Succinct Symphonies

Apparently I have always valued succinctness above all in musical expression -- I hope I have achieved that in the attached!  I wanted these to be as compact as possible without becoming trivial in the process.  So I am calling these Succinct Symphonies now.  I do not play these instruments myself (I know only the organ, harpsichord, and piano) so hopefully I haven't made here anything unnecessarily awkward or unpleasant to play.  For the sample MP3 of the first of the set I have used here CSound -- the portamento I programmed into it isn't necessarily meant to be suggestive for any eventual acoustic performance, but rather was only my way of making the synthesized performance, limited as it is, more interesting (and I was having fun learning CSound in the process, too).  I have MP3 files produced from synthesized MIDI for the other four in the set if anyone is interested.

Is this an exercise - experimentation?  I don't understand. 

Mark

If I understand the gist of your (MJFOBOE) question, I should say they are absolutely meant in earnest!  In my post I was just trying to put into words ("succinct" and all) how my compositional approach appears to be naturally orientated.  Your speculation about my compositions being exercises isn't the first time someone has done so; this is in fact precisely why I attempted to say something about the nature of "succinctness" as I see it.  I have personally found that the difficulties of making something as simple as possible (but no simpler!) are seldom appreciated, but that is just because few people are as cursed with the desire for that simplicity as I appear to be.  I hope this further attempt at explaining myself hasn't made the situation worse!  I just wanted to make it clear how, for better or worse (as far as their reception by others may be concerned), every detail in these compositions has been arrived at in full earnestness and intent by myself in a way that couldn't be called an exercise or experimentation except by way of a critique relative to accepted norms.  Perhaps another way of saying this would be that I am very passionate about these (and all of my compositions) but that passion channels itself very much into this paring down of possibilities toward as succinct an expression (w.r.t. the number of parts, the duration, and the melodic and harmonic material itself) as possible, without sacrificing the emotional content.  Or at least that is how all of this appears to me!  I don't suppose I can ever be 100% certain that the Muse isn't just using me to make a joke at my expense.  But then again, how dismal life would be without humor, no?

Hello @StripedGazelle and welcome to the forum!

I like the idea of this piece.  I have myself had similar ideas with respect to microtonality and using portamento glissandi in such compositions.  I imagined a string orchestra piece in which said micro-tonal glissandi are stretched out over long (relatively speaking) periods of time (meaning - at a slower tempo).  I wonder if your intent was somewhere adjacent to my idea or if you'd be interested in composing something slower in this style (and for strings).  I do wonder why you don't show the glissandi in the score?  Thanks for sharing!