Rondo Valse

Possible third movement for a symphony. 

Hi @BipolarComposer!

I really wanted to try and give you a constructive critique for this one.  I think there are many pros to this piece:

1. It has a mysterious and dance-like feel (especially with the percussion).
2. The orchestration is differentiated and you achieve some nice contrasts!
3. The melody is harmonized in very interesting ways including doublings at intervals that are different from the expected 3rds and 6ths, sometimes including whole chords as a doubling, other times 4ths and 5ths.

Some of the cons (imo):

1. The orchestration is sometimes very thin and at other times very thick and bombastic with seemingly no middle ground.
2. Some of the instruments aren't being used very idiomatically (such as the pizzicato strings).
3. The piece sounds kind of same-y dynamically and intensity wise.  The dynamics and intensity only change by adding or removing instruments rather than creating crescendi or decrescendi.  (Not sure this really applies after my 3rd listening.)
4. The tempo could also stand from accelerandi or ritardandi in choice spots to help the music arrive at a point of higher intensity or recede from an intense section in a kind of denouement.
5. The piece lacks to me the lucidity of say, a Beethoven Symphony movement.  The melody seems to meander here and there without unity and relatedness.  I think the go-to example for how intense a melody can be if it's masterfully unified is Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 1st movement.  He builds the whole movement out of that single motif.  Even the longer leading melodic lines are constructed in fragments out of that motif, blurring the line between motivic and thematic composition.  This piece in comparison, sounds at times very leisurely at best and meandering at worst because it lacks that drive and unity.  The ending as well is kind of a throw-away because it doesn't feel like the music has taken the listener on a journey and so the piece ends very underwhelmingly.  The formal sections of the piece seem to all be in the same key and so kind of blend together into one long section despite the many contrasts you introduce.

That's my critique, although of course I really enjoyed the piece!  Thanks for sharing.