Sonata for All Seasons - Autumn

1. I basically just tried to use some minimalism to create a windy feel, like a cold breeze picking up leaves, and I tried to keep a quick pace to the music by using lots of sixteenth notes.

2. Around 10-15 hours

3. I tried to make it Sonata-Allegro form

4. Recapitulation and not straying too much into E Major

5. Second movement of Sonata for All Seasons

Spring movement can be found here.

MP3 of Autumn here.

Sonata_for_All_Seasons___Autumn.MID

Sonata_for_All_Seasons___Autumn2ndendtry.MUS

Extremely repetitive. You have to learn how to keep the general mood while doing something else. You didn't do anything really interesting until half way. Even then when you switched to B, it sounded like an awkward transition. It didn't seem to fit well and sounded a bit broken. More variation in the beginning would be lovely. Although the part around 2:20 was lovely fit nicely. The part after kept me reeling.

It was basically an onslaught of piano keys being hit. It was nice for a while but then my ears started to hurt. Remember, resting is your friend. It releases tension. Learn to build and release.

Extremely repetitive. You have to learn how to keep the general mood while doing something else. You didn't do anything really interesting until half way. Even then when you switched to B, it sounded like an awkward transition. It didn't seem to fit well and sounded a bit broken. More variation in the beginning would be lovely. Although the part around 2:20 was lovely fit nicely. The part after kept me reeling.

It was basically an onslaught of piano keys being hit. It was nice for a while but then my ears started to hurt. Remember, resting is your friend. It releases tension. Learn to build and release.

Thats a pretty harsh review...

Anyway beginning I thought to myself, ok we've got a Phillip glass sort of minimalistic piece using more impressionistic sort of devices. I liked it. The transition in bars 34 to 45 was excellent. In terms of rests and tension release I agree that during the transitions it might work, but again because it also had an impressionistic mood; conveying a season, it isn't necessarily conducive with what you- the composer- is trying to create. Besides minimalistic music usually relies on subtle transitions using variations in the notation, rather than a full on release/rest because its supposed to induce a kind of meditative trance like mood. Anyway it was good.

1. I basically just tried to use some minimalism to create a windy feel, like a cold breeze picking up leaves, and I tried to keep a quick pace to the music by using lots of sixteenth notes.

2. Around 10-15 hours

3. I tried to make it Sonata-Allegro form

4. Recapitulation and not straying too much into E Major

5. Second movement of Sonata for All Seasons

Spring movement can be found here.

MP3 of Autumn here.

Bitterduck, you can really be a jerk soemtimes. I find this piece very attractive. To say that it is just smashing piano keys is a vast, vast understatement of the quality of this piece. Listen to the melodic phrases that enter in the left hand later on....the tempo changes, the dynamics changes..he has put a lot of work into this piece. Deathraider---good work on this piece...keep it up.

Hey thanks. I changed the piece a bit last night because the transition from 53-55 was kind of iffy, so I added another little section. I might take it out again though if I decide it doesn't fit. I'll post the new version when I get on the computer that has it.

As for harsh reviews, I can handle it. I don't mind if somebody doesn't like my piece, although I wish I could make it so that they did. I doubt very much whether any song has completely universal appeal, though. I know it's a bit repetative, but unless it truly bores you I don't think that's a problem.

Thank you to everyone who DID like the piece though, and I'm glad I made something enjoyable.

This song repeats a lot. If you listen to my music I write in a french form which repeats the opening them after a little break then goes into another section then repeats the main theme again them an ending happens. With your piece I feel as if you repeat the main theme about 4 times then go to a different section altogether. It's ok to keep the sixteenth notes throughout the whole piece just not the same motif over and over and over. Other than that, good job. Hope this helped.

DR, this is a very haunting piece. It is very much Philip Glass, but it is also very much trance-techno-like. It's pretty cool.

Some things that I noticed: Your piano writing needs some revision, I'm afraid. There are a lot of times where you ask the player to play the same notes twice at the same time. This happens a lot in the beginning, and at the end, with chords in the left hand and 16ths in the right, they are both in the same register. You must be aware that holding down a note in one hand and constantly hitting the same note at the same time with the other hand is not possible. This happens in your melody, at the end of a phrase, where the left hand presses and holds a c#, when you simultaneously write for the right hand to play the same c# on every beat. This is not possible. Also, there is a lot of awkward crossing of the left hand over the right hand that may prove to be difficult to a player. Just things to look over and think about.

