Past times

Hello,

Here is a short piece, in the style of light, popular music from about 100 years ago, maybe a bit like music in old Charlie Chaplin films (hence the title “Past Times”).  The basic motif is simple and has probably popped up earlier in different forms. But I played a bit around with it, and in the end, I was rather satisfied how the piece turned out to be, I would be quite interested to know what you think of it. Any criticism is most welcome.

I have one particular question where I am in doubt.  As you will notice, I use staccatissimo´s throughout to mark the short duration of the quarter notes. But you will also note that the meter is in “Alla breve”, Should I therefore use ordinary staccato marks instead of the staccatissimo¨s?

I have not been able to find a guideline for this notation issue.                                                                                                                       

Delightful~!

Mark

Hi Johan aka @panta rei,

This is a very enjoyable leisure and character piece. Those Naepolitans are real funny and it really reminds me of Schubert's Moment musical no.3 with its character and no.4 with its key. This piece is real delightful as Mark noted. 

For b.46 I think you can mark the notes in G# minor rather than in Ab minor.

Maybe in b.101 there can be a longer rest with fermata and this will make the transition even more humorous. 

On 10/21/2023 at 2:16 AM, panta rei said:

I have one particular question where I am in doubt.  As you will notice, I use staccatissimo´s throughout to mark the short duration of the quarter notes. But you will also note that the meter is in “Alla breve”, Should I therefore use ordinary staccato marks instead of the staccatissimo¨s?

Maybe you can instead mark the score in 2/4 time to signify the lightheartedness of the piece. Maybe you can also mark Allegretto Giocoso or even name the piece as a Humoresque to notify players to play it in a funny way, and thus they will play those staccatos with staccatissimo. Like in Schubert's moment musicax no.3, even he just marks those staccatos with ordinary staccato markings, pianists will just play it as short as possible since they know the character of the piece is going to be funny. I think the use of staccatissimo is to differentiate it from ordinary staccato markings. but if you want the whole piece in a crispy way, then the staccatissimo marking is not quite required.

Thx for sharing this piece to us!

Henry

On 11/3/2023 at 9:34 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi Johan aka @panta rei,

This is a very enjoyable leisure and character piece. Those Naepolitans are real funny and it really reminds me of Schubert's Moment musical no.3 with its character and no.4 with its key. This piece is real delightful as Mark noted. 

For b.46 I think you can mark the notes in G# minor rather than in Ab minor.

Maybe in b.101 there can be a longer rest with fermata and this will make the transition even more humorous. 

Maybe you can instead mark the score in 2/4 time to signify the lightheartedness of the piece. Maybe you can also mark Allegretto Giocoso or even name the piece as a Humoresque to notify players to play it in a funny way, and thus they will play those staccatos with staccatissimo. Like in Schubert's moment musicax no.3, even he just marks those staccatos with ordinary staccato markings, pianists will just play it as short as possible since they know the character of the piece is going to be funny. I think the use of staccatissimo is to differentiate it from ordinary staccato markings. but if you want the whole piece in a crispy way, then the staccatissimo marking is not quite required.

Thx for sharing this piece to us!

Henry

 

Hello Henry!

I am sorry for the delay of my response. I just had too many things going on here.

Thank you very much for your response, and I am glad that you like the piece. I started this several years ago, and it has been lying unfinished in the drawer, before I decided to finish it.

Thanks for the advice for bar 46. It will be simpler to read without the sudden change in Ab minor. I always seem to have spelling problems. This is an important issue, but very few people bother to comment on it. You are the great exception, and I am VERY grateful for this! 

Thanks also for your advice on my staccat- o/issimo  question. Initially, I used ordinary staccato marks, but I became a bit confused after hearing the MIDI playback, where the duration of the marked notes was too long.

I agree entirely with your suggestions. Of course, a real pianist will do it correctly. I will change it back to ordinary staccato. The Allegretto Giocoso is also a nice suggestion. Moreover, I will think about the 2/4 meter . And I will stretch the suspension in bar 101.

Once more, I want to thank you again for your excellent feedback!

ps: if Mark reads this: Thank you for your comment.

Hello Johan,

This is some enjoyable music! It's probably one of the best ones posted on this forum so far. I like the light-heartedness and the vintage style of this piece. The accompaniment pattern in the left-hand part adds more exciting material to the music and keeps the listeners engaged - it’s one of my preferences, too!

Regarding your question about articulations, I usually use staccatissimo marks to emphasise that the duration of the affected notes should be greatly shortened. This articulation may apply to fast and light music, such as polkas and galops. To capture the light character of the piece, staccatissimo would be a better choice. However, as Henry said, performers may play staccato passages at their discretion, depending on the piece's character.

Next, cut time or alla breve is generally used for fast pieces like marches. Judging by the tempo marking (greater than 60 half-notes per minute), I think the time signature fits suitably with your sheet music. Note that Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu is also written in cut time. I discovered this fact just a few months ago, and I wish I had known it much earlier: previously, I used this time signature in my slow nocturnes simply because it looked fancy. Only then did I realise I had been making this mistake for nine years of writing music!

Thanks for sharing this enjoyable piece of music!

Carl Koh Wei Hao

On 11/22/2023 at 12:03 PM, Carl Koh Wei Hao said:

Hello Johan,

This is some enjoyable music! It's probably one of the best ones posted on this forum so far. I like the light-heartedness and the vintage style of this piece. The accompaniment pattern in the left-hand part adds more exciting material to the music and keeps the listeners engaged - it’s one of my preferences, too!

Regarding your question about articulations, I usually use staccatissimo marks to emphasise that the duration of the affected notes should be greatly shortened. This articulation may apply to fast and light music, such as polkas and galops. To capture the light character of the piece, staccatissimo would be a better choice. However, as Henry said, performers may play staccato passages at their discretion, depending on the piece's character.

Next, cut time or alla breve is generally used for fast pieces like marches. Judging by the tempo marking (greater than 60 half-notes per minute), I think the time signature fits suitably with your sheet music. Note that Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu is also written in cut time. I discovered this fact just a few months ago, and I wish I had known it much earlier: previously, I used this time signature in my slow nocturnes simply because it looked fancy. Only then did I realise I had been making this mistake for nine years of writing music!

Thanks for sharing this enjoyable piece of music!

Carl Koh Wei Hao

Hello Carl,

Thanks a lot for your inspiring comments.. It was just a simple piece, but I was really glad that you liked it. I am working on a more complex piece right now, but sometimes, the simple ones are the best (at least, that is what Chopin claimed !).