String Quintet in F#m

Thanks everyone for all your feedback! That's all for now

I've revised some things - any feedback?

String Quintet No.2.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SGU8fq9dRSEkF3T4KUgSZGHTdR4RvFs_/view?usp=sharing

Audio

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by BlackkBeethoven

Update -

This is the structure I'm aiming for

A - B - A1 - C - (ending)

A - is lilty and slightly energetic with lush harmony

B - is a chorale, hymn-like section

A1 - original material returns (melody), but it's reharmonized, and with a different rhythmic feel

C - I'd like to attempt something more modern where I have a this rushing overlapping rhythmic lines (like everything happening at once) before we go into this big chorale finish with suspensions and the like.

String Quintet No.2.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SGU8fq9dRSEkF3T4KUgSZGHTdR4RvFs_/view?usp=sharing

I've been working on the piece and I have some notes:

Pg 1 - melody here needs to be edited with my new additions. And my accompaniment is so SATB, it's not sophisticated string writing at all

I want this section to feel lilty and more energetic than it does rn. Really lean into the meter (maybe up tempo to 64-68) So that when we switch to 6/4 we slow down and bask in these lovely chorale harmonies.

Pg 2 same issues as above - m. 15, get this smoooooth so our transition is nice. Decrescendo and slow the tempo down slightly, maybe add a measure of rest

Pg 3 & 4 I love this (note for everything, add bowing and more dynamics)

Pg 4 & 5 - transition back to A (this is A1) needs to make sense. Put melody an ocatve higher for variety and rhythm needs to be 3, while melody is in 2 (hemiola affect)

One thing I want to focus on is getting some more variety out of the sounds I'm getting from the strings. Different counter melodies (especially in A1), passing the melody, pizz., ponticello, sul tasto, etc. I have some ideas sketched on later pages that I hope to use to play with the rhythm and sound more.

This could be nice 👇🏾

1234.pdf 👉🏾 This is the edited melody for A

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by BlackkBeethoven

Hey @BlackkBeethoven !

I listened to your most recent mp3 with the string quintet pdf above.

Overall it's not bad. I'd say there isn't enough spotlighting on the material the listener should focus on vs. the background - everything is the same dynamic and there's no balance between melody and accompaniment. Also it often sounds like a chorale exercise - chorales are a good beginning way to learn harmony and chord functions but when used as a model for other compositions can tend to create a cookie-cutter, chord-by-chord approach to composition - there are so many other ways of arranging things! The melody can be in any voice. There could be more melodically meaningful counterpoint and cross pollination between voices. Approached from a motivic standpoint your melody is non-descript and proceeds along with a lack of intensity and purpose. Overall, the biggest strength and flaw at the same time is the focus on harmony. When writing good melodies there’s often a lot of repetition and variation and potential for reinterpretation in different harmonic contexts (while the melody notes stay the same or repeat). There’s also usually a sense of ebb and flow in terms of climax and denouement which I feel this lacks. What I mean when I say this is that your melody lacks the terseness of say a Beethoven sonata melody. Your melody is very pedestrian and there’s no sense of rising and falling, of breathing. It lacks definition and there's just a vague blob of sound proceeding along slowly and it's really hard for the listener to focus on anything and get anything out of it. Imo and when I work on melodies, I don't usually compose a piece based on the first melody I come up with but keep popping out melody after melody until I have something that I think is worth spending some more effort on to refine or complete. To me it seems you're 1) focused on harmony too much and 2) pick your melodies poorly/without good judgment and consideration. Those are my thoughts. Keep composing and trying and you will get better!