Alleluia (for Women's Choir SA Divisi and Woodwind Quartet)

This is a piece with an instrumentation I thought was unique for sort of goes together in a strange way. I love women's choirs and this is the first piece I've written for them. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Alleluia (for Women's Choir SA Divisi and Woodwind Quartet)

I just noticed I forgot to put text under the choir pitches at some points, just disregard that for the moment....it's all 'Alleluia' anyway lol

I go back and forth between really liking this and not at parts. One of the best examples of this is the introduction of the dissonance on page three: it's not that it hasn't been there nor continues to be later on, but it's so suddenly and violently introduced that it, especially when paired with the notable subtlety the rest of the work seems to have and introduces at the beginning of the work, it can stick out like a very sore thumb.

Another thing that I would critique is the treatment of the text. While this is a tough challenge of using just one word, a lot of times the word seems subservient to the music. While that's a personal taste, I feel that if you're going to use the voice and strip away one of it's very clear advantages is like writing a beautiful oboe solo in a symphony just to have the brass hammer away during it :/. ESPECIALLY the stopping mid-syllable or having them stretch it out so long the sound no longer becomes tangible. Once again, that's a matter of personal taste.

Overall, what I liked in this piece, I REALLY liked, and conversely what I didn't, I didn't. I do like the subtlety and exploration of sounds that come so easily for all men's or women's choruses...but I don't like mostly what I pointed out above.

I agree with a lot of what the above comment said. Some parts I loved, some need a little bit of work. But first and foremost, I love the instrumentation! A women's chorus and a woodwind quartet... so unusual! I commend you for creating such a piece. I love your use of dissonance, but at time I didn't enjoy the overuse of it. That part where the oboe and clarinet (I think) wail two clashing notes for like 4 measures and a fermata... That simply hurt after a while. I'd definitely make that a clash, then resolve. Then even clash again and resolve in the same phrase; but I wouldn't suggest leaving it as such a harsh long note. Also I would be careful with what you're writing for the alto line, it seemed to go down to a G, I think, and that's pretty unusual in my opinion. Also they had some octave jumps from their low A range to their middle A range; I'm no expert but I would think that's semi-difficult and not comfortable. I'm sure it's possible, but I'm not sure how necessary it is to the overall accomplishment of the piece.

On the bright side, holy crap I love your use of key changes. I'm a sucker for those and you implemented them wonderfully. I enjoyed the odd ones, such as D to D-flat major. And at measure 108, I just lit up! That part was so expressive and beautiful!

Though, at the end...I didn't like the last chord. That's about all I can say, haha; I just think the last chord could use some work, like making some parts resolve.

These are all just in my opinion, I'm no professional. Take it or not, it doesn't matter :) Great piece. Fun instrumentation/voicing!

-Keegan