an homage to nobuo uematsu! (piano quartet)

hey everyone! this is a piece I wrote as the final of my Fall 2019 composition class. it's an homage to the great video game composer Nobuo Uematsu, famous for scoring the Final Fantasy series. here, I tried my best to adapt the "video game" feel to a more classical setting through piano, violin, viola, and cello. it's got three movements (or "soundtracks", as I like to put them), each modeled after a specific type of piece you'd hear in a typical FF game:

I. "Quest Start!" describes our heroes at the start of the journey - determined, bright, optimistic. I was particularly inspired by things like the World Map theme, airship theme, etc.

II. "A Tender Soul" is written like a theme for a motherly, warm character, perhaps with a sad backstory - bittersweet and lyrical. I was inspired by themes like Zanarkand and Tifa's theme for this one.

III. "Into Battle!" is modeled after FF's famous battle themes, quoting its iconic bassline from the older games in the series - fierce, primal, wild. 

let me know what you think about the separate movements, along with the piece as a whole! I'd also love some feedback on things like string writing, bowing, articulation, etc. as I am a keyboard player and am rather inexperienced with working with other instruments. thanks!

This is very impressive! I'm speaking from a musical standpoint, since I am not well-acquainted with video game culture, and I think this piece stands out well on its own. It's very colorful and adventurous, and the string writing is very accomplished, in my opinion (I didn't see anything wrong with the string articulation). I liked each movement very much, and I thought the contrast between the movements was very well executed, though I did think the last movement could have been longer and a bit more developed.

It's nice to see someone else on this site who wrote a piano quartet, as I though I was the only one who was writing them these days (I wrote 3 so far). I'm looking forward to your future music!

Careful of what tones you remove from any given chord. I remember hearing a ii9 (DF) in some strange voicings that don't allow for registers to pop, which I think is the main thing here... a lot of the registers get very clumped and feel less like the counterpoint an old track in the genre might have. Overall, though, it does flow nicely in terms of arc, I think I just need more internal contrast, personally. 

I liked your first movement the best as the harmony was exceptional and the themes were well reused in later iterations.  I think your final battle-like movement was the weakest because it could have used more appropriate sixteenth note motifs instead of the slow approach you applied so well in the first movement.  Also the very end could have been accompanied with a big pizzicato hit with all the strings and piano combined instead of the piano alone.  If you look at Uematsu's battle themes they're almost always eighth note melodies with some sixteenth note runs which is appropriate for the faster and more intense feel of a battle theme but you don't do that here.  Anyways - that just my suggestion to you.  I enjoyed listening on headphones while looking at the score.  Thanks for overall a great listening experience!