In The Name of Christ

I tried to see how quickly I could write a choral song. Answer 3> hours. Give me some feedback:

Do you think I properly explained the text with my setting?

Did I make a song that'd be fun and/or easy to sing?

Anything that stuck out as odd or unusual in a good or bad way?

Edited March 14, 20188 yr by Some Guy That writes Music

Well, it is rather short as in "I don't see any music player or score here" . 

2 hours ago, Willibald said:

Well, it is rather short as in "I don't see any music player or score here" . 

 

Yeah usually those are good to add. Thanks 

Well, if you were intending this for a church choir, they might find the misspelling in the title a little profane...  (Chirst).  :D

It feels plodding to me, because there are so many quarter notes and because each note generally gets one syllable.  The tempo is a factor too.  If it was a little faster, it would feel more speech-like.  If it was a little slower, it would feel more reverent.  When you started interjecting dotted rhythms about halfway through I felt much better.  

But, hey, for 3 hours work, this isn't a bad effort!  Yes, it would be very easily singable.  You did a nice job of creating harmony while keeping each part moving by steps and other easy intervals.  And it does have some musical metaphors that illustrate the text.  I noticed what you did with "Christ above me" and "Christ beneath me!"  Keep going!

One feels the haste a bit by those pesky spelling mistakes ("creater",  "stanger" etc). To the music: Good word painting at many points. The passage following m. 40 is the strongest one, from the energetic rhythm, the good word painting and the melody. You have to watch parallel octaves, e.g. in m. 11 between alto and bass, or in m. 27 between tenor and bass. They are really awkward in vocal music and should only be used as a special feature. Also, half cadences shouldn't end on a sixth chord, because they then don't sound very cadence-like. ( e.g. m. 12) 

A fade-out as ending is fine, but it does come rather abrupt. Yes, an "Amen" signals already that the piece is over, but it feels like a hastened ending.

That said, I really liked listening to this piece and even did so repeatedly.