caters Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I'm currently composing a march for an orchestra based off of a picture of the Battle of Iwo Jima and I'm kind of stuck at the trumpet fanfare that comes after the foreboding intensity of the previous brass chorale. There are 2 that are coming to mind and are in the key of Bb(which while not the key of the march as a whole, is the key of the trumpet fanfare) and I'm not sure I want to use either of them. The 2 that are coming to mind are the Star Wars theme and the US National Anthem. I thought maybe I could use just the first phrase of the melody of the US National Anthem and build the rest of the fanfare differently but even that is turning out too familiar, too predictable. So now I have no idea what to do. Do I just go ahead and use the melody of the first phrase of the US National Anthem overtly and just harmonize it differently, despite the fact that it will probably be super familiar to the majority of listeners(maybe with a textural creschendo and diminuendo within the phrase)? Do I start with the arpeggio and then write a completely different melody that is still in Bb major and still emphasizes long note values? Here is what I have so far of the piece: MP3 Play / pause JavaScript is required. 0:00 0:00 volume > next menu March of Iwo Jima > next PDF March of Iwo Jima Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmm Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Is there any reason you are attached to those two themes? You have some good motive forms established in the preceding phrases, why not develop those? For whatever reason, I hear the trumpets entering on a big Ebmaj7 chord after what you have here, but that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caters Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, gmm said: Is there any reason you are attached to those two themes? You have some good motive forms established in the preceding phrases, why not develop those? For whatever reason, I hear the trumpets entering on a big Ebmaj7 chord after what you have here, but that's just me. The Star Wars theme, I honestly don't know, maybe because it was the first theme to come to mind as a trumpet fanfare in Bb major? As for the US National Anthem, well the piece is based off of a picture of the Battle of Iwo Jima and the US did win that battle, plus the competition I am writing the piece for being in July and even having a due date of July 31st means a higher amount of exposure to the US National Anthem than during the rest of the year. Plus, I was thinking of contrasting the foreboding intensity of the G minor with a brighter sounding section in Bb major before going back to the intense G minor. Both the Star Wars theme and the US National Anthem have that brightness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aMusicComposer Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 If you have a listen to some military bugle calls, you might get some ideas of phrases/motives you can use in your fanfare. How strict are you being with the natural trumpet type sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caters Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 8 hours ago, aMusicComposer said: If you have a listen to some military bugle calls, you might get some ideas of phrases/motives you can use in your fanfare. How strict are you being with the natural trumpet type sound? I'm not being all that strict on the natural trumpet sound because I don't really expect anybody in the orchestra to be playing a natural trumpet, but if it is possible and sounds good on a natural trumpet, then that's nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 You can use anything as long as it's brassy and fanfare-y. Here's mine for an unique UK occasion: MP3 Play / pause JavaScript is required. 0:00 0:00 volume > next menu Brex fanfare > next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aMusicComposer Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 @Quinn I think your music fits the "unique UK occasion" rather well! @caters I would encourage you to listen to this. Although written for a larger brass section than you are using, it shows how motives can be developed throughout a fanfare. You can also use the woodwinds to help, and even the strings! The opening movement of that is a string fanfare. I really like the whole piece. Of course, there is this as well. The opening of the 4th movement of this symphony is a solo trumpet fanfare. (Look at 26:54 and 32:02 where it returns, harmonised.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantis_ Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Perhaps add snare drums. Similar to the 'Hymn To The Fallen' by John Williams. John Williams - Hymn To The Fallen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis Hernández Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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