Piano Concertante

This composition is for a competition with a deadline fastly approaching. That said, I am posting it here for feedback and very well thought out critiques - obviously, as its for a competition.

The structure was originally envisioned to be a very loose Rondo form (more of a fantasia, structured as a Rondo). However, time constraints for the competition prevent this - so, I had to settle for ABA form. The A sections are quasi- fugal. I wanted a sort of orchestral ethereal chant at the beginning that leads to a chaotic - yet beautiful sonic mess (which I felt I did achieve). The B section is, imo, very fantasy like.

So anyways, let me know what u think.

MP3: QE.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Piano Concertante.pdf

cool music

wow, 90 views and only 1 comment? Is it that bad :(

No time for comments now. But I listened :)

Hey there!

No its not bad at all, as you might know baroque music is my "thing", so i realy cant give you any constructive comments, but i liked this one, very nice music. If you got few comments, that mean that you music is great :)

Good job!

SimenN

Hey, is not bad...

A tiny correction:

Page 7, bar 98, Piano

The Dm chord (and so on) should be written in the left hand, and leave the right to the melody only.

Then the change from Gm to GM ... didn't like that very much, :D maybe a 7th needed ...

well done, keep writing more stuff, that's all what I say, :thumbsup:

Hey, is not bad...

A tiny correction:

Page 7, bar 98, Piano

The Dm chord (and so on) should be written in the left hand, and leave the right to the melody only.

Yes, I agree. And I will put a notation there for the pianist to play the Dm chord with the left hand (which is what I expect the pianist to do in the first place).

Then the change from Gm to GM ... didn't like that very much, :D maybe a 7th needed ...

well done, keep writing more stuff, that's all what I say, :thumbsup:

Well, I like the Gm to GM there as it is. I'll tinker with the addition of the 7th note. That passage is modulatory in nature, and I don't want to risk establishing a particular tonal region there when its not needed. I will check it out.

Thanks for addressing some spots and I hope you liked the piece.

The problem, for my tastes, is the subject itself. Each melodic segment within the subject ends with a long note and lacks rythmic variety. The combination of those two factors is that it loses momentum and ends up sounding like something is missing even after other voices join the mix. There also isn't any real counterpoint there, just repeating rythmic layers a la hip-hop.

Where the piano plays the subject in the right hand while playing a fast accompaniment with the right hand is another problem area. It sounds a little too simple. Let the left hand do a bit more work and turn the accompaniment into it's own one-handed polyphonic showcase as, high above it, the left hand slowly plays the primary subject as Bach often does in his choral music.

The problem, for my tastes, is the subject itself. Each melodic segment within the subject ends with a long note and lacks rythmic variety. The combination of those two factors is that it loses momentum and ends up sounding like something is missing even after other voices join the mix. There also isn't any real counterpoint there, just repeating rythmic layers a la hip-hop.

Where the piano plays the subject in the right hand while playing a fast accompaniment with the right hand is another problem area. It sounds a little too simple. Let the left hand do a bit more work and turn the accompaniment into it's own one-handed polyphonic showcase as, high above it, the left hand slowly plays the primary subject as Bach often does in his choral music.

I apologize, I've gone over the score multiple times and I don't see this passage your talking about in the highlighted section.

On the counterpoint, I actually liked the way the counterpoint worked on this piece. I am unable to do a full on fugal texture here due to time constraints on the piece. And I really thought the outcome of the fugal section was quite good in comparison to my other works. The subject itself is really not that good of a fugal melody, to be honest - hence why I didn't devote more fugal structure over what I used. I managed to get 3 good counterpoint lines which I then canonized among the orchestral choirs. (Hence why I said this is quasi-fugal!) I thought, though, given the subject itself that I did a very good job with the counterpoint and so forth.

Thank you for taking the time to listen and critique. I really appreciate it!

It sounds like the missing score for lord of the rings, or some other movie equally as epic!

It sounds like the missing score for lord of the rings, or some other movie equally as epic!

LOL! Thanks for giving the time to listen to my work.

hey,

Just listened to your piece, start to finish. I rarely do that on this site, so you clearly managed to hold my attention!

I really enjoyed this piece. I think you have a very interesting and accessible (and when I use that word I don't mean "simple" or "pop-minded") style to your music...clearly a lot of influence from baroque and classical mentalities, but also very modern in the execution. Although the rythmic pulse did get a little stagnant at some points, a good intepretation (i.e. not a computer :P) could definitely make it work.

