Lullaby for the Morning

This is something I wrote based on a small poem a friend wrote depicting the perseverance necessary through hard time (the night) and how one can finally rest and relax afterward (the morning). I was going for sunrise than sunshowers.

Lullaby for the Morning

Greetings and welcome to the forum, Mike.

The piece is great! There are tons of brilliant moments that I could go into, like some of the moments where you leave a suspension out there entirely unresolved and just freely floating. There's a great deal of contrapuntal activity that is also quite nice.

One thing I'd watch out for is letting some of the rhythmic material become to bland with melody/countermelody/accompaniment. Sure, what you have works. The reliance on strictly eighth note patterns can get a little old. The palindrome (3:2) is a nice break from the rhythmic monotony. Maybe your next piece can explore rhythm a little more? Just a thought.

The ending is nice, with the ending vamp in the harp and the (solo?) cello. Will the piece be performed?

Again, welcome. Be sure to give other works a listen and see if you can offer any feedback to other members. Glad you're here, and look forward to hearing more from you.

-AA

Thanks for posting, this is wonderful work. I love the violin/oboe/harp combo starting around 1:34. I was waiting for horns, then you bring them in at 2:32. Beautiful. At 3:13 I almost felt like I was listening to Joe Hisaishi, although the rhythm got a little tiresome. All in all I feel that there are too many ideas, but the piece has a solid flow and kept me interested throughout.

Hey Mike! I really like this piece. I especially liked the harp - The writing is very calm and flowing, and it's very creative as well. I agree with the the above two posters on the fact that the rhythm at that section can be a bit monotonous, but I think you break it up with the way you bring the different groups in. The feels kind of unresolved, which I like. Thanks for posting!!

I loved the intro, very well written! I think the MP3 itself needs to louder though, it's quite soft the whole way through. Great melodic solos in the woodwinds! I love how you always keep the piece moving with new things! And it definitely seems like a new morning with all the birds and such coming out. Splendid job!

Thanks for the very generous reception I appreciate the compliments and critiques greatly.

I re-uploaded the file with some velocity/note fixes and better volume (although be aware it starts pianoississimo with the violins split into 5 parts, so it is pretty quiet especially at the beginning)

After listening to the piece as a whole a few more times with the rhythm comments in mind, I think you are right, it can get a little bland in that regard. I was going for simplicity in rhythmic texture, but even simplicity needs variation. I'll pay more attention to that in upcoming compositions.

Again thanks all

Cheers!

Mike

NOW it's re-uploaded.

Beautiful work--so light and delicate; I really enjoyed the lovely melodies floating over the sustained chords in the strings. Your horn solo was especially memorable. The shape of the piece is great, too, with a good amount of quiet restraint that really make the crescendos stand out during the climax.