Vesper Bells

A piece I did a while back, taking inspiration from a few different sources (Debussy, a church I walked by, and Gregorian chant probably the biggest sources). It probably could use some polishing in as far as the dynamics and such, but the basis is there.

Now that's a nice piece. I knew I was going to like you. :)

It's atmospheric and straightforward without being cloying, and it's relatively easy to play. This might be worthy of publication as a study in cross-hand technique, or as a recital piece for young pianists.

My only criticism is that it ended before I was ready for it to end. I found myself wanting more of a recapitulation after the key change back to D, even as effective as the last set of three chimes repeating may be. Something to consider, perhaps?

This reminds me a bit of Alexander Borodin's piano piece "In The Convent" (don't know the Russian title) - an old favourite of mine.

Welcome, again! Show us more, and by all means, listen to and comment on the vast wealth of music here.

Hi, thanks for the comments! :)

It's part of a set of pieces I'm working on, ranging in difficulty from extremely easy to a fairly strong intermediate-advanced recital piece. In there I have a bunch of things, but this is probably my favourite.

I had thought before of perhaps bringing back the first chimes again after the key-change, but as it's a fairly repetitive theme (and piece in general), I didn't want it to over-stay its welcome. I may have to fiddle about with it, see if I can't figure out something to add, just to perhaps round it off better.

I do know the piece you're talking about! I heard it a while back, and was reminding of my piece. Then I saw the title and understood why! :P

In the score I found, it's just called 'Au Couvent (In the Covent/Im Kloster)', so it would seem to only have a French title.

As a quick question.... Did I make up the expression marking at the beginning there, 'campanamente'? I thought that someone must have used it before me, but I didn't know....

This is some really interesting work here -- like J Lee said above, it's really very atmospheric :)

I've often thought the sound of banging open 5ths seems reminiscent of a bell, or a gong, in certain contexts (like in Beethoven's 2nd Movement of the Moonlight Sonata, in the "Trio" section). This piece is sort of like a small etude for that sound.

I think I know why J Lee mentioned perhaps making it longer -- after that climactic build-up at 36-42, especially in measure 41, it seemed like there was a lot more you could "say" regarding the bells and their "accompaniment", since you decided to sort of go the route of, "Ok, let's add a 16-th note flurry section here!" :hmmm: However, if that passage were performed at a slower tempo, with free rubato, I don't think it would give that impression. It's just something to consider.

Some things I really liked about this piece was clearly the intention of expressive as the intent for the performer, which the midi can only portray so much of :nod: (Maybe this next sentence never occurred to you, and I'm reading too much into this, but it's something I happened to notice) I also think it's interesting how at measure 25 - 29, it's as though when the bells try to include a middle voice, they end up simply pulling apart and becoming open 5ths again as it modulates to B Major. It's an interesting and subtle effect -- maybe this can also be explored more?

Thanks for sharing this with us -- I find it unique, in a way, and that's rarely a bad thing :happy: I enjoyed listening!

My only comment on this is that throughout this you seem to be moving toward some point of climax - and I yearned for that throughout. However, it never transpired. The anticipated response, therefore, is one of unfulfilled. Nothing is wrong with that, of course. I think though adding it eventually would really strengthen this piece.