Yes, I definitely did know that the note is repeated while it's being held. However, when I make the sheet music, I don't include pedaling, so I have to make know the notes that definitely need to be caried through. You're right, it's technically impossible to play, but I'm not the only one who does it.

As for repetativeness, I do vary the motif to fit the harmonies, so I'm not quite sure what all the gripe is. Yes it's repetative, but is that actually unpleasant when you listen, or are you just noticing it because your trying to give criticism on the piece? No, I'm not saying that I think you're being mean, but I feel like sometimes I tend to pick out repetativeness that wouldn't necessarily be annoying if I weren't listening to critique.

I must say, I'm surprised how the range of reviews (on both the sites I have this posted) is so spread out from people who like it, love it, and hate it.

Sonata_for_All_Seasons___Autumn.MID

What a beautiful work. It's my favorite piano piece I've heard so far here on this site, although I may be a bit biased because the style of this so vividly reminds me of the piano music I composed when I was 14-18 years old (is that how old you are?).

Your melody, especially that 16th note motif in the l.h. in measure 5 is inspiring. The style of this composition is neo-impressionist, that is using impressionist devices however this is not something that really sounds like either Debussy or Ravel. I could actually envision Nobuo Uematsu writing some like this as the piano theme of a Final Fantasy for example (sort of in that style).

This was NOT overly repetitive. Those 16th notes in the right hand, as you explained in your original post, are symbolic of leaves swirling about in the wind, and the image works perfectly in my mind. I know that there are a lot of posters here that are opposed to writing anything outside of a Common Practice Period style, however, you shouldn't heed thier comments because that isn't a valid criticism.

The only real problem in this, one that can be easily addressed, is the issue of playability. A few minor tweaks here and there and this would be ready for live performance. In fact, I so enjoyed this I'm considering printing if off and learning it, mabye use it as an encore for a piano recital or something (giving due credit to you of course!). But anyways, my suggestions:

Is there some reason why you don't have the G# on top of the low C# in measure 5 of the L.H.? I only wonder because it adds richness, and you do it in the next measure (as long as it is played gently.)

The hand-crossings shouldn't be too hard for most pianists.

The passages in double notes, measures 18-19 and 21-22, as well as anywhere else they occur, are particulary difficult to execute at this speed. They are lovely of course, but you should know that they are MANY times harder than the material preceding and following them (the writing is a little like Rachmaninoff's Eb minor prelude, op.23 no.9 which is extremely hard).

The dorian inflection in bar 35 (that A#) was very nice. I would have liked to have heard this more in the piece.

Bar 47 is going to be VERY hard for the L.H. I would suggest giving the top notes of those octaves to the RH (it can play the first B with the whole note it is holding) to make it easier.

The R.H. stretch is too much in Bar 49. Mabye you should leave out that low E in the RH (or consider reversing the patterns in both hands. For example, the RH instead of B E B E B E go E B E B E B and in the LH instead of A E A E go E A E A. This way, the RH can play the first beat.)

Measure 52 of course can't be played as written. You'll either have to arpeggiate the RH or I would suggest leaving out the first two 16ths in the right hand, starting the pattern on the upbeat of bar one instead of the downbeat.

The notation could be improve. First off, you shouldn't put tempo markings and dynamics in both staves of the piano. You should only use dynamics, crescendos, etc in the middle of the two staves, not below the LH staff. The only exception is when you want to give direction to a specific part a hand is playing. The tempo marking goes above the RH staff, and not above the L.H. staff. The pedal markings all go underneath the staff, they shouldn't be in the middle. Try and use the "Fit Music" option under mass edit to place your last two bars into the previous page so that way those 2 bars aren't taking up whole page by themselves. In some places your cresc/decresc and your dynamics collide with beams and stems. Correct this, of course. In some places, like bar 56, your stems are colliding between different layers. In this instance, in the LH layer 2 stems should be pointing up (not down) and layer one stems should be pointing down, not up. Why did you use layer 2 for bars 59-63? If you put them in by accident, you can select the whole area with the mass edit tool and go under the menu and select "Move/Copy Layers" and place them back in layer one. In bars 44-46 your slurs and your crescendos are colliding all over the place. Move them around so that they aren't. As a general rule, nothing should be colliding/overlapping (that includes dynamics, crescendo markings, slurs, "subito p" markings, tempo markings, stems, etc) unless it ABSOLUTELY has to. Just look at professional sheet music for a role model. Make sure to put an 's' on Season in your title (you'll also need to fix this on the second page separately too). Put a tempo or expressive marking at the beginning above the R.H.

