Scherzo giocoso

Scherzo giocoso placed first in the upper division of the Arden and Harry Fisher Young Composers Competition in 2007. I have included the original program notes for your benefit:Scherzo giocoso is in simple ABA form. The first theme is in 5/8 time, played by the two violins in thirds, with pizzicato in the cello and harmonic interest in the viola. Following a brief transition, a subordinate theme appears, alternating between 3 + 2 and 2 + 3 meters. The first theme briefly returns before merging into the lyrical middle section, in 3/4 time. This melody is first played by the 1st violin above block harmony, and later by the cello beneath running eighths and pizzicati in the upper strings. A turbulent transition follows, resulting in a brief climax before the return of the first theme. At the end of the recapitulation, a transformed first theme appears in 4/4, and the piece concludes in a rapid coda and the final pizzicato chords. Scherzo giocoso is dedicated to my late friend, Randy Cook, for his unfailing sense of humor.Thanks for listening!

Scherzo giocoso

Very entertaining piece! love it! beautiful;charming and lively! nice recording to! thanks for sharing

GURL NO WAY.

one of my pieces got played for that competition this past year, hohoho. I'll have to take a look at dis later; but I was surprised to see someone else on the baord that had entered it and won.

EDIT:

er, board

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

Very nicely done! I enjoyed this quite a bit! It is very charming and has a lot of "class" to it!

Very nice. Reminded me somehow of Borodin's scherzo from his symphony Good job!

Your piece just made my night. This is wonderful! Fantastic writing for the string quartet and near mastery of tonal harmony. The performance is beautiful too!

Brilliant piece and beautiful recoriding. Thank-you very much for posting!

I kind of found myself wishing the sense of humor that the A Section wanted to convey was a little more prominent -- right now it just kind of sounds happy-go-lucky, and to be honest I wasn't crazy about it, although it's perfectly pleasant music and well written. What about something like Mozart's Musical Joke to spice things up? * Sudden deep pizz. -- TOING * Although, if you'd done that, the judges might have been blind-sided and given you a lesser score for bad writing or something, (or perhaps the performers wouldn't have really conveyed the joke) so I understand the slight rigidness.

The Cantabile section was my favorite part -- it was a really perfect foil, and in fact made special by the A Theme. Absolutely wonderful!

I'm trying to figure out what it is you're trying to say at measure 249. This dolce section seems to have a specific purpose, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. It sounds sort of like your friend is about to say something serious, and then goes back into his humorous side?

A fantastic work, overall, sir! Thank you so much for sharing with us! :nod: My condolences for your loss :(