My one real gripe is the end. After so much motion and building, the end just seemed a little abrupt. Is there a time constraint for the competition? If not, I'd recommend extending the cadence bit, a la Tchaikovsky (although maybe not quite as excessive.)

Great work! Which competition is this for?

hey,

Just listened to your piece, start to finish. I rarely do that on this site, so you clearly managed to hold my attention!

I really enjoyed this piece. I think you have a very interesting and accessible (and when I use that word I don't mean "simple" or "pop-minded") style to your music...clearly a lot of influence from baroque and classical mentalities, but also very modern in the execution. Although the rythmic pulse did get a little stagnant at some points, a good intepretation (i.e. not a computer :P) could definitely make it work.

My one real gripe is the end. After so much motion and building, the end just seemed a little abrupt. Is there a time constraint for the competition? If not, I'd recommend extending the cadence bit, a la Tchaikovsky (although maybe not quite as excessive.)

Great work! Which competition is this for?

Yes, there is a very stringent time constraint on this piece of 10 mins. I originally envisioned it to be longer. I'm very glad you enjoyed the piece.

hi,

i think that its really cool,

i question your use of clarinet two, excuse me if i missread this, my score was very fuzzy!

i always give the first player, regardless of instrument the more demanding part, i know that you gave the clarinet one the tune but surely the oboes could have been used more! they're are a great instrument!

i think that the flute part as very senstivly written in parts, which was great, and i loved the flute entery with the violin 2? (hav i got that right?) the cool quaver thing!

with the piano solo, the crazy one! i would have loved some intervemntion from the orchestra, something simlar to, kinda stabs or something?

other than that one crazy bit i thouight that the piano part could have been more exciting but it was well balanced with the amount of orchestra and piano, apart from the bit hich i mentioned.

keep on composing some pretty cool ideas.

hi,

i think that its really cool,

i question your use of clarinet two, excuse me if i missread this, my score was very fuzzy!

i always give the first player, regardless of instrument the more demanding part, i know that you gave the clarinet one the tune but surely the oboes could have been used more! they're are a great instrument!

i think that the flute part as very senstivly written in parts, which was great, and i loved the flute entery with the violin 2? (hav i got that right?) the cool quaver thing!

with the piano solo, the crazy one! i would have loved some intervemntion from the orchestra, something simlar to, kinda stabs or something?

other than that one crazy bit i thouight that the piano part could have been more exciting but it was well balanced with the amount of orchestra and piano, apart from the bit hich i mentioned.

keep on composing some pretty cool ideas.

Thanks, Im fixing the score currently. I will check your suggestions. Thanks, and Im glad you enjoyed the work.

good stuff

Thanks, Jedi. I'm glad you liked it and appreciate you for taking a listen.

I love it. Your piano passages are fantastic, they have a lot of power behind them. The overall mood of the song is kept consistent throughout which is great.

Fantastic work!

I love it. Your piano passages are fantastic, they have a lot of power behind them. The overall mood of the song is kept consistent throughout which is great.

Fantastic work!

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed the work.

I agree with jdbullen about the ending. Unless you're at 10m already, you should change it.

The rest was fine :)

Well, I will tinker with it then. Thanks for listening and glad you enjoyed it.

I believe it is the Queen Elizabeth Competition?

Yes, it is..lol!

In general , I liked the orchestration and the interplay of orchestra/piano. There were some good moments.

That said, I agree with other posters that the subject itself seemed too weak to sustain the level of drama and development you wanted from it. The rhythmic feel was also too static both in the subject and accomp. parts. Both of these could be corrected,--the subject might be given a boost of interest with only some rhythmic or ornamental changes within the existing harmonic structure. Lightening the orchestra texture in places (white space!!) would be a welcomed change, IMO.

Good luck in the contest!

Well the subject, i intended to be static actually. I wanted it to serve two purposes and I feel that it did fulfill both those purposes. The first was for it to function both as a harmonic and melodic motif throughout the quasi-fugal texture (which it does to great success). Second, I didn't want it to be rhythmically diverse due to the fact that the middle section is nothing more but the diversification of the theme (which i'm glad noone pointed out). I do agree that changes could be made to the harmonic structure for the A sections and have considered greatly what changes I could make to better the piece without ruining the overall structure and flow.