Lamentare Ciobanului - "The Shepherd's Lament"

Hello all.

I had a really hard time figuring out what to do. I had a piece I wrote a while ago about Princess Tuvstarr and Skutt the Elk, where a geological formation called a tarn has an important role, but I decided I need to practice writing things for a deadline, so I needed some new idea. For those that don't know, I am ethnically largely Romanian (though I live in the US), so I settled on some Romanian landscape, and what better than the Carpathian Mountains! In fact, I had a drawing I made a while ago of a Romanian Shepherd (obviously as a furry, if you know me at all) in the mountains playing a Taragot - which sounds like a mix between an English Horn and a Soprano Saxophone. There's an old Romanian tale of a shepherd who lost his sheep, so I wrote this piece following that theme: a shepherd lamenting the loss of his sheep. Please enjoy :)

Score.pdf

Hello there!

The Sherphad's Lament

Average Score:9.8

Review:
The general score presentation and layout was clean and readable. There were a few collisions errs that were noticeable. With the given forces at play, this can be easily playable. There were no imbalances between strings and the E. Horn. Yes! this piece is creative and original in nature. The given forces create an interesting. There is interesting dovetailing with the strings. The strings provide a rich background and middle ground material while the EH carries the foreground material. This, indeed, creates a rich harmonic palate. What I am not sure about is the form of the piece. It seems to free form. Free form pieces (fantasia, preludes, and etc) tend to flow like a river. They have sections where previous comes back. But that depends, on the style and the composer. Here, I think the intent was to create fluid piece that logically flows from start to finish. The high use of motives was well done. The 6 minute mark is one minute above sweet mark. But that is fine. Overall, this is piece I enjoyed. Yes, it is hard to write something. That is where I am at. I am stuck too.

13 minutes ago, Kvothe said:

Hello there!

The Sherphad's Lament

Melodies Themes Motives	Harmony Chords Textures	Form Development Structure Time	Originality Creativity	Score Presentation	Instrumentation Orchestration Playability	Execution of Given Challenge	Taste
10.	10	10	10	9.5	10	9	10

Average Score:9.8

Review:
The general score presentation and layout was clean and readable. There were a few collisions errs that were noticeable. With the given forces at play, this can be easily playable. There were no imbalances between strings and the E. Horn. Yes! this piece is creative and original in nature. The given forces create an interesting. There is interesting dovetailing with the strings. The strings provide a rich background and middle ground material while the EH carries the foreground material. This, indeed, creates a rich harmonic palate. What I am not sure about is the form of the piece. It seems to free form. Free form pieces (fantasia, preludes, and etc) tend to flow like a river. They have sections where previous comes back. But that depends, on the style and the composer. Here, I think the intent was to create fluid piece that logically flows from start to finish. The high use of motives was well done. The 6 minute mark is one minute above sweet mark. But that is fine. Overall, this is piece I enjoyed. Yes, it is hard to write something. That is where I am at. I am stuck too.

I’m very flattered that you gave it such a high score! I’m not very proud of it myself, so I’m pleasantly surprised 😅

Average Score: 8.8

Review:

This piece features a rich variety of motifs that also capture the pastoral mood.

The textures are excellent, in my view, with sections where certain instruments fall silent (which I find an interesting way to thicken and thin out the textures and create contrasts), and there are many contrapuntal passages. At the same time, the lines are crafted with relative simplicity, without resorting to technically demanding or uncertain passages. I think it is an excellent approach to stick to what one knows is possible and make the most of it.

The sections are distinct, but I also feel the overall impression is quite free. The score is very well presented. Although it is implied, given that the English horn is a transposing instrument, it might be worth mentioning that it is in concert pitch.

There is one section which, I think, could be handled differently. Between bars 49 and 56, an attempt is made to create a climax leading into a new section and the entry of the English horn. However, I do not find this entirely effective as it relies on a ‘crescendo’ increase in volume; it would

It is also worth mentioning that the English horn is pushed to its limits in the high register (I seem to recall a C5). However, the lower register does not appear to be explored, which is precisely where a standard oboe cannot reach.

First of all, congratulations on meeting the submission deadline. This competition was a real challenge, and despite the two-month timeframe, only half of the participants who originally planned to submit a composition actually finished their work!

Melodies Themes Motives and Harmony Chords Textures:

There is a distinctive motif introduced by the English horn in measures 3–4 that runs through the entire piece in various variations. Other motifs serve to create a kind of counterpoint in the “rich” sections of the string accompaniment, while other homophonic and rhythmic passages feature an interplay between “pizzicato” and “arco,” resulting in a varied texture. The harmonies are „friendly“ and I like that there is sometimes some „spice“ with dissonances.

Form Development Structure Time:

Even though I can’t identify any specific traditional form, such as ABA or rondo, the piece is nonetheless structured into, shall we say, “episodes,” which makes it more distinctive than other submissions that consist of an “endless” flow of motivic material.

Originality Creativity:

It was creative, not only to portrait a landscape as a „still life“ but telling a little story, the „lamento of the shepherd which lost (hopefully only one of) his sheep“. Especially the „coda“ (from mm. 89 on) reminds me of this lamento – while, fortunately, not in a deeply sad way, but in a somewhat humorous one!

Score Presentation:

The score is clean and easy to read.

Instrumentation Orchestration Playability:

The choice of using a string quartet as accompaniment and the English horn as the solo instrument gives the piece a rich, pastorale mood. I think, there are no playability issues.

Execution of Given Challenge:

The challenge of depicting a landscape and thus creating an image in the listener’s mind’s eye has been met with great success. Moreover, you successfully avoided the risk of creating an endlessly meandering flow of sounds by using simple but memorable motifs and a variety in the texture.

Taste:

I very enjoyed it with its calm and, at some passages, humorous character.

Average Score: 8.8125