Summer's Day

This was a piece written for the December competition. I took a somewhat minimalistic approach to this piece writing it for two vocalists (alto and tenor) with a small and simple string quartet for accompaniment. The string have a very simple part and there is a recurring ostinato pattern that happens for most of the piece as well. The lyrics are based off of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 entitled "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?"Summer's DaySummer's Day

Had a problem with the audio and only the cello part was playing. It is fixed now and the score is playing correctly.

I was a little worried about this piece at its inception, but things tugged along nicely. It loses a bit of my intrigue around 1:50 through the repetition up until ~2:25, but thin the theme kind of sets in, albeit a little uncomfortably. Then, at 3:30, you're on your way to a lovely ending. I'm not particularly fond of your choice of notes for the solo cello. There are plenty of options regarding the tonal function. Even considering minor embellishments (Yeah, I know. It can be a hassle when working with MIDI) can add a little color or slight flavoring that makes it more worthy of standing alone.

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I wasn't very moved by the piece - it seemed to drone on too much. I think one reason why I got that impression was because of your vocal parts - there is little interaction between the tenor alto, except at the beginning, where we have a canon - more variation of dynamics, thematic material between the two voices would have been more interesting. As a result of having the alto take up the main material almost constantly, your tenor is relegated to what resembles accompaniment, in a very low register - a baritone would be more at ease with this type of part. Having the Tenor explore the higher, more brilliant range (from about D-G, higher the better your tenor is) would contribute a lot to make your parts more engaging. The string lines are likewise unfulfilling - a lot of static lines in the middle register. For the piece's length, more variation in rhythm and register would be desirable. Harmonically, I noticed a few fourth chords - either 6\4 's or just the interval - they seemed out of place, given that you use a very simple harmonic language. 6\4 's are best used in passing or in cadences in this kind of texture.

Complaints aside, there is some solid material - I didn't disagree with any of your melodic material per se in the voices, and the arch-type form of the piece suits it well, gives it direction. I think more interesting parts would make the work more effective, though.