Symphony No.1

Finally! here it is. My first symphony is now finished. After a little less than a year of work but only a couple months on the melodies that are included in the work. So here is the program:Allegro misterioso:of course, this movement is very mysterious but in the end triumphant. The movement starts with an intro that is influenced by Bruckner opening with tremolo strings and atmospheric brass. The next section of the intro is quite triumphant and also somewhat Brucknerish but with a touch of other composer's influence. The A section is an ominous fugue laying down the main minor melodies for the symphony, of which reoccurs many more times throughout. Then the slower and sweeter B section come around and only returns in the 3rd movement. The it returns to the A section but this time it is more developed. It then transitions back into the intro which now is an outro, and goes into it's triumphant finale.2.Adagio expressivoThis is the slower movement of the symphony and I believe this has the best chord voicing in the whole work. The A section is slow and caring. The B section is a very bored sounding and thoughtful sort of melody. The section repeats and then it D.C. al Fines back to the begging.3.Allegro con fuocoThis is the shortest and the darkest movement of the work. It starts with a more enlarged and tormented fugue melody from the first movement. It continues into a slow part also much like Bruckner. For only a moment it goes into another dark part but then back to a slow part. At this point, the first movement's B section returns, but for only a moment, before going into another and much more section full of torment. The movement ends with quiet pizz. violas, celli, and bassi. 4. Allegro con motoThis movement is wonderful in my opinion. It is mostly optimistic. A march starts it. It goes then into a slow section much like the second movement. Then, it rises up into the fugue melody again only to fade of to silence. Then, there is an only brass section. It goes right back into the fugue section, but this time, it resembles the fugue's second appearance in the first movement. It also fades away with pizz. this time and goes into a great happy sounding section. Then, into a slow theme that has never been heard in the symphony before, and it goes right back to the happy section. There is a key change right into the finale of it all and it ends wonderfully.Thank You for listening.

Symphony No.1

I really enjoyed this piece so far. I've only listened to the first movement but I've got a few comments. Firstly I liked how you transitioned between one idea to the next and I thought the whole movement flowed very nicely.

Taking a look at the string parts starting at mm 149, you might want to mark divisi and/or think about revoicing some of the chords. Most of them are not playable as quad stops and you're going to end up with an awkward texture since the sections will have to be in 3- or 4-part divisi some of the time. Even if you split the chords into 2-part divisi (which should be beamed accordingly), some of the double stops are very difficult to play at that tempo and may sound pretty dry and pitchy. That might be the sound you're going for though, I'm not sure. =) Whatever the case, just be sure to indicate your intentions in the score so that it's clear what you want the players to do there (and again at mm 232). Also make sure that your string bass doesn't go below written E below the staff at mm 327 or you'll have to indicate a different tuning, which is not recommended.

Is this piece supposed to call for 4 trombones? I was following the 3rd bone part intently to see if it ever goes below C3, and it finally does at mm 163, but at that point there are 4 trombones playing? I was a little confused by that.

Anyway, I'm excited to listen to the rest of your symphony when I get home tonight. Great job!

Great job! Writing a 4 movement symphony is certainly a great accomplishment, and I think you've done very well!

I like your material, and I think the general structure of the work is well put-together. However, I think, overall, it lacked polyphony. It all seemed very light harmonically: One group playing a melody, and another group playing a harmony. It would benefit greatly for more motion underneath the general flow of the piece.

One thing I noticed was your use of horns. For one thing, horns are much more comfortable in treble clef than bass clef. Bass clef should only really be used if you're playing for an extended period of time below 3 ledger lines (in treble) or if you're playing in the extreme lowest register, it's acceptable to put a measure or two in bass clef. That being said, horns are NOT bass instruments. What you have here is fine, save the mostly unnecessary use of bass clef, but there were a couple phrases where I felt it would be better left to the trombones.

Nonetheless, excellent job!!

Hope to see more in the future!

-MF

Thank you all for your comments and advice. I hope to revise the harmony and such at some point.

Thank you

Jared