String Trio

Movements of this were posted before (and now deleted) of this work. This is the finished, string trio in three movements. As usual, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated :D

String Trio

This deserves some attention. I have listened to the first movement now. Some short remarks.

At times it reminded me of Schnittkes (3rd string quartet) treatment of the theme of Beethovens Grosse Fuge. Was this intentional? A second point that caused that association is the fact that it sounded a bit like a collage of different styles. The assignment "romantic" (ms 26, and other places) enhances this. I find this music somewhat difficult but somehow it is not so inaccessible as it looks Its a thinkers fantasia after al It is well structured. So well done!

I know the 2nd movement. I recall hearing that before. But after the first movement is a nice refreshing neo-classical sort of happy relaxing time.

The 3rd movement was new for me. Energetic like many Finale's are. But it did not really cling unto me like the first movement did. The open fifths sounded sometimes a bit strange, as in out of context I think.

The quasi arabic section (slower, ms 308) was nice on its own, but within this movement a bit odd. Although it is fitting in the over collage/pastiche feel of this work.

I notice you use a lot of repeats. It adds to the clearness of structure in the 3rd movement, although I am not so keen on them, in general. Not certain for example if the repeats all work in the 1st movement... Well.

I find it a bit difficult to say more about this. The harmonic language is not my cup of tea. I hope you find this helpful. Keep up!

Alright, I'll try and comment on this as it goes:

Mvmt 1 : I like the ending... very eerie. I also appreciated your economy of material - The various motives stated at the very beginning were present throughout. I wouldn't repeat 59-73, frankly I think it gets too repetitive. I didn't like the transitions between one bout of thematic material and the next; even though we know the lines well already, I think the best thing to do would be to lead smoothly into each one. I was fascinated by the pizz. triplets for some unknown reason

Mvmt 2 : m. 182 was unneccessary in my opinion. The use of 5/4 was very interesting, it was a lot of fun to listen to. The little dissonances here and there really added to the flavour.

Mvmt 3: m. 262 - 263 , you have the cello above the first violin... it has a particular effect, but seeing as your cello parts are usually very high, I have to question that disposition. I feel a little bit like I did in the first Mvmt, namely, the same themes and motives are present throughout; but I sense a lack of unity... it renders the whole uninteresting, even if the harmony is as quirky as it is.

On the whole, I noticed you write cello parts that are in a very high register. Was that intentional? The treble register is a difficult one for a cellist. On the other side, you rarely venture into the higher register of the violin. I think a balance could be achieved. Musically speaking, I like your ideas very much, and my favourite mvmt is by far the second, the classical rondo being treated to only vaguely tonal harmonies and odd meters. A nice listen overall.

Hugo

1: Thinker's Fantasia --

Really fascinating work -- a "Themepark", you say? As I listened to this, I tried to imagine what kind of "themepark" you had in mind. I wasn't getting a clear picture until the sharp, poly-rhythmic pizz. came in. Then I got the vivid image of the ticking of clocks. This, in turn, reminded me of Salvador Dali's famous painting of the melting clocks. Then I saw your name "Salvatore" and thought that was a funny coincidence :blink:

It reminds me of a man searching through all the corners of his own mind, looking for something (who knows what? :dunno:), and finally finding it upon the D Major chord at measure 103. The "pizz" section makes another appearance as an arco section instead now, so it makes me think that these "ticks" are actually symbolizing heartbeats. They were frantic and irritated when searching for "whatever", but once found, turn into calming, slowing heartbeats. That's just my take on it, anyways.

Very cool!

2: Rondo --

Wow, what a contrast. So now the thinking man is dancing? And the pizz are making that entrance again. Surely this is related to the first movement?

Maybe what he was searching for was the confidence to speak to a girl he likes and asks her to dance?

The violin line now alternates between the two, pizz and arco, maybe conveying his mixed feelings of prickly anxiousness and swaying happiness and delight.

(Gosh, I'm probably so far off base here it's not even funny :blush:)

Now a slow section commences -- is he making that awkward moment in which he tried to summon up the courage to say that he more than just "likes" her at measure 169, now that there's a break in the dance? Slowly he continues to build confidence and build up more to his ultimate point to say to her, but he trails off ... and the dance starts once more! :D

3: Finale --

Well, seems like he's excused himself to a private place and is kind of throwing a fit. He has a tantrum, with bout's of romantic longing (measure 262 speaks to me of this in particular) in between. He again musters up courage to speak to her, marches slowly and dramatically up to her at measures 308 - 327ish ... where she promptly rejects him. And again, he throws a tantrum, which ends in a rather unceremonious thud :mellow: Bummer -- I was really hoping for a happy ending here :sleep:

I really, sincerely loved every minute of this -- it was thought-provoking, and very imaginatively put together. I'm sure my interpretation is rather far-off, but I suppose that's part of the fun :lol:

Thanks for sharing! :phones: