Oh, This Lonely Heart of Mine | For Alto and Piano

Hello everybody! This is my new piece as a result of my orchestral piece break. I said in my latest post that I was going to upload a prelude, that is still coming, but I kinda wanna try composing a vocal work, so here it is! Searching the material for this work was tough, but I stumbled upon an impromptu poem performed by a character (Scrump Toggins) while watching a roleplay session on WildRP. If I get enough material, maybe I will make a full song cycle, but who knows. Also, there's a quote from a piece that I've uploaded here somewhere in the piece, have fun finding that lol

Anyways, this is my first time ever trying to compose a vocal work, so all feedbacks and opinions are appreciated. Enjoy!

(P.S Y'know, if anybody wants to sing this I'll gladly provide the instrumental version 👀)

Hi @Ferrum,

This one is thoroughly enjoyable for me!! I join the piece most for its polyryhthm. It's in different layers, both within the piano and between the piano and the singer and it really does help the music stretch and become dramatic and expressive. It can be really hard for the piano though. The harmony is also great as you always add spicy flavourings in the harmonies. Some moments it reminds me of Debussy like in the beginning while in some it reminds me of Rachmaninoff particularly in the ending.

The modulation in b.78 back to D major is particularly enchanting for me. Other modulations are all mature and effective. Maybe it's just too many things happening in the music and many styles are here. They are all great in themselves but combined together may create a less uniform feeling, but of course this is a very nitpicky opinion.

Is the A in b.51 A#?

14 hours ago, Ferrum said:

(P.S Y'know, if anybody wants to sing this I'll gladly provide the instrumental version 👀)

I definitely want you to sing it as a contratenor LoL!! Just kidding!

Thanks for sharing great pieces here Ferrum!

Henry

6 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

The modulation in b.78 back to D major is particularly enchanting for me. Other modulations are all mature and effective. Maybe it's just too many things happening in the music and many styles are here. They are all great in themselves but combined together may create a less uniform feeling, but of course this is a very nitpicky opinion.

Yee tried to add in a bit of that late romanticism outburst in there so I get why it felt a bit out of place. The part from b.78 to b.82 is essentially me attempting to variate the second theme. The result of that modulation (D major) is also the key which the second theme resides and I want the second theme to repeat (with variations) before the end. SO, In conclusion, that whole thing was me trying to add something before the second theme returns, and when I tried to variate the second theme, it sounded like that late romanticism outburst, so I just went with it lol

6 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Is the A in b.51 A#?

Yep. That is correct. 

6 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I definitely want you to sing it as a contratenor LoL!! Just kidding!

I DID try to sing it to test the vocal range, but trust me, you don't want to listen to me singing lol

Thanks for the feedback and the kind words! Glad you enjoyed it!