no ambiguity in conveying his/her ideas in a performance. So I would greatly appreciate it if you can especially focus on the score when you provide me with a critique!

Since it's a relatively big piece and I don't have an orchestra at my dispose, I could only use GPO to make a relatively unrealistic recording of the piece. Please note that some effects (e.g. stopped to opened horn) are missing in the recording. As well, I have provided only fragments of the piece in the audio since some parts just don't work out at all on my computer. D: But other than that, I hope you'll enjoy. :)

Letter A and letter B of the piece: Letter A and Letter B.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Letter F and part of letter G of the piece: Letter F and Letter G.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Part of letter I of the piece:Letter I.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

The Juniper Tree - Good Copy.pdf

It looks great! I only wish I could hear the whole thing.... (btw, nice bass clarinet solos coming from a bass clarinetist here :D)

it look good

I enjoy it a lot, I hope this is recorded so I can hear it all.

Thanks, all. :)

I enjoy what I can hear of the sound files. As far as score fixes, I see nothing in particular. I think you should make sure that in the specific percussion part, include a key at the beginning, so that the amazing diagrams you've drawn can be used, and then you won't need to use the abbreviated words after. Maybe you've already thought of this, but also, in the percussion part, when they finish playing, and have a long rest afterwards, write a little note to indicate what instrument is next, so that the percussionist(s) can be preparing the next instruments while they count rests, instead of having it right before they come in, if you know what I mean. The same applies for harp parts, the pedal diagrams (which you have also drawn very very nicely) should be immediately after the harpist finishes playing, so that they can make the switch and be ready at their next entrance. Even if they have a lot of rests. Again, maybe you know this already, but that's the only thing I see. The score looks lovely. Good work not only in the composition, but in the notation as well. Very very professional.

Hey. This is in concert pitch? I may just be confused, but if it is in concert, the horn parts are way too high. Concert f sharp ppp. Hmm.. if that's right, that would make the a C sharp above the staff. Move everything down an octave. Or are you having the parts down a perfect fourth?

If I'm not understanding something, disregard this.

Sam Parrilla

@ OMWBWAY: Thanks, the harp pedaling comments was especially helpful.

@ Sam: It's a transposed score, not concert pitch, as stated on the first page of music.