Schumann orchestration (Child Falling Asleep)

Hi to all.

I'm pleased to present my latest attempt at orchestrating a piano work.

I've extended the piece, and added some of my own touches, including extra counterpoint lines.

Haven't spent much time on it yet: so I'm sure I'll need to revise some things.

Hope you enjoy!

Hey @Alex Weidmann!

I really love this piece!  And your orchestration is great!  I usually like when composers try to end their music on a non-tonic chord.  And one of my favorite moves too is to end on a subdominant, which you do here.  But I think, the tonic is so well established here and repeated so much that it seems unnatural for it to end on the A minor chord.  But I like the overall ending idea - not sure how much of it is your personal addition and how much is in the original.  And the counter melodies I liked too!  You also keep the groups of instruments playing together relatively small at any given time, giving the piece that chamber feeling that it needs in this case.  Thanks for sharing - your orchestration skills are definitely improving!

Hey Peter,

Thanks for the warm words!

The original does actually have the subdominant ending (see attached).

My new counterpoint is mostly in bars 45-51, in the oboe and clarinet.

I did think I might add some glissandi in the harp, as the harpist doesn't have much to do here, and it might suit the mood of the piece.

Hopefully I don't have any wrong notes like I did in the Debussy!

Schumann orchestration?  Contrary to legend, Schumann was not a bad orchestrator.  Workaday, like Brahms.  Not a colorist like Mahler, Ravel, let's see...Rimsky -Korsakov?  Just keep working, but only when you feel like it.  That would be my advice, and it is what I do.  Great exercise to orchestrate a Schumann piano piece, and piano music in general is hard to orchestrate. 

Orchestrate this:  

...or a better singer!

Thanks, I might give that a go!

I'm actually doing Ravel's "Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn" next. (In fact it's almost finished.)

Hi Alex .... I know getting the full resonance of a piano in an orchestration is a real challenge.  I have to say that I do miss the warm lower voices.  The upper woodwinds in the beginning (for me) need some warmth underneath (maybe from the lower strings).

Mark

Thanks Mark.
May give that a try.

Hey Alex! First of all great job working at orchestrations. I saw you’ve done a number of them, and as someone newer to composing I think they’re a high quality way to practice and grow. I myself do arrangements of pop songs for Pep Band, which is a very similar process, so I get the concept.

I think you’ve done a high quality job in many areas. You’ve got the piece generally laid out, with variations in timbre. The repetition had a semi-lulling effect, yet there was also variation to keep up interest. You’ve got generally nice timbre choices and pairings. I can tell you have a composer’s intuition:) It was a pleasant piece to listen to overall, so you didn’t do terribly:)

To provide what I can to hopefully help you take it to the next level, I listened to your piece several times & a recording on YouTube of someone playing the piano version. In my opinion & sense, the original piece edges on a little too repetitive, but it does gain traction at about measure 8 when things start feeling developmental. It does have a kind of lulling effect though, so I think he achieved his purpose, but in my preference I wouldn’t encourage the composition to have any more length or repetition.

Here’s my understanding of the original: it seems to actually have two melodies going on simultaneously, playing on each other the whole time, with the other notes providing warmth & fullness. He does a 4 bar A theme twice, then changes to the relative major on a big chord. I liked how the pianist did a little rubato at the transition, because otherwise it would just sound like a major sudden change with no warning, which would feel offputting here. Then he has a 4 bar cascading, what feels like an almost inversion of the previous, repeated (similar to the beginning). It feels like a reprise, concluding & transitioning. That section has large moving chords on the downbeats, and can kind of feel like the ending music of a movie scene. Then he has a iii chord, which I thought he was going to modulate to that key, but he continued developing for 4 bars ending on the B (V of E again). But he goes into a CM7 chord with the melody for 4 bars, the bVI no 5th, which to me feels minor. It ends on a B chord with cascading notes that feels like a cadence, into the final section. It’s an 8 bar near restatement of the A theme, which feels relieving and longed for. Then it ends on the iv, with sudden long chords, which to me just makes me question if whether the child fell asleep or not.

Relative to your composition, and recognizing you’ve already done a good job and my comments are just trying to help you get that last 10% to make it pop, I think your timbre changes felt simultaneously too much and too little. At first I didn’t know what to comment, but I think you almost tried to apply film score, quick drastic timbre changes to a slow, lullaby-like, repetitive piece. I think if you were more clear & distinct about your timbre changes, especially using them on the 8 (or less often the 4) bar marks & to mark harmonic changes where he has them, that would help encourage the natural cadence of the piece. My two favorite timbres you used were the low woodwinds with clarinet melody, and the string ensemble. I also think the horn melody was a nice additional change, but it was much brighter & more poignant than the other timbres, so I think it would fit more on the 2nd set of 8 bars, or other more in-your-face moments. Whatever you do, keep the melody on one instrument through the phrase instead of changing so often.

The second thing that would help would be the transitions. Ryan Leach on YouTube has a great video on writing transitions: 

I think both introducing newer elements earlier, and utilizing the more prominent changes (like the large, slow, cascading chords at m.8) in a prominent way will both make the sections fit more together like a natural puzzle.

The last minor thing would be trying to make the upper & lower melodies equally as present, with the harmonies quieter behind. It’s a small thing that would make a big difference in this piece, but I think the flute was too loud, and I lost the lower melody over time.

Great job, and please let me know if these helped at all. Happy composing!