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Short Chorale in German - "Der du von dem Himmel bist"


mercurypickles

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This is a short, chorale-esque, setting of a Goethe poem, "Der du von dem Himmel bist"

I hope you enjoy it, please leave any feedback you have after you listen to it.

 

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This sounds very pleasing, but in some spots it also is a bit note-note-note... ploddy, if that makes sense.  Partly that's just the result of the computer generated sound, but you could also consider varying the rhythms a bit to shape phrases a little more as you do at the end of measure 2 on "bist", or adding some dynamics for contrast.  For instance, "Doppelt mit Erquickung füllest," (Fill doubly with refreshment) goes straight on in quarter notes into the following phrase, "Ach, ich bin des Treibens müde! (Oh, I am tired of restlessness).  If you were speaking those two lines of the poem, you would probably naturally vary the rhythm of your speech or pause in between the two thoughts, since there is such a change of direction between them, so it would be good if the music paused for a moment as well, either with a held note on "füllest" or a rest immediately after it.  

I mainly do choral composing, and I've found that directors and rehearsal accompanists really appreciate it when you include a piano reduction, so you might want to take a minute to add that as well.  It just makes the whole thing look professional.  This is a pretty simple piece to sight read for a pianist helping out with rehearsal, since it's homophonic, but even so, sometimes lighting is bad, sometimes a director is trying to play parts while also directing, and any little thing that makes rehearsal go faster and more smoothly increases the chance that your piece will be enjoyed and a choir will decide to sing more of your work in the future.  

Nice job!

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