Five-minute pieces for violin and piano

Hello my dear friends, I wish you all the best!
After the exhausting composition of the string quartet, I decided to take a little rest and create five short pieces for violin and piano. Each one has a slightly different character, so hopefully you will like at least one of them 😅
I am attaching a link to the playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkdhDBNsadAFcrUSvZ0IJecryMQIa8iF8&si=jkL63F2p1dLcfglt

Hey there, Petr

First of all, you're a wonderfully skilled composer. Your dissonant language has a lot of beauty in it to me, I'd be very curious to peek at the score! Could you post, or maybe for future youtube videos you have score videos? Regardless, I'm fascinated by the language you write with, as it's very different from mine (I'd love to learn 😄). Each of the five pieces in my opinion shows a skilled writer capable of writing for both instruments well. Perhaps you could have explored more technique, especially with the violin? With a more modern language, I expected more extended technique. Maybe I'm just used to that context? Even some pizzicato sections or slides would suffice to my ears. I enjoyed the music, I'm just thinking out loud after listening. 

Your samples sound good, but maybe the piano is a bit too wet sounding? Dunno, I'm not the best with all that. I guess maybe lower the reverb, or if using a DAW, make the reverb more dry. Again, that's probably subjective. 

As beautiful and intricate your writing is, you mentioned this:

6 hours ago, Petr Kopuletý said:

Each one has a slightly different character

Yeah, perhaps, but I think you could have explored more. To me, this sounds like you wrote these fairly quickly one after another, and in turn they have a sameness of quality to them. For instance, aside from maybe the third piece (which is my favorite), you for the most part have the violin and piano constantly playing without rest. Also, to me, they don't always play harmoniously together. It's almost like a mismatch, where each one is playing something separate but they don't necessarily align with each other. They "fit", but without phrasing, it sounds like two people talking at the same time without each one listening to each other. With five pieces in the set, maybe one could of had the violin mostly pizz and light, or one could have the piano be mostly jaunty and choppy in the upper register. Know what I mean?

For me, having different character implies different approaches to what the instruments are saying. Characteristic rhythms, or recognizable motifs, or more drastic differences in tempo, form, length, or range could be really beneficial. I'm not sure your overall purpose, as it sounds like you wanted something lighter on the noggin to write after a large piece, but if they're published as a set I would really plan more in advance as to how each of their characters differ. 

Keep in mind, we probably listen to vastly different types of music, and this is only from my point of view. I'm not sure about a lot of modern concert music pieces, I don't listen to them that much. Maybe what and how you're writing is in tandem with the trends of today, I wouldn't know. But from what I've learned, there are some techniques and theories of composition that transcend language. Wonderful phrasing and an array of textures go a long way in keeping your music engaging and interesting, and hopefully some of my thoughts help for the future. 

Love the music, thanks for sharing!

4 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

Hey there, Petr

First of all, you're a wonderfully skilled composer. Your dissonant language has a lot of beauty in it to me, I'd be very curious to peek at the score! Could you post, or maybe for future youtube videos you have score videos? Regardless, I'm fascinated by the language you write with, as it's very different from mine (I'd love to learn 😄). Each of the five pieces in my opinion shows a skilled writer capable of writing for both instruments well. Perhaps you could have explored more technique, especially with the violin? With a more modern language, I expected more extended technique. Maybe I'm just used to that context? Even some pizzicato sections or slides would suffice to my ears. I enjoyed the music, I'm just thinking out loud after listening. 

Your samples sound good, but maybe the piano is a bit too wet sounding? Dunno, I'm not the best with all that. I guess maybe lower the reverb, or if using a DAW, make the reverb more dry. Again, that's probably subjective. 

As beautiful and intricate your writing is, you mentioned this:

Yeah, perhaps, but I think you could have explored more. To me, this sounds like you wrote these fairly quickly one after another, and in turn they have a sameness of quality to them. For instance, aside from maybe the third piece (which is my favorite), you for the most part have the violin and piano constantly playing without rest. Also, to me, they don't always play harmoniously together. It's almost like a mismatch, where each one is playing something separate but they don't necessarily align with each other. They "fit", but without phrasing, it sounds like two people talking at the same time without each one listening to each other. With five pieces in the set, maybe one could of had the violin mostly pizz and light, or one could have the piano be mostly jaunty and choppy in the upper register. Know what I mean?

For me, having different character implies different approaches to what the instruments are saying. Characteristic rhythms, or recognizable motifs, or more drastic differences in tempo, form, length, or range could be really beneficial. I'm not sure your overall purpose, as it sounds like you wanted something lighter on the noggin to write after a large piece, but if they're published as a set I would really plan more in advance as to how each of their characters differ. 

Keep in mind, we probably listen to vastly different types of music, and this is only from my point of view. I'm not sure about a lot of modern concert music pieces, I don't listen to them that much. Maybe what and how you're writing is in tandem with the trends of today, I wouldn't know. But from what I've learned, there are some techniques and theories of composition that transcend language. Wonderful phrasing and an array of textures go a long way in keeping your music engaging and interesting, and hopefully some of my thoughts help for the future. 

Love the music, thanks for sharing!

 

 

Hello!

Thank you for your very detailed feedback, I appreciate you taking the time to listen even though you normally listen to a little something else!

A lot of your suggestions are interesting and I will definitely consider putting them into practice.

My music, as I wrote, breaks from the classical form, is full of irregularity and deliberate inconsistency, yet can be simple at times.

I draw inspiration from many directions, including jazz, Czech folk music and others, each of which influences the music in a different way. The simplicity of traditional music, the wildness of jazz: they combine to create something very strange and, at first glance, perhaps confusing, out of tune.

One has to get used to it first, because the first listening seems different from what one usually hears, even from contemporary modernism.

Anyway, I'll certainly consider a lot of the things you've written, as they contain ideas about how to perhaps get more in touch with a wider listening audience.

Thanks for that!