My biggest concern with this is just making the score look more professional. The music is simply wonderful and very vivid! I'll have to listen to the other movements of your sonata.

Excellent, excellent work!

Well, thank you very much. One thing though, when I actually make the sheet music, I make it look much nicer. The finale file that I posted was built for great sound, not for great looks. If you want, I'll post the sheet music once I decide I've finished editing it enough. As for the playability stuff, thank you very much for the detailed advice, and I will definitely use it!

BTW, I am 15, almost 16.

Measures 18-19, what do you think I should change to make those more playable?

Measures 21-22, same question.

Measure 5, I don't have a G# because it sounds better to me when measures 5 and 6 have some added contrast.

As for the dorian inflection, I think I'm going to do a little MORE work on the transition at measure 54-55 and I may make it longer and add in some dorian.

Measure 47, I don't really understand why that would be hard, but I changed it anyway.

Measure 49, thanks for that advice because it really helped. I changed it.

Measure 52, I changed, too.

Thanks again, and I'll repost when I decide the revamp on that transition is good enough.

Actually, there really isn't anything you can do about those double thirds without making it sound different (you can't divide it between the hands, for example). And it's very beautiful, so it should stay. Just be prepared for some whining from the pianist (or if you are playing it that will be difficult to play as smooth and light as the computer does). Unless of course you happen to be an amazing pianist or know one.

Sonata for All Seasons - Autumn

OK, that's a pretty durastic change, so yeah. If anyone wants sheets, I'll be happy to post them, because the Finale version is not the sheet.

Sonata_for_All_Seasons___Autumn2ndendtry.MUS

I saw very little variation outside of the first theme :D . Even when changing meters :innocent: , the sound was predominately the same :( . The theme wore quite thin by the end of the piece. One's ears become bored when listening to the piece. For instance, measures 1-20 have the right hand playing straight sixteenth notes. After measure five or so, your subconsious says "k, just sixteenth notes. Nothing interesting here." Variation even in those notes would keep the listener interested.

Which version did you listen to? I can't imagine you saying that about the new dorian section.

I suppose this song is sort of stylistic, and that's probably why it's controversial.

Yes, I think that the new section works well. It adds additional depth and a little contrast in the piece.

Keep in mind Sapphire, than when a live pianist performs this, he will voice the beginning using the pedal, so that those 16ths notes meld together and create a continuity of sound, and the left hand theme is brought out against this - A computer doesn't know to do this, but remember this will sound different on a live piano. To see what I mean, try entering the beginning of Rachmaninoff's prelude in G# minor in Finale - it's actually quite similar in that it has repeated 16th notes in the RH for most of the piece, with the melody in the LH. You have to realize that those 16th notes are an effect, and its just a way of prolonging the c# min7 chord - its not supposed to be a melodic structure or anything.

Oooh, I'm glad I have others to explain what I cannot...

Also, keep in mind that a live pianist would be able to better use rubato and such to give it more variation.

Oh I had completely forgotten about the pedal. My mistake. I think I'll play it myself, just to see what it would sound like :D

OK, here's the sheets.

I loved it! It's actually kinda reminiscent of my style when I improvise. Right hand repeating, only the left hand gives it a different inflection.

I imagine a cool breeze driving leaves drearilyabout a sidewalk.

Very cool.

The Lord of the Onion Rings

Oh, wait... what's this... ok at measure 71, it's a rather awkward transition to the 16ths again in 72.

I suggest that you put a longer note over the 16ths. But that's just me.

16th notes in measure 72? I have no idea what you're talking about. I can understand if you think there's a little bit of a strange transition there, but I don't know what 16th notes you're talking about there....

deathraider, this is without doubt one of the best works for piano I've ever seen on this site. :) Well done. However, I for one like the version you attached in the first post best! :) I've attached it here so you know what I'm talking about. The latest version seems a bit awkward and too strong at certain points. If I were you, I'd just keep that original and touch it up a little... but I'm not you. It's your call, of course.

Fantastic! This one's staying on my computer; in fact, I think I'll put this on my list of pieces to learn. That should not only clear up some playability questions you might have, but once I learn this, I plan to perform it at some point. You said this is the second part of a sonata... have you written any others? I don't see a first movement in the piano forum list.

Sonata_for_All_Seasons___Autumn2ndendtry.MUS

Well, I'm glad you liked it, but I don't think I can revert. I spent too much time despising that transition, and I'm happy with what I came up with. I posted a link to the other movement in the first post.

From a newbies point of view, very good!

Can't wait to hear the other seasons. :w00t:

~Brad