Passageways (for Flute Choir)

This is my first foray into ignoring a key signature. Instead of starting in a key signature and having that thought on my mind, I let the music move as it wanted to through the various tonal centers.It's scored for Piccolo, 4 C Flutes, Alto Flute, and Bass Flute.There are three movements, but there's a much better description in the score as Author Notes/Performance Notes.

Passageways (for Flute Choir)

Great pieces! I liked the 2nd mvt best, especially the harmonies that you created there. The 3rd was a bit less interesting IMO. But I always have that: with slow mvts that have a lot of repeats or little variation I tend to lose my interest pretty quickly. You created a nice atmosphere in the first, though it too was long and repetitive for me XD Might be something I need to work on. It's not fair to critique you for my own flaws so I won't

I agree that the first movement is far too repetitive. I think there were some very nice moments, but they tended to be obscured by all of the cumbersome repetitions.

I personally feel like the second movement feels more like childhood than the first movement does.

I think one thing that is needed in the piece is some more rhythmic variety. Most of the piece feels very rhythmically straight, and it leaves me wanting something a little more playful and interesting. The moments when you do offset the rhythm a little bit are very nice.

There are some really nice surprising harmonies mixed in with the tonal harmonies, which I enjoyed a lot.

I, personally, don't agree that the first movement is too repetitive. It's making a statement of the melody that all three movements are based off. How many repetitions a piece has is personally determined. I mean, for example, look at "American Pie". It's six of the same verse-chorus setups repeatedly. Six. Yes, there could be lots of variance in the rhythm. It does feel rhythmically straight, but that was a conscious decision on my part because it was a piece I wanted people to reflect on their own Passageways through life. I didn't want it to be my own personal story and tell everybody that had to see things the same way I do.

I didn't want there to be a lot of rhythmic variety. It would be easier to hold down a over-the-top rhythmic pattern if we had more than one player per part; unfortunately, we don't. Everything is extremely bare, so I'm used to controlled chording and rhythms that flow between the different parts. This is my style, especially if you look at my other Flute Choir piece that I've posted on here, entitled "Aztec Sunrise" (which I've fixed a couple things but haven't updated yet, but that's just mostly restructuring certain parts so there aren't people paying eight measures of eighth notes on one pitch nonstop). The two pieces that I have published for Flute Choir are also similar (head over to Flute.net and look for "Ring of Flutes" and "Winter Fantasia" under the Flute Choir page, and listen to the mp3s available...live performances do wonders for a work that Finale rendering cannot describe).

If you feel like the second movement is more child-like, then that's your perception. If you were to meet me now, you'd see it as a perfect reflection of myself. There's this stage we all go through where we move from childhood into adulthood, and we have a mix of both in the way we act. There's not this split-second effect where it's an instant change. Even now, I have moments where I refuse to be an adult, mainly because it's an appropriate time to have a child-like quality (which mainly is when I hear music in my head and go "OOH" like a kid in a candy store).

I am planning on next weekend recording Passageways, part by part, live. It'll be a learning experience, but it should give a better indication than Finale can of what I wanted.