Nocturne in B Minor

Hi everyone! This is a short piece I composed recently.  Let me know your thoughts!

Edited July 20, 20214 yr by jejrekmek

55 minutes ago, jejrekmek said:

Hi everyone! This is a short piece I composed recently. It is quite faster than most nocturnes, so I’m debating on whether I should keep the name. 

Let me know your thoughts!

Fast speed doesn't exclude Nocturne from the list of possible titles. Nocturne just means "a piece of music that gets across some aspect of the night", So the fast speed combined with the minor key could be getting across a nightmare, which makes it deserving to be called a Nocturne.

I like it. It's short, but it feels complete because the form is effective--there's an element of departure and return, and a winding down over the last 2 lines so that the end doesn't feel premature. Everything feels like it happens at the right time, and I really like that you don't waste any notes or drag things out unnecessarily.

It's obviously very Chopin-inspired, but there are some nice harmonic quirks that make it your own. It might be fun to explore the things that make this different from Chopin, and try to make those things the focus of a future composition. (That last bit is the kind of thing I'd suggest as an assignment for my composition students, so apologies if it seems patronizing. I really enjoyed the music.)

16 minutes ago, NRKulus said:

 

It's obviously very Chopin-inspired, but there are some nice harmonic quirks that make it your own. It might be fun to explore the things that make this different from Chopin, and try to make those things the focus of a future composition. (That last bit is the kind of thing I'd suggest as an assignment for my composition students, so apologies if it seems patronizing. I really enjoyed the music.)

 

I wasn't trying to make it sound like Chopin lol. When you said "It might be fun to explore the things that make this different from Chopin, and try to make those things the focus of a future composition," what things were you referring to? 

9 hours ago, jejrekmek said:

I wasn't trying to make it sound like Chopin lol. When you said "It might be fun to explore the things that make this different from Chopin, and try to make those things the focus of a future composition," what things were you referring to? 

 

Quite a lot, actually, but mostly in the harmony! I really like the harmonic progression in mm. 12-17; how it flirts with very distant keys but stays grounded, returning to the opening melody before it gets too far astray. In terms of phrase structure, it's also a really nice little interruption, kind of like our thoughts are straying from the main melody just enough to make it interesting when it comes back.
Maybe I should rephrase my previous post, too. I think it just helps to be aware of the little quirks like these that make your sound unique, and do them deliberately--you don't necessarily need to make those things the focus of a composition.
And it might be just my own strange ear that was reminded of Chopin at some points in this piece (especially the opening/main melody). There are worse composers to inadvertently sound a bit like!