Op.6 Symphonic Suite from Freyja - Vanadis

Hey everyone! My name is Vlad, and in my free time, I dabble in composing what I like to call "pseudo-academic" music. I have absolutely no formal music education—just countless hours spent listening to classical works. I’d love to share my Symphonic Suite from Freyja - Vanadis, a piece heavily inspired by Sibelius and Wagner.

Hello @Vladisove!

Welcome to the forum!

I didn’t read your post at first, but I recognise the opening of the 1st piece as really Sibelius like with that particular Scandinavian colour, like use of harp and pizzicato and winds in high register. The thick brass in 1:50 has reminiscence of Wagner before returning to Sibelius Woodwind. Really love your woodwind usage here, particularly the English Horn.

The D minor 2nd piece is really ice-cold just like Sibelius’s work. That English Horn/Oboe entry is amazing for portraying the bitter and cold mood. I love the vocal too, even tho I don’t know the lyrics. 

The ponticello tremolo opening is captivating. I love these mood here, though I think for a 10 minute piece it can introduce more memorable Melodies to sustain the interest throughout the piece. However I love the ending very much especially it ends in my favourite C sharp minor and F sharp minor.

I love these pieces and they are amazing especially when you don’t receive formal music education. Maybe for me I would love to have more contrasting mood in this suite, since they are more or less in slower tempo and minor key, portraying the cold atmosphere as in Sibelius’s work.

Thanks for joining and sharing your work! Remember to hit the like button under my comment so that we know you like my comment haha!

Henry

Thanks for the nice words! As for the quick moves thing—it’s just that I’m not skilled enough yet. But you’re being so kind to me!

Immediate like. Consider adding Canteloube (or very early Berio) to your list if you ever compose a folk song suite or something of the like.

Very interesting! I will start looking into it right away. Although, I must say, I'm currently so deeply impressed by Mahler and so utterly dissatisfied with my own work. It's immensely difficult and agonizing as I try to develop a more competent approach to the new symphony. I'm having to fill in so many gaps in my technique.

I was listening to your work on my phone, when I started texting people, at some point I stopped what I was doing so I could listen to the music. This is rare for me. I think there is some gorgeous music. I personally like the move from 1-3 being calm. But I felt like after that beautiful calmness of 3, you have set-up some anger, or vivace well. The longing of the soprano in the upper range and emotional ending to 3 was great. This tension exists in the first measure of 5, but disappears, I wanted a movement of it. This music made me realize I need to do better lol. Beautiful stuff

5 makes me want to start running on the beach. Idk how else to say it. Also the soprano part sounds a little high. Idk what the range is, but even for a soprano, singing above the staff for a prolonged period of time (a minute straight or more) is quite difficult. High Bs and higher are terrifying for anyone, especially with the orchestra forte underneath, because the soprano can’t cheat or anything. So try to use this range more sparingly if you think you can. Although quite sylistically different from you, one the best composers to look at for easy vocal writing that still uses the full range of the soprano voice would be Donizetti. Take a look at the way he sets up singers for important high notes, I’ll try to find an example when I get home.

Thank you so much for your comment. Every bit of feedback means a lot to me, because after the passing of my beloved teacher—the one who introduced me to classical music and supported me in my first steps as a composer—I don’t really have anyone to discuss these things with.

I already noticed a funny fact: people seemed to enjoy the second part more than the final one, even though I originally thought of it as the weakest. The last part, on the other hand, which I had high hopes for, turned out to have plenty of problems—the scale of it was simply more than I could handle.

I also agree that I didn’t really follow the rules of orchestration or voice leading. Only after finishing this piece did I start to realize that when you compose, you have to keep in mind not only the listener, but also the performer. You can’t write the parts in a way that makes them want to curse you for the rest of their life.

As for Donizetti—it doesn’t matter that his style is so different. He was a true master, which means there’s always something valuable to learn from him. Thank you again for your suggestion.