Minuet for Flute Quartet in Ab Major

This is a little minuet I wrote a few years ago. I was going for a very Classical period feel with it. 

Update: changed the heavy part in the middle section and rebalanced the instruments .

Edited April 23, 2025Apr 23 by BipolarComposer

Hi @BipolarComposer,

I don't think it's very classical period in it but it itself is enjoyable to listen to! I say this because the progression here is not always functional and you use many added chords. The structure itself is not guided by the cadence and I don't find a PAC in it. The ending is not even in the tonic Ab major! The flute melody itself is not quite melodious in the way for a Classical period music is, so it's not quite classical for me! But regardless of the style overall it's very enjoyable with its moving flute melody and the interactions between the instruments are good. I only find the passage of strings in 2:00 is heavy for me, but other than that it's very light overall which fits for a Minuet for me. Thanks for sharing!

Henry

On 3/2/2023 at 7:42 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi @BipolarComposer,

I don't think it's very classical period in it but it itself is enjoyable to listen to! I say this because the progression here is not always functional and you use many added chords. The structure itself is not guided by the cadence and I don't find a PAC in it. The ending is not even in the tonic Ab major! The flute melody itself is not quite melodious in the way for a Classical period music is, so it's not quite classical for me! But regardless of the style overall it's very enjoyable with its moving flute melody and the interactions between the instruments are good. I only find the passage of strings in 2:00 is heavy for me, but other than that it's very light overall which fits for a Minuet for me. Thanks for sharing!

Henry

 

Thanks for the feedback!

Its definitely my version of "classical" without being imitative.

I agreed about the passage in the middle section, so I changed it up a little too lighten it.

It reminds me of Joe Hisaishi, it's a sort platonic neoclassicism I like. If you go that route sometime you may want to explore his film music for Studio Ghibly which is often built out of a quintal basis and triads on top.

Hi, There are some lovely melodic moments in the work; however, I feel the flow - the connectivity among the various lines could have a better flow.  By the way please post the score for a closer examination/review.

Mark

I really like it and I feel it almost has like an impressionistic quality to it.  But, I don't think you do a good job ending it.  There is no end - it just stops.  Also, there isn't really a contrasting section to it.  It sounds like it's just a continuous A section with some variations in it.  I think you probably think that the middle section in F minor is contrasting, but to me it doesn't sound different enough.  Also, it would help to see the score in this case but I don't really think that this piece is in Ab major but in C minor.  Whenever you're in the Ab major sections it sounds like you're on a submediant degree of the scale, which leads me to believe that it's actually in C minor without ever actually landing on the tonic chord.  I could be wrong though, but it would help to see a score to check that out.  It might help to make a contrasting section if you modulated to something not related to Ab major (F minor) or C minor.  Thanks for sharing!