Primrose Path - Grand Waltz for Piano

A waltz in an American-Edwardian style, ca. 1905, composed September 10-15, 2010 as a gift for my mother - ever my staunchest supporter, and to whom I owe my early exposure to and love of great music. I knew she loved the sentimental music of this period, and when I played this piece for her, wiping tears from her eyes, she said, "that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." Surely the best reaction I could have hoped for.

While I'm very proud of this achievement, I have been told that perhaps the ending is a bit "much," for lack of a better way to put it. I like it, but I wonder if perhaps I'm too close to the forest to see the trees. I'm interested in all impressions and criticism, but I'd particularly like to know if there is some agreement that perhaps the ending goes a bit over-the-top.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

Primrose Path - Grand Waltz for Piano

EDIT: Echh...I missed a few collisions in the score. I'll fix them in the morning and re-post the PDF.

Awesome! Orchestrate that and you'll be J. Lee Strauss. xD

Wonderful! I also love the ending for what its worth.

I could not resist the temptation to say that I spotted something peculiar in this piece - In the middle section in the cantabile et espressivo section I hear the music of another work also composed by yourself; Something even discussed at a different thread in which I had yet another privilege to comment on. Not sure of its name though, and not sure what I am accomplishing with this presumptuous comment. I just felt compelled to point that out. I do hope, however, for a confirmation on this!

I really like this -- it's a beautiful, pleasant traipse through a field, indeed :happy:

There are some rendering oddities though -- at measure 10, at the cantabile section, you have it marked "mf". But the left hand is almost drowning out the right hand, when the right hand has the melody, and the left should be support. Try assigning "mf" to the right hand stave, and maybe "mp", or even "p", if necessary, to the left hand stave. This volume thing especially becomes an issue at measure 27 with the "F" dynamic -- the left hand is banging while the right is almost mousey-quiet in comparison, and it just doesn't make sense as it is like this. Make the R.H. "FF" while the left is "F", perhaps, to get the result you probably want? :hmmm:

But at the "p" section at measure 46, this problem disappears, as the R.H. is now more highlighted over the left hand here. These programs can be quirky this way :dunno:

These things are only rendering issues, and not as a result of writing problems on your part. A live performer would have the sense to play it the way it should be played :lol: But in the meantime, until a performance is possible, it would probably benefit you to smooth out this rendering as it currently is.

I really love your developmental choices here -- I'm hardly an expert on waltzes circa 1905, but your piece has many lovely sections that helped to break up and round out the feelings and structure. I loved the section at measure 217, as well as the section right after it. I also liked the melodramatic ending a lot -- it really fit the overall euphoric mood of the piece, to me :happy:

All-in-all, this is a fantastic piece, but it really is spoiled by a not-so-great rendering. I encourage you to just do a little tweaking, and you may find it makes a world of difference :nod:

Thank you for sharing! This was a great thing to listen to :phones: