Odyssey for symphony orchestra

Hello,

Please let me know what you think about the piece linked below!

A separate PDF is also attached, in case resolution isn't good enough for careful review.

Thanks,

J Shu

Music is music. I say this because pieces that are long, orchestral, and stay strictly tonal are not my favorite ones.

I think the first part (until 2:40) is mostly homophonic, during an excessive time. From that point I like the countermelodies. 

In my opinion, this is a lovely piece!

The orchestration is quite nice and so are the melodies, countermelodies and harmonies.
Unfortunately, you did not include a saxophone.

The music reminds me of Tchaikovsky's Overture 1812 and his latest symphonies. The music sounds very romantic.
The beginning is beautiful as it is now, so please don't change anything musically!

By the way, the timpani sound font is amazing!

Well done!

@Luis Hernández I see your perspective, but unfortunately, my musical language isn't developed enough for me to confidently write more atonal or poly-tonal music. However, I do hope to spice my future pieces up a bit, so I will probably try to listen to some more modern composers to develop my skills. Thanks so much for listening!

@Maarten Bauer Thank you so much! I admire your work, and I'm flattered by your kind remarks. Growing up, I've always loved Tchaikovsky's late symphonies, so they were absolutely an inspiration in terms of orchestration and melodic writing. As I said to Luis, I do hope to listen to more non-traditionally tonal composers to diversify my expression--but Romantic music will always hold a special place in my heart.

By the way, the timpani sound font is good ol' Garritan. And I will be sure to test Garritan's saxophones out at some point...

I’d say it’s a very nice piece, not over-complicated and sometimes even ‘sparse’ in the orchestration (you could maybe spare a few instruments), but I find it very well-written, never boring and well organized. Countermelodies are beautiful, and I really enjoyed the part starting from 3.45 (beautiful melody and orchestration) which indeed really sounds like Tchaikowsky! Maybe I like the very end a bit less.

I really enjoyed this work, lovely orchestration and melodies.  Kind of reminds me of Berlioz.

@PDdLB Thanks so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed listening to my piece! And in terms of style, I do think the end kind of departs from the rest of the piece... I'll take another look.

@bkho Thank you! I'll have to listen to some more Berlioz--I haven't heard much beyond Symphonie Fantastique and Harold in Italy.