She Walks in Beauty

This is probably one of my favorite choral pieces that I've ever written. I don't have much to say about this piece; there's no history behind it, really. We read "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron in my English class, and my professor explained that Byron was the "father" of angst in poetry, pointing out that in the poem, the woman is unattainable, and any effort the speaker makes is hopeless. This is the third piece I've posted that is a part of my portfolio for college applications to Music Composition programs, so critique is much appreciated and will be fully considered.

She Walks in Beauty

Not half bad ^^.

I have a few general questions that come up for choral singing: firstly, are you comfortable with the idea of singers breathing in abnormal spots? It seemed to me there were a lot of cases where there seemed to be a long time before the singers reached a point where they would typically sing. Granted, this is the choral singer in me speaking and not the composer, but if a composer who is a singer sees this, be prepared to answer this question.

Is there purposefully a lack of dynamics? In general, I have found personally that in slower, my emotional or introverted works the dynamics mean quite a bit, especially for people trying to learn the music (including and especially conductors).

I do like the dramatic pauses very much so! They seem to add a special touch. I do like the occassional and tastefull use of various intervals...I haven't looked extensively at each line, but I would also gauge the difficulty and expertise level of the choir that you're writing this for. If, let's say, you're writing this for a high school or early college difficulty, I'd work with singers or the choral directors nearby to figure out how hard they'd think each part/the whole work is.

All in all, not a bad work though ^^. I think this'll be a good addition to your college portfolio: it shows you're learning and can handle and are working with musical ideas at a better-than expected typical beginning composer (not to say that you are, just most schools I've seen presume that where their composers are starting).

Cheers and Good Luck!

Presti

This composition would be greatly enhanced by the addition of dynamic markings - unless, of course, you intend the entire piece to be sung at exactly the same dynamic level all the way through. Given the mainstream choral style of the music, these markings would be expected in an application portfolio, and would also heighten the effectiveness of the notes you write.

Text-setting is another thing you need to think about. Several times you place an unstressed syllable on a strong beat and vice versa, which can be an interesting effect (see Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms and Ave Maria) but which does not fit this style very well and may create problems in performance. You need to make a close study of the poem itself to work out how the stresses can be preserved in a musical setting. I set this poem myself some years ago and opted for a compound time meter as it seemed to fit the rhythm of the text best.

I see very little contrast of texture. All the parts sing the same homophonic rhythm for almost the entire work, and there is very little variation in the use of the ensemble. There is a little basic counterpoint at b.37-40 which helps, but aside from bars 4-5 there is almost no point at which all four (or more) parts are reduced, or the tessatura limited to a particular range. Although I say this of a lot of works, there is also no departure from the tonal centre of the music (a big give-away is the lack of accidentals) which means that coupled with the dense harmonies the music is essentially a re-arrangement of the same chord all the way through.

On the positive side, you have good judgement in the length of phrases and at creating and dissapating tension (which is why dynamics would be so beneficial). Also, this music presents few technical difficulties for the ensemble or conductor (largely by virtue of the points about texture I criticise above).

I think it would also benefit the piece if more disunion between the voices were shown, instead of a large jumble of chords with an ascending homophonic line occurring through the piece.. (maybe create some sequences which counter the melody?)

Great job with the setting of the text though...I'm working on setting the poem to music as well :P it's funny, I'm also looking to put it into my college portfolio...

Good luck :)