Suite for Four Violins and Tabor, 3. Un Départ...

This is the third movement in a suite for four violins and drum (tabor). Taking inspiration from dances of the Renaissance, each movement of the suite is loosely based on a dance form; this final movement is a Basse Danse–Tourdion pair. In the process of composition, I decided to remain open to many melodic and harmonic possibilities outside of the Renaissance period. This was largely due to my lack of will power, :-) but the journey was fun and the result hopefully interesting. I hope you enjoy the music! If you would like to listen to the first movement as well, please follow this link to the original post. In the score, the third movement starts on page 9.

Suite for Four Violins and Tabor, 3. Un Départ...

This does have a very "dance" feel to it - the drum is great for setting the rhythm! I also liked the polyphony; you created some very interesting lines within a simple harmonic context. I couldn't say there was much to criticize; I could, however, have used a thinner texture once in while - the constant use of three or four violins does wear down the ear a bit - more varied use of orchestration and register (I didn't see many high tessitura passages, these are a violinist's favourite :D ) could make it a tad more engaging for the listener. Otherwise, great work!