May 3, 20241 yr I'm writing a violin cadenza and the playback says it's about 2 mins long although I estimate a real life player would take about 2 mins 15 s. How long should it be?
May 3, 20241 yr Personally I think a good music should last atleast 3 minutes just so everyone could enjoy it for more than a few minutes.
May 6, 20241 yr There is no standard, of course, but one minute seems like it oughta be about the shortest, and three minutes maybe the longest. It might be worthwhile to look at the durations of some of the more well known cadenzas in the repertoire.
May 7, 20241 yr 7 hours ago, MisterWesley said: There is no standard, of course, but one minute seems like it oughta be about the shortest, and three minutes maybe the longest. It might be worthwhile to look at the durations of some of the more well known cadenzas in the repertoire. Your explanation seems to be the most logical.
May 11, 20241 yr I agree with @MisterWesley , and I would add that it's good to pay attention to the proportion of a cadenza to concerti of varying lengths. When I hear "2 mins and 15 seconds", I think that is a perfectly reasonable length on average but I do not know the length of the rest of your work/movement, and you may be able to get away with shorter or longer. I would suggest specifically comparing your work to well known works of about the same length, and maybe in the style and time period you're emulating (if you are). I hope that's helpful. 🙂 Edited May 11, 20241 yr by Gwendolyn Przyjazna
July 13, 20241 yr Depends on the framing piece of music of course. Generally, the cadenza allows a break in the musical texture and an opportunity for the soloist to "show off". As such anything from 30 seconds to about 1.5 minutes would be in the normal range. Its hard to sustain interest with virtuosic passage work, and there is only so much material to extemporize with from the preceding movement.... I f the orchestra arrives and you feel it was away OVERLONG --your cadenza needs to be chopped a bit.
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