Something I Wrote This Evening

Hi everybody:

I've been working on a big project since March - light music for adjustable chamber ensemble intended for social occasions (as much fun as it would be, it just wouldn't be right to play "Death and the Maiden" or the Beethoven Late Quartets at a party...you know?). Dance music seemed the perfect ticket. I'm nearly finished and only have about 6 more pieces to write.

The short name of the collection is "26 Sundry Dances." This one is a German Dance, a kind of early form of the waltz (Mozart and Beethoven wrote a bunch of 'em, but they're for full orchestra).

This particular piece is a reworking of a "menuetto" I wrote years ago. I may change a thing or two in the recap of the exposition, before the trio, but I'm curious what your reaction might be. I'm open to opinions, suggestions.

An mp3 is here: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.c...&songID=2612276

Otherwise, I've attached a Finale file and a MIDI.

Thanks! :)

It's good, but I'm not sure about the cor anglais bits at the start, where they appear to "announce" themselves. Your theme is very strong, though, and the piece overall is solid.

It's good, but I'm not sure about the cor anglais bits at the start, where they appear to "announce" themselves. Your theme is very strong, though, and the piece overall is solid.

Yeah, I'm not sure about that, either. Writing in this idiom, I handle my horns the way an 18th Century composer would have (i.e. as if they had no valves, which limits what they can play to the natural overtones of the tube). In this case, I wanted them to double the violin and viola in the Trio, playing in F, so I had to write the part for natural horn in F...so in the C major part, there's not much they can do but play what few tones they possess that both C and F have in common...C natural being obvious. I find that the effect is more authentic. Horn players with valves can play the parts...they just have to transpose, exactly as they would with a Mozart or Beethoven horn part.

18th and early 19th Century composers got very deft at this until the invention of valves in the 1840s. I'm thinking of Mendelssohn, for example, who wrote his horn parts in the Wedding March of Midsummer Night's Dream in some unexpected key so that he could have them playing certain notes in the opening chords and in the B-section that they wouldn't otherwise have. I'm not Mendelssohn, though...and it might be better that I just leave them silent at that spot.

Thanks for that.

Originally posted by Chris Shaver@Jul 6 2005, 05:12 AM

It was very pretty.

But for some reason seemed rather unexciting to me.

Yeah...it's pretty conventional. It's an old idea. I might rewrite some of the 2nd strophe to do something slightly more ear-catching.

But the fact that you used "pretty" and "unexciting" to describe it actually indicates to me that I'm on the right track. I'm intending these for use as background music for social occasions, and I for one am sick of only playing and/or hearing Mozart and Haydn at parties and weddings. You can't really play Beethoven or Tchaikowsky or Bartok at a society party...it's too dynamic.

Thanks, Chris.

Yay, I liked that. I agree with Mike about that one entrance, though.

Oh, and you get another yay for the Gavotte.

Thanks, y'all.

Well, I've nearly finished another so-called German Dance - this one in F - and I've stepped back to survey my work on this project, on which I began work in March. I've composed at least a few measures (if not more) on it almost every day with great discipline, and I now have the following:

5 Contredanses

5 German Dances

5 Minuets

2 Gavottes

2 Ländler

1 Mazurka

1 Polonaise

That's 21 dances in all, amounting to between 50 and 60 minutes of music. Although I originally planned 26, I think this is quite enough, for this set anyway. I'm getting tired, I need to finish my symphony, and I just think it's time to spruce up the score and parts, publish them, and move on.

Incidentally, this set will be for sale online...but as YC members, if any of you are interested in the score and/or parts for your own use/perusal, you may have them free of charge. This will be my first publication; I'm doing the whole thing myself, and I'd like to know what people think of the presentation, utility, etc. It's scored for 2 horns and strings, but the horn parts and contrabass part are ad libitum (optional). The horn parts are mainly for colour if they're available, and I designed the music to be flexible enough to be performed effectively with as little as a string quartet. I should have a first edition ready in a couple of weeks.

The piece was very pretty! At first i thought you plagiarised from an 18th century composer, but nope- you're just a really convincing classical composer. I don't have much comments, except for the brass in the early parts- it was a bit too abrupt, if you made it a bit softer to say- mf or even mp, then it would be less "LISTEN TO ME, I'M A HORN!!!!"

OTher that that, great job!

I don't have much comments, except for the brass in the early parts- it was a bit too abrupt, if you made it a bit softer to say- mf or even mp, then it would be less "LISTEN TO ME, I'M A HORN!!!!"

Thanks for that! The horn entrance was just one thing that bothered me, and because your comment echoed at least one other here, it was the first thing I fixed. I also did some alteration to the second strophe.

Thanks, also, for your comment that my classical style is convincing. You could have given me no more welcome compliment. I'm not trying to write pastiche or ersatz - this is the real deal, and I've been working very hard to get it right. Thanks again.

hey nice i liked it

Very relaxing. You really are a convincing classical composer. If I could write like this one day id be pretty happy. Perhaps the horn is a bit intrusive but I didn't seem to mind to much. Do you intend to play it live? I could imagine it being a lot of fun.

quite